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The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History plans to open a hall next year dedicated to the story of human evolution over 6 million years, officials announced Wednesday. The nearly $21 million Hall of Human Origins will follow milestones in history - when humans started walking upright and started speaking, for example - as well as the impact of climate change and extinction of ancient species. It's scheduled to open on March 17, 2010, marking the museum's 100th anniversary on the National Mall. *break* This is the Smithsonian's first permanent exhibit focused solely on human evolution. It will include hundreds...

Dan Browns new book opens Americans eyes to a new tax payer funded museum only for the government class. "SMSC - Smithsonian Museum Support Center The Smithsonian Museum Support Center (SMSC) is a library that houses over 30 million historical artifacts that are not available for public ..."

'Global Cooling' Exhibit Still on Display at the Smithsonian by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 09. 8.09 ... Photo via Yglesias The Smithsonian boasts one of the nation's most respected, most visited, and most famous group of museums. So what's it doing still displaying an exhibit based on 1970s-era science--that the earth is undergoing 'global cooling'--in its Natural History Museum in 2009? You're probably most likely to hear about global cooling these days from climate change deniers who sometimes say something along the lines of: "Well, scientists said that there was global cooling in the '70s. Now it's global...

In February of 2001 Don Berkebile added a one page codicil to his will saying it was added; “in the event that I should suffer an accident before a new will is prepared.” Then in 2003, he added a sticky note to a letter to the Editor he sent to a reporter at a local news agency, noting that he felt his life was in danger: “Keep this in mind, should something happen to me, and request a thorough investigation.” They say justice delayed is justice denied. Over a year has passed since Don Berkebile; retired curator of the Smithsonian...

The casket that held the mutilated body of civil rights martyr Emmett Till for 50 years will go on public display in the nation's newest African-American history museum, officials said. The move comes a month after the casket was found discarded at Burr Oak Cemetery near Alsip. Officials with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture are expected to announce the casket's donation just before a memorial ceremony Friday to commemorate 54 years since Till's murder. Members of Till's family and museum officials -- including its director, Lonnie Bunch III -- are expected to attend the...

Is there, within the Grand Canyon, an enigmatic system of tunnels that is evidence of an ancient Egyptian voyage to America? Is it all bogus? Or is the truth most likely somewhere in between? On April 5, 1909, a front page story in the Arizona Gazette reported on an archaeological expedition in the heart of the Grand Canyon funded by the Smithsonian Institute, which had resulted in the discovery of Egyptian artefacts. April 5 is close to April 1 – but then not quite… so perhaps the story could be true? Nothing since has been heard of this discovery. Today,...

WASHINGTON – If you think your kids spend a little too much time on their laptops, take heart: Michelle Obama has the same problem. The first lady made the rueful revelation as she feted the nation's top innovators and designers in fields as diverse as architecture, technology, fashion, and communications — winners of the annual National Design awards — at an East Room luncheon Friday. "What would we do without our laptops?" asked Mrs. Obama, addressing one of the winners, Bill Moggridge, who designed the world's first laptop. "My kids would die," she said to laughter. "They'd be — they...

Smithsonian Institution Statement Regarding the Book of Mormon Some Latter-day Saints, in their zeal to give tangible authenticity to the Book of Mormon, have told prospective converts that the Smithsonian Institution has used the Book of Mormon to verify sites in the New World. In response to numerous requests on this subject, the Smithsonian has issued the following paper detailing their position on the matter. Information from the National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560 Statement Regarding the Book of Mormon 1. The Smithsonian Institution has never used the Book of Mormon in any way as a...

A giant head and gill-covered body make this newly reconstructed creature (pictured) "one of most bizarre fossil creatures that there is," one scientist said. The 505-million-year-old critter was first identified in 1912 from fossil pieces. Over the years, bits of it showed up in museum collections mislabeled as jellyfish, sea cucumbers, and various other creatures. But expeditions in the 1990s began to uncover more complete specimens, which suggested the animal, dubbed Hurdia Victoria, was much more unique than previously thought. Now, a well-preserved specimen found in the collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and...

