Meteorites that are billions of years old. Alienlike worms. A blue whale’s massive jaw bones. These are just some of the millions of marvels at the Smithsonian Institution.
Most are part of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History collection, a trove of nearly 150 million objects. It includes a spectacular array of preserved life forms, rocks and cultural artifacts from around the world.
Few people have ever seen this vast collection of astonishing objects. The museum in Washington, D.C., only displays a small share of the items. Most sit tucked away in huge storage pods at the Smithsonian’s Museum Support Center (MSC). This site in Suitland, Md., is not open to the public.
But Science News was able to get a behind-the-scenes peek.
Lining MSC’s hushed halls are rows of cream-colored cabinets and kilometers (miles) of shelving. Scientists led us through long corridors, pointing out prime treasures along the way. We saw and touched an abundance of specimens that captivate the mind and eyes. Some items even had odors — like a freeze-dried crabeater seal. It smelled like burnt soy sa...
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