Smithsonian secrets most likely to blow your mind Skip to content Subscribe today Every print subscription comes with full digital access Subscribe Now Menu All Topics Health Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology View All Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes View All Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment View All Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics View All Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology View All Magazine Menu All Stories Multimedia Reviews Puzzles Collections Educator Portal Century of Science Unsung characters Coronavirus Outbreak Newsletters Investors Lab About SN Explores Our Store SIGN IN Donate Home INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921 SIGN IN Search Open search Close search Home INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921 All Topics Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes Physics Materials Science Quantum Physics Particle Physics Space Astronomy Planetary Science Cosmology Tech Computing Artificial Intelligence Chemistry Math Science & Society All Topics Health Humans Humans Anthropology Health & Medicine Archaeology Psychology Recent posts in Humans Health & Medicine Fluoride in U.S. drinking water does not reduce IQ, a new study finds By Elie Dolgin21 hours ago Life Talking dogs and chatty cats could one day ‘speak’ in our language By Laura Sanders24 hours ago Science & Society Snippets of hair may expose chronic stress in war refugees By Sujata GuptaApril 6, 2026 Life Life Animals Plants Ecosystems Paleontology Neuroscience Genetics Microbes Recent posts in Life Life Smithsonian secrets most likely to blow your mind By Meghan Rosen and Stephen Voss2 hours ago Life Talking dogs and chatty cats could one day ‘speak’ in our language By Laura Sanders24 hours ago Animals For gray whales, San Francisco Bay is becoming a deadly pit stop By Gennaro TommaApril 13, 2026 Earth Earth Agriculture Climate Oceans Environment Recent posts in Earth Animals For gray whales, San Francisco Bay is becoming a deadly pit stop By Gennaro TommaApril 13, 2026 Climate Emperor penguins are marching toward extinction. 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Stephen Voss By Meghan Rosen and Stephen Voss 2 hours ago Share this:Share Share via email (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Share on X (Opens in new window) X Print (Opens in new window) Print Text By Meghan RosenPhotos By Stephen Voss April 14, 2026 Meteorites billions of years old, alienlike worms, a blue whale’s massive jaw bones. These are just some of the millions of marvels that the Smithsonian Institution has stashed away in storage. Most are part of the National Museum of Natural History’s collection, which comprises nearly 150 million objects. It’s not all bones and rocks, though. The collection holds a spectacular array of biological, geological, astronomical and cultural items, some seemingly unassuming and others with undeniable razzmatazz. At the Smithsonian Museum Support Center in Suitland, Md., you’ll find both the world’s biggest mosquito collection and resplendent feathered ornaments worn by people in what is now Papua New Guinea. Sign up for our newsletter We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday. Most people have never seen this vast collection of astonishing objects, the majority of which lie tucked away in gigantic storage pods. The center is not open to the public, but Science News was able to get a behind-the-scenes peek. Inside the MSC’s hushed halls, rows of cream-colored cabinets and kilometers of shelving evoke an above-ground catacomb. Scientists led us through long corridors, pointing out prime specimens along the way. Stuffed pink fairy armadillos, narwhals’ spiraling tusks, twist tobacco used in trade during a trip to the Solomon Islands and Fiji in the early 1900s; we saw and touched an abundance of real-world treasures that captivated the mind and the eyes. Some items even engaged the nose, like a freeze-dried crabeater seal exuding an aroma of burnt soy sauce. But the center is not just a giant storage unit — it’s a place scientists visit to do research and answer big questions about Earth and its inhabitants. Forget the stereotype of museums being old and dusty, says Kirk Johnson, director of the National Museum of Natural History. They’re “vastly more vibrant and more important” than people think, he says. A vast collection 148 millionItems in the museum’s collection 11,945Items on display at the museum 95,287New items acquired in 2025 34.5 million +Items in the entomology collection The Smithsonian opened the MSC in 1983 to ease overcrowding at the natural history museum’s main building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The center’s five storage pods are each about the size of a football field and nearly three stories tall. A sixth pod is in the works. One key goal: Protect the specimens. Beyond controlling the pods’ climate and keeping out pests, the team has security guards on patrol 24/7. The big concerns are power outages, floods, flames, evaporation and explosions. Capacious freezers need power to keep tissue and DNA samples ultracold; dried specimens can be damaged by fire and water; wet items in alcohol-filled jars are at risk of drying out — or blowing up. Items in the MSC are part of a “forever” collection that is available for study today and in the future. Scientists are now, for instance, analyzing DNA from an African elephant thought to hail from a population that has long evaded humans. And previous work on bird eggs collected dec
Smithsonian secrets most likely to blow your mind