News to Note: A weekly feature examining news from the biblical viewpoint March 14, 2009 In this issue: 1. AP: “More Americans Say They Have No Religion” 2. LiveScience: “Scientists See God on the Brain” 3. ScienceNOW: “Arrest That Chimp!” 4. BBC News: “Obama Ends Stem Cell Funding Ban” 5. ScienceDaily: “Live Evolution Witnessed In Controlled Environment Of Microbial Predator And Prey” 6. Washington Post: “The Genesis of a Debate” (The Washington Post follows along on a creationist journey through the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History) And much more at the following link:

Michelle Obama’s now-famous Jason Wu gown isn’t the only piece of Inaugural fashion that is headed for the Smithsonian. The museum is also requesting the now-iconic hat that Aretha Franklin wore while singing at the swearing-in. Aretha, however, is still undecided about parting with her Luke Song-designed hat. “I am considering it. It would be hard to part with my chapeau since it was such a crowning moment in history,” says the Queen of Soul. “I would like to smile every time I look back at it and remember what a great moment it was in American and African-American history....

The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum is featuring a presentation on Barack Obama on a flat panel TV screen in its gift shop which extols the virtues of the President-elect, and bashes the Republicans for having the temerity to run Alan Keyes, a former U.N. Ambassador, against him in the 2004 Senate election. The film, which we witnessed ourselves during our trip to Washington D.C., highlights comments from a Chicago Tribune “reporter” David Mandell, attacks Keyes, on camera, commenting that “they” — i.e., the Republican Party — chose Keyes to run against Obama in order to “get black votes.” This...

WASHINGTON — Even before he takes office, President-elect Barack Obama’s image will become part of the permanent collection at the National Portrait Gallery, the museum announced today. The gallery acquired the iconic red, white and blue collage by Los Angeles street artist Shepard Fairey, depicting Obama with the word “Hope.” The image — later modified with the messages of “Change” and “Vote” for the Obama campaign — became one of the most memorable images from the 2008 election. The curators at the Smithsonian Institution museum plan to hang it by Inauguration Day. “What I think is so fascinating is the...

This video of the National Portrait Gallery U.S. Civil War exhibit features: Lincoln, Seward, Stanton, Beauregard, Butler, McClellan, Lee, Davis, Sherman, Jackson, Pickett, Mosby, Grant, Frederick Douglas, Hariet Beecher Stowe and the Fugitive's story. After watching, please name your favorite Civil War era person and explain why. Thanks. Watch video.

VIDEO The Smithsonian is honoring one of the 20th century's most notorious eugenics proponents, Margaret Sanger. American Life League exposes Sanger's racist plan to create a "master race."

Racist Margaret Sanger featured at the Smithsonian American Life League has an excellent new video out taking the taxpayer funded Smithsonian to task for celebrating Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger as one of the "Women of our time." ALL exposes Sanger in this video as a eugenicist focused on contracepting and sterilizing those she considered inferior, including the "Negro." From http://hrtl.blogspot.com/2008/11/planned-parenthoods-racist-founder.html American Life League Dear Friends of Life, It's been a little over a month since I last sent out an ALL Report, but that's because we spent that time puting together a very special and very important video report...

The Star-Spangled Banner is so threadbare you can see through tattered sections of its broad stripes and bright stars to the table where it rests at the overhauled National Museum of American History opening this week. The museum, which draws millions of visitors, has been closed for more than two years for an $85 million facelift. It will reopen to the public Friday with a three-day festival. Once overlooked by some visitors as it hung near the museum entrance, the nearly 200-year-old flag that inspired the words of the national anthem is now the centerpiece of the reinvented museum. The...

