Stories

Welcome to Stories, a place to explore—and be inspired by—the wonder of our natural and cultural worlds.

SEM scan of a brittle star

Research and Collections

Think Small With SEM

Seeing the big picture with tiny specimens and one powerful scanning electron microscope

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Biodiversity Week 2022 Header Image

Research and Collections

Biodiversity in L.A. Backyards

A week's worth of spotlighting species (and some ways you can help) in recognition of California's Biodiversity Week, September 7–15, 2024.

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Ailurarctos reconstruction Mauricio Anton

Research and Collections

Eating bamboo? It's all in the wrist.

An ancient fossil reveals the earliest panda on an exclusively bamboo diet and the evolutionary history of panda's false thumbs

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An opaque white and transparent mineral with many spiky outgrowths.

Research and Collections

The Secret Power of Zeolite

Our Curator of Mineral Sciences, Aaron Celestian, talks about why this mineral blows his mind!

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Cave of swords

Research and Collections

Gypsum Crystals: Mineral Ships for Alien Life?

Can gypsum crystals hold alien life from Mars? Explore every facet of these incredible crystals with our Mineral Sciences Curator Aaron Celestian.

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Cooper's hawk on a railing by inaturalist user radrat

Research and Collections

How Littler Raptors Are Making It in the Big City

Picturing the perfect city raptor with community science data

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year of the tiger

Research and Collections

Year of the Tiger

Celebrate the 2022 Lunar New Year with highlights from the collection

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Hank PR Vid Still

Research and Collections

Fragmentary Fossils Help Tell the Whole Evolutionary Story

Paleontological “twigs” from our fossil past can help us reconstruct branches on the tree of life

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Sauropod Head

Research and Collections

Tooth Fast, Tooth Curious?

A new study uncovers a novel approach to a plant-based diet, unique to long-necked dinosaurs

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three-dimensional scan of the pathological pelvis and femur

Research and Collections

These Hips Don’t Lie: 3D Imaging of a Pelvis Suggests Social Care for Saber Tooths

A new display at La Brea Tar Pits showcases how modern science can shed new light on old fossils.

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