“All the pretty, cushy places on earth have already been studied,” said photographer Chip Clark with a laugh in conversation with Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, where he worked from 1973 until his death in the summer of 2010. He was on the ground with scientists when they collected samples and data, roughing it in tents, sharing space with bugs and critters of all kinds.
April 22nd, 2021, 6:00AM / BY Abigail Eisenstadt
Many organisms like coral and even people create their own minerals to perform basic life functions. Geologists can study these biominerals to learn more about Earth. (Donald E. Hurlbert, Smithsonian)
Evolving Climate: The Smithsonian is so much more than its world-renowned exhibits and artifacts. It is an organization dedicated to understanding how the past informs the present and future. Once a week, we will show you how the National Museum of Natural History’s seven scientific research departments take lessons from past climate change and apply them to the 21st century and beyond.
Minerals are known for their geologic origins, but they aren’t exclusively made by Earth. For over 3.5 billion years, living organisms have also been creating their own hard parts: biominerals.
February 1st, 2021, 3:00PM / BY Abigail Eisenstadt
This is a giant spindle magnetofossil, created by a mysterious creature over 50 million years ago. So far, the iron fossils have only been found during two periods of intense global warming. (Kenneth Livi, Courtney Wagner, and Ioan Lascu)
Deep underneath the ocean’s murky floor, there are iron bullets, needles, and spearheads. But they weren t left there by people. Instead, they are the fossilized remains of unknown organisms who lived millions of years ago through at least two extreme global warming events.
These so-called “giant” magnetofossils are impossible to see with the naked eye. Because of their size, geologists and paleobiologists used to have to study them using a labor intensive and destructive process.