National Museum of Natural History
Thursday, December 4th & Sunday December 7th, 2025
Shantanu at The Museum!
Cellphones: Unseen Connections
Firstly, I browsed through the "Cellphones: Unseen Connections" exhibit on the second floor of the museum. The main goal of this exhibit seemed to be to educate audiences about the development of cellphones and how they're affecting the world. Immediately after entering the exhibit, there are large-scale cellphone recreations. There was a circle saying "stand here" right in front of one of them, so naturally, I did. It started recording me standing in place while overlaying emojis over my face. While this was an interesting application of cellphones, there was no other information regarding the interactive display; it seemed to be used mainly to engage audiences right at the start of the exhibit. Walking straight past the human-scale cellphones, there was a large display that showed all of the raw elements and materials that are required to produce modern-day cellphones. There must have been at least fifty of them, and below them was a description of their importance to modern technology. This display was very effective in showing audiences how human technology significantly relies on natural processes. While it didn't directly say anything about the impact of cellphones on the environment, it did (probably intentionally) start that whole thought process in my head. On the left side of the exhibit, there was a display called "The Wired Ecology of the Wireless World" which essentially showed how many different steps are needed before fast wireless connections can be secured between different devices. It had large scale models of a cell site, 5g radios, computer servers, and lightweight cables. The display was very good at showing how much infrastructure is required for the wireless cell connection technology that most people take for granted. In the same section, there were snippets of text that explained each model, but also discussed the environmental impact they had. For example, in this display, there were blurbs about data centers and their environmental impact. Though, the way the museum decided to convey this information seemed to undermine the environmental impact that comes with data centers. The captions did discuss the environmental problem with data centers, but they also used memes to supplement these explanations. These memes were probably meant to engage the audience, but to me, they undermined the scale of climate issues related with the upkeep of technology. It seemed like they were making fun of it. The museum did a great job of explaining how rare earth metals are vital to the creation of cellphones, and that they are running out. Apart from that though, they didn't talk about the environmental impacts of creating modern cellphones. On the other hand, the displays did an excellent job outlining the best way to recycle phones. On a large display that took up multiple walls, it was explained that cellphone batteries can be dangerous if disposed of improperly. Furthermore, they explained the benefits of recycling phone batteries. The museum implemented graphs and images to help demonstrate the benefits of discarding an old phone properly.
Apart from environmental impacts of modern cellphones, the exhibit also talks about technological and social impacts that have come with them. Technologically, the usage of cellphones essentially removes the necessity for many devices that used to work separately. For example, cellphones can take pictures, have dictionaries, work as maps, and play music, just to name a few features. In the past, all of these commodities required their own gadget or physical entity. Now, all of the tasks they achieve can be done from a smartphone. On the display itself, there were examples of these different gadgets, all hung on the wall and below them was a text box that explained why all of them may not be necessary in the present and future. Using a similar form of expression in the display, there were examples of modern day electronic media, all stuck to a wall. There were translation tools, phone apps, photos from social media, phone cases, memes, and even electronic money. This shows a large societal impact that comes with the usage of modern technology on cellphones. People of all different cultures and backgrounds are able to connect virtually using these types of online expressions. When talking about the societal impacts of cellphones, the working conditions for material extractors must also be discussed. The exhibit used small sections of wall or separate small boards to talk about the people who help source materials to make phones. The displays show pictures of employees who work in dangerous mines that extract rare earth metals used in modern technology. While the displays do acknowledge that there aren't always safety standards set in these mines, they overall undermine the exploitation of underprivileged workers who have no other job options apart from working in mines. Coming from a place of privilege, it’s the museum's job to spread awareness for exploitation that many people are not at all aware of, but instead they downplayed it.
Overall, this exhibit did have very insightful information regarding cellphones, but it also underplayed some of the largest problems that come with running and building them.
Earth Information Center
The Earth Information Center (EIC) is a temporary exhibit that is running through 2028. The exhibit’s main focus is types of climate and how they’ve been altered because of climate change.
The first display that I viewed within this exhibit was called "What does climate change look like across the U.S.?" As the title suggests, the display showed results of climate change across the country. It was a simple layout; from left to right, there were western to eastern regions in the country. There were one or two sentences for each major region that described significant climate changes that the region faces. The captions served as aids to much larger photos that visually showed the effects of climate change in each region. The second display that I analyzed was called "The Systems that Make Earth Work" and its main focus is to show Earth’s main interacting spheres. It talked about the hydrosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and geosphere, and described how they interact with each other to make Earth function as we know it. The display concisely describes each of the spheres, then states that these five spheres are one of many of Earth's complex systems that keep it alive.
When walking through the whole exhibit, I noticed that yes, there was a lot of good information, but there also seemed to be a lot of ‘filler’ information. Specifically, I felt as though the exhibit focused too much on how change can be observed by scientists instead of actually showing said change (apart from the first display I discussed). While learning about how to observe change is very important, the exhibit was small, so I felt as though they could’ve focused more on the impact of the change. Still, I will concede that if they had a larger exhibit, that information would be very good to include.
Climate Change in The David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins
The David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins unsurprisingly extensively discusses the development of humans as time has progressed. I first went to a display called “Social Life,” in which the museum has various models of artifacts that they can use as proof for human development. They showed collections of rocks in certain areas that experts concluded were evidence of communal eating and resting spots between 1.8 and 2.6 million years ago in Kanjera, Kenya. The usage of written text was integral in this display because it linked the physical evidence with critical thought processes that confirmed their reliability as evidence for social activities. In this display, as previously stated, there is evidence of communal eating and resting between 1.8 and 2.6 million years ago. Experts also found pieces of flint that can date to about 800 thousand years ago showing evidence of the first controlled campfires. Between 40 and 130 thousand years ago, there was the first evidence of social groups and interactions between different social groups. Experts know this because they found similar decorative shells that may have been traded over 310 miles apart from each other. The display acknowledges that modern day humans operate in communities across the globe that promote connection, despite conflicts between some groups who disagree with each other.
Another display that I looked at was about the development of human art. The display is constructed with the narrative that art was one of the earliest forms of communication and even the earliest form of expression. The exhibit suggests that humans used symbols to communicate up to 350 thousand years ago in the form of paintings, sculptures, and tooth beads. Experts also predict that this is when humans started verbally communicating with one another, although there is no evidence to prove this. The exhibit states that about 100 thousand years ago, humans started making and wearing jewelry and about 77 thousand years ago, we started recording information. Artistic skills like engraving, sculpting, and stenciling were mastered about 17 thousand years ago and proper writing was developed 8 thousand years ago. The exhibit took a very interesting stylistic approach; there