By Erika, age 15 Why do men have nipples? A short, but simple question. The simple answer is that the default setting in baby formation is female. The sex of a fetus isn’t determined until later in development, after nipples…
The Biggest Organism
By Alexa, age 12 What is the biggest organism? You might say “That’s easy, the Blue Whale,” but is that really the biggest organism? Well, you might notice 2 things. First of all, I said biggest organism. That includes all…
Crazy Creatures: Gharials
By Alexa, age 12 Imagine you’re in a river, there’s a crocodile or alligator (you don’t know which) swimming towards you. As the creature approaches, you notice something unusual. This large reptile has a really long, narrow snout with a…
Museum Review: Unseen Oceans
By Erika, age 15 American Museum of Natural History has many permanent exhibits, but it also has a few temporary ones including its most recent one - Unseen Oceans, which opened in March. Organized by Curator of Ichthyology (fishes) John…
Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate – Artificial Intelligence
By Erika, age 14 Every year since 2001, the American Museum of Natural History has hosted the Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate, in honor of Isaac Asimov, a renowned science fiction author and supporter of the museum. This year’s topic was…
The Science of Curling
By Alexa, age 12 If you watched the Olympics, you probably saw a bit of curling. If you’ve ever played shuffleboard, curling is kinda like that. There are two teams each with four players. They take turns sliding or “throwing” eight…
Summer Activity – BridgeUp: STEM
By Erika, age 14 BridgeUp: STEM is a 3-year science and coding program for high school girls funded by the Helen Gurley Brown Revocable Trust and hosted by the American Museum of Natural History. Each year of the program provides…
Summer Activity – What Happened to the Neanderthals
By Alexa, age 11 In the “Virtual World’s Institute: What Happened to the Neanderthals” 2-week summer program at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), you will answer many questions like: “Why did the Neanderthals go extinct?”, “What is an…
The Total Solar Eclipse
By Alexa, age 11 This past August, I saw a total eclipse with my family on Snow King Mountain in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We were given special eclipse glasses that blocked out almost all light, so we could only see…
Home Activity: Ice Cream Making
Ice cream making was a fun way to combine science and a tasty treat at some of this year's STEM events. You can see and learn about chemistry and celebrate what you've learned at the end by eating ice cream!…
