Five Things To Do Right Now At…The American Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world’s preeminent scientific and cultural institutions, renowned for its exhibitions and collections, which serve as a field guide to the entire planet and present a panorama of the world’s cultures. The Museum encompasses 45 permanent exhibition halls, including the Rose Center for Earth and Space and the Hayden Planetarium. It is also home to the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial, a tribute to the conservation efforts of our state’s 33rd governor and the nation’s 26th president. Visit amnh.org  for more info!

1. The Power Of Poison, through August 10, 2014
This exhibition illuminates how poison is used in the natural world—and the evolutionary history behind it—as well as the ways in which people have used it and tried to understand its power throughout the centuries and in present day.

2. Dark Universe
Get whisked out of the Milky Way galaxy, dropped alongside a parachute descending through Jupiter’s atmosphere, and brought all the way to the afterglow of the Big Bang. This Hayden Planetarium show reveals the breakthroughs that have led astronomers to confront two great cosmic mysteries: dark matter and dark energy.

3. Sixteenth Annual Exhibition Of Live Butterflies, through May 26, 2014
The Butterfly Conservatory: Tropical Butterflies Alive in Winter invites you inside a 1,200-square-foot vivarium to mingle with up to 500 fluttering, iridescent butterflies among blooming tropical flowers and lush green vegetation in 80-degree temperatures. You can also watch through transparent walls as monarchs, zebra longwings, paper kites, and other butterfly species from Florida, Costa Rica, Kenya, Thailand, Malaysia, Ecuador, and Australia flutter among people and plants.

4. Frogs: A Chorus Of Colors, through January 5, 2014
More than 150 live frogs–including ten species of colorful dart-poison frogs–from around the world are showcased in this captivating exhibition, which is back by popular demand. Explore the diverse world of these complex amphibians: their biology and evolution, their importance to ecosystems, and the threats they face in the wild.

5. Origami Tree, November 25, 2013–January 12, 2014
The theme of this year’s 13-foot tree is Wicked, Wild, and Wonderful, with ornaments inspired by the new exhibition The Power of Poison. Expect to see folded paper decorations in the form of snakes, fire ants, mushrooms, tarantulas, scorpions, poison ivy, poison frogs, textile snails, and jellyfish, as well as characters from literature, including witches from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Sherlock Holmes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective series.