Today President & Mrs. Bush attended the reopening of the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The museum had been closed two years for renovations. After speaking (Transcript), the President and First Lady joined five new citizens (one of them a US Marine) as they took the oath of citizenship and pledged allegiance to the flag. Today, I'm delighted to congratulate five of you who will be taking your oath of citizenship in just a few moments. Though you are originally from France, Germany, Guyana, Lebanon, and Peru, today you're becoming members of the American family. We welcome...

Washington, DC -- A new exhibit at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery celebrates women's contributions to America but honors a handful of abortion advocates. The exhibit touts Margaret Sanger, the founder of the nation's largest abortion business, Planned Parenthood, and others. Read the full story and take action at: http://www.LifeNews.com/nat4423.html

WASHINGTON — Some mysteries are such fun you almost don't want to know the truth. That may help explain why people are fascinated with crystal skulls. "People like to believe in something greater than themselves," Smithsonian anthropologist Jane MacLaren Walsh said, and crystal skulls are mysterious and beautiful.

In honor of NASA's 50th anniversary, the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and NASA are partnering on this year's Folklife Festival. The festival will be held Wednesday, June 25 through Sunday, June 29, and Wednesday, July 2 through Sunday, July 6, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th Streets. Festival hours are from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT each day, with special evening events including concerts and movie screenings beginning at 6 p.m. The program "NASA: 50 Years and Beyond," will include presentations, hands-on educational activities, demonstrations and exhibits that will highlight the agency's...

Male Bird At Smithsonian's National Zoo Has Special Reason To Celebrate Father's DayTwo of the four new rhea chicks at the Smithsonian's National Zoo nest in the feathers of their father. The chicks hatched on April 20 and were the first rhea chicks to hatch at the National Zoo in 30 years. Dedicated fathers, it is the male rhea who incubates the eggs and protects the chicks after they hatch. The Zoo is now home to a total of seven rheas: a male, two females, and the four new chicks. (Credit: Copyright Mehgan Murphy/Smithsonian’s National Zoo) ScienceDaily (Jun. 15, 2008)...

Is fifth-grader Kenton Stufflebeam smarter than the Smithsonian? The 11-year-old boy, who lives in Allegan but attends Alamo Elementary School near Kalamazoo, went with his family during winter break to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington.Since it opened in 1981, millions of people have paraded past the museum's Tower of Time, a display involving prehistoric time. Not one visitor had reported anything amiss with the exhibit until Kenton noticed that a notation, in bold lettering, identified the Precambrian as an era.Kenton knew that was wrong. His fifth-grade teacher, John Chapman, had nearly made the same mistake...

D.C. Fire Hazmat Teams responded to an apparent suicide in the District after fire officials said the man may have killed himself using cyanide. Police got a call around 4:30 p.m. on Monday for an unconscious male at a house in the 4300 block of 36th Street. Two officers responded and found a man laying next to a small vile of cyanide. Immediately, fire officials said police left the home and called in the hazmat crew, which is standard procedure. -snip-

The Smithsonian Institution, beleaguered by questions over how much it pays its executives and how they spend the organization's money, said Saturday it has picked Georgia Tech President G. Wayne Clough as its new leader. Clough will become the 12th secretary of the world's largest museum and research complex on July 1, assuming control of an institution that has been in turmoil in the past year. Clough will usher in a new era, "bringing a unique combination of academic achievement, talent, leadership skills and experience in public service, science, management and development," Smithsonian board Chairman Roger Sant said in a...

Politically Correct Donations Only by: Don Irvine, November 06, 2007 The Washington Post reported Saturday that the Smithsonian Institution has put on hold a $5 million donation from the American Petroleum Institute over objections from two of the museum complex's Board of Regents including U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) about accepting money from the oil industry for a project on the world's oceans. The main objection came from the regents' longtime executive committee chairman Roger Sant who ironically made his fortune as the founder of power company AES which is a member of the American Petroleum Institute. Since that time...

