In the News: Museum Closure

Fig.1. The Illinois State Museum is closed to the public
 (Credit: Mike Linksvayer via Flickr)

The closure of a top natural history museum, a withdrawal from the ‘doomsday’ vault, and the arrival of a huge dinosaur skeleton herald major changes underway for these top research institutions and museums around the world:

• The closure of the Illinois State Museum in Springfield means the loss of an institution that is home to around 13.5 million objects, including artifacts from Midwestern tribes and the largest collection of mastodon fossils in the world: “Amid Budget Fight, Illinois State Museum Prepares To Close,” Science (30 September 2015) 

• This dinosaur is so big that all 122 feet of its skeleton will not completely fit in its display hall at the American Museum of Natural History: “The Biggest Dinosaur To Walk The Earth Will Soon Be In A Museum,” Smithsonian Magazine (25 September 2015) 

• One of the world’s most important seed banks requested a withdrawal from the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and will never return to its former home in the now war-torn Syria: “Rescuing Ancient Seeds From A War-Torn City,” The Atlantic (23 September 2015) 

• Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History will be welcoming one of the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons ever unearthed, but first, it needs to stand upright: “‘Nation’s T. Rex’ Stands Upright For The First Time In 65 Million Years - And He’s Scary,” Washington Post (01 October 2015)

• The corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) called Alice bloomed at the Chicago Botanic Garden on Tuesday. This plant is one of the world’s stinkiest plants, according to human noses: “What Makes The Corpse Flower Stink So Bad?” National Geographic (30 September 2015)