TOKYO — Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma said the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan by the United States during World War II was an inevitable way to end the war, a news report said Saturday. "I understand that the bombing ended the war, and I think that it couldn't be helped," Kyodo News agency quoted Kyuma as saying in a speech at a university in Chiba, just east of Tokyo. Kyuma's remarks drew immediate criticism from Japanese atomic bomb survivors. "The U.S. justifies the bombings saying they saved many American lives," said Nobuo Miyake, 78, director-general of a group of...

The Dulles International Airport Rotary Club along with Districts 7610, 7600 and 7620 are sponsoring a fundraiser for recuperating veterans at the Naval Medical Center and Walter Reed Sunday, July 1 at the Hilton parking lot at 13869 Park Center Rd., Herndon, VA from 11-5. The Dulles International Airport Rotary Club along with Districts 7610, 7600 and 7620 are sponsoring a fundraiser for recuperating veterans at the Naval Medical Center and Walter Reed Sunday, July 1 at the Hilton parking lot at 13869 Park Center Rd., Herndon, VA from 11-5. Proceeds will go to support "NASM on the Road" a...

Former Smithsonian secretary Lawrence M. Small took nearly 10 weeks of vacation a year during seven years running the vast museum complex and was absent from his job 550 workdays while earning $5.7 million on outside work, according to an independent commission report to be released today. The Smithsonian's second-ranking official, Sheila P. Burke, was absent from her job as deputy secretary for 400 days while earning $10 million over six years on non-museum work.....

Contact: Dolores Piperno pipernod@si.edu 202-633-1912 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Smithsonian scientists connect climate change, origins of agriculture in Mexico Cores from Laguna Tuxpan in Mexico's Iguala Valley, provided evidence for maize and squash cultivation along its edges by ~8000 B.P. and for the major dry event between 1800 and... New charcoal and plant microfossil evidence from Mexico’s Central Balsas valley links a pivotal cultural shift, crop domestication in the New World, to local and regional environmental history. Agriculture in the Balsas valley originated and diversified during the warm, wet, postglacial period following the much cooler and drier climate in the...

WASHINGTON - The Smithsonian Institution toned down an exhibit on climate change in the Arctic for fear of angering Congress and the Bush administration, says a former administrator at the museum. Among other things, the script, or official text, of last year's exhibit was rewritten to minimize and inject more uncertainty into the relationship between global warming and humans, said Robert Sullivan, who was associate director in charge of exhibitions at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Also, officials omitted scientists' interpretation of some research and let visitors draw their own conclusions from the data, he said. In addition,...

It's been politicized and kitschified, and its luster is gone. The Smithsonian needs to get back to basics.The Smithsonian has just awakened from a leadership nightmare. On this groggy morning after, it finds itself soiled by commercialism, Disneyfication and politicization, and sorely in need of a meticulous scrubbing. Supporters of now-departed secretary Lawrence M. Small have characterized the former banking executive's tenure at the Smithsonian's helm as a "clash of cultures," positing crisp, data-based corporate values on Small's side and airy, ivory-tower academic values on the other. Nothing is further from the truth. The Smithsonian is blessed with competent, high-performing...

Monday, March 26, 2007; 1:02 PM Lawrence M. Small, the banker who took over the Smithsonian Institution seven years ago, was replaced Monday, according to congressional sources. Roger Sant, head of the Smithsonian's executive committee, was expected to make an announcement this afternoon. Small's management of the Smithsonian has been sharply criticized by members of Congress, and his compensation and spending practices have been subjected to scrutiny by the Smithsonian's inspector general. Last week, two separate committees were appointed to look into management operations at the museum complex, which includes 18 museums and research facilities as well as the National...

The former Smithsonian inspector general who launched an audit of high-ranking officials and their business practices said yesterday that Secretary Lawrence M. Small tried to pressure her to drop the inquiry shortly after she announced it last year. Debra S. Ritt said Small called her before the audit was widened to include his own compensation, but she still found it highly inappropriate. Ritt reported to Small at the time. Ritt resigned in June about a week after broadening the audit -- originally a review of Smithsonian Business Ventures accounting and executive compensation -- to include Small's compensation, which is $915,698...

Internal Smithsonian documents offer a glimpse into what one senator called the "Dom Perignon" lifestyle of the taxpayer-supported institution's chief official, who turned in a $15,000 receipt for the replacement of French doors at his home and spent $48,000 for two chairs, a conference table and upholstery for his office suite. Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence M. Small's spending has been the subject of intense public scrutiny after The Washington Post published details last month from a confidential inspector general's report delving into his $2 million in housing and office expenses over the past six years. Spreadsheets and invoices obtained by The...

The vaunted Smithsonian Institution, highly regarded for promoting knowledge and science, is embroiled in a scandal for censoring scientific inquiry. It would be amusing when the mouthpieces of political correctness abandoned their mantra of freedom and tolerance to squash a threat to their power, if so much were not at stake. Consider the case of the squashing of Dr. Richard Sternberg, a former research associate at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) and a distinguished evolutionary biologist with two doctorates in biology. Dr. Sternberg’s sin was to allow a scientific article critical of neo-Darwinism to be published in...

March 16, 2007 Last summer we went to Vietnam to shoot several "War Stories" episodes for FOX News Channel. As one might expect in a communist country where they take red tape very seriously, my producers spent weeks before our trip filling out forms, questionnaires and documents required by numerous government bureaucracies. In the process it became evident that not all the folks in Hanoi were on the same sheet of music -- but after several weeks of negotiation we were able to accomplish all that we set out to do and more, thanks to their cooperation. As it turns...

For more than 160 years the Smithsonian Institution made America's remarkable history available to one and all. In keeping with founder James Smithson's benevolent vision of "an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," the institution's taxpayer-subsidized museums, exhibits and archives used to be open to the general public, students and legitimate researchers. But not anymore -- and it's an outrage that I'm taking personally. My "War Stories" producers and I asked for access to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington's Dulles International Airport. We were commencing production of a...

Tattoos - The Ancient and Mysterious History By Cate Lineberry Humans have marked their bodies with tattoos for thousands of years. These permanent designs—sometimes plain, sometimes elaborate, always personal—have served as amulets, status symbols, declarations of love, signs of religious beliefs, adornments and even forms of punishment. Joann Fletcher, research fellow in the department of archaeology at the University of York in Britain, describes the history of tattoos and their cultural significance to people around the world, from the famous " Iceman," a 5,200-year-old frozen mummy, to today’s Maori. What is the earliest evidence of tattoos? In terms of tattoos...

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com A new report from the U.S. House of Representatives has condemned officials at the Smithsonian Institution for imposing a religious test on scientists who work there. And it suggests their attacks on a scientist who just edited an article on intelligent design are just the tip of the iceberg of an industry-wide fear of anything that suggests man might not have come from a puddle of sludge. Dr. Richard Sternberg The report, which cited a "strong religious and political component" in the dispute, was prompted by a complaint from Dr. Richard Sternberg, who holds biology doctorates from...

A visitor walks past the Apollo 16 lunar capsule on display at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2006. NASA engineers designing the next U.S. moon rocket are getting ideas from old museum pieces including the hatch from the 34-year-old capsule. (AP Photo/Rob Carr) HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Jim Snoddy and other NASA engineers didn't just go to the drawing board or a warehouse when they needed ideas - and parts - for America's next lunar rocket. They went to space museums. ...tight deadlines and uncertain budgets...[forces]NASA [to] both cannibaliz[e] and analyz[e] pieces of...

Smithsonian tweaks show after Mormon complaints Associated Press Salt Lake City, Utah — Smithsonian Museum curators changed a new Washington exhibit after two Utah congressmen and others complained that it portrayed Mormon church founders in a negative light. The National Portrait Gallery's American Origins display pays tribute to influential Americans from 1600 to 1900, including Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Brigham Young, the second leader of the faith. The text accompanying portraits of Smith and Young offended at least two Washington-area church members who got a sneak preview of the display. The...

WASHINGTON — In a dim hallway in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, anthropologist David Hunt opens a dingy green cabinet and pulls out a drawer full of human bones. "This," he says, "is Grover Krantz." The bones are arranged carefully. In the front right corner is Krantz's skull, propped on his lower jaw. Next to that are the long bones of his legs and arms. Plastic bags hold the smaller bones of his ribs, hands and feet. They're gray and smell a little musty. Behind the skull is an old film canister. Hunt picks it up. "Grover...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue wrote a letter today to the members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of the Smithsonian magazine and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.  His letter, available here, concerns an article in the June edition of the Smithsonian by James Carroll titled, “Who Was Mary Magdalene?”    Donohue summarizes his position as follows:   “James Carroll has a long record of seeking to discredit the historical record of the Catholic Church so as to impugn its credibility today on issues that have...

Free admission to the Smithsonian Institution's museums and National Zoo stands out in the District, where everything has its price. But with deteriorating buildings, a maintenance backlog in the billions and fewer public dollars to spare, one member of Congress says no fees makes no sense. "I cannot understand why we don't charge a fee," Rep. James P. Moran, Virginia Democrat, said after hearing House testimony about insufficient funds for repairs. The Smithsonian in its 160-year history has never charged to visit the museums, stocked with displays of everything from dinosaur bones and the Hope Diamond to the original Star-Spangled...

TICONDEROGA, N.Y. (AP) - May 11, 2006 - Chocolate was more than a treat for the Continental Army – it was their MRE's. Rodney Snyder, a historian for candy maker Mars, Incorporated, says the soldiers in the Continental Army would have a couple of cups of hot chocolate in the morning and be good until lunch. He says chocolate was a staple of Revolutionary War rations. Mars is out with a new line of products based on old recipes. American Heritage Chocolate was introduced at a historic fort in upstate New York yesterday. The products will be sold at just...

Paris, Louvre: EUR 8.5. Paris, Ascension de la Tour Eiffel: EUR 4.2 1er etage; EUR 11, Sommet. London, Madame Tussauds: £23.99 [$42 adults]; £19.99 [$35.45 children]. London, Buckingham Palace: £14 [$24.83 adults]; £12.50 pounds [$22.17 students]. Venice, Musei Civici Veneziani (The Museums of St. Mark's Square): EUR 11. Rome, Musei Vaticani: EUR 12. Florence, Firenze Mvsei, Galleria dell'Accademia (Omaggio al David): EUR 8. New York: Statue of Liberty ferry, $17. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, $15. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, $0. Washington, D.C.: Washington Monument, $0. Value of viewing all of the above: Priceless.

The president and first lady met in the Oval Office with representatives from various organizations honored for their support of the U.S. military. President Bush welcomed Peru's President Toledo to the White House. Click here for his remarks. Bush addressed the National Newspaper Association Conference. Click here to read his remarks. He commented on the port debate. Click here for article "Norton is resigning after five years as" Interior Secretary, "the Associated Press has learned. Norton planned to announce her decision Friday, March 10, 2006, a senior government official and another source familiar with her decision told the AP," per...

ST. LOUIS—The first humans to spread across North America may have been seal hunters from France and Spain. This runs counter to the long-held belief that the first human entry into the Americas was a crossing of a land-ice bridge that spanned the Bering Strait about 13,500 years ago. The new thinking was outlined here Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The tools don’t match Recent studies have suggested that the glaciers that helped form the bridge connecting Siberia and Alaska began receding around 17,000 to 13,000 years ago, leaving very little...

p>The Talk Shows Sunday, December 4th, 2005 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Stephen Hadley, President Bush's national security adviser; Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.; Douglas Owsley, division head for physical anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Thomas Kean, chairman, and Lee Hamilton, vice chairman, of the Sept. 11 investigative commission. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. THIS WEEK (ABC): Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.; Hadley; New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Hadley; Sens. Joseph Biden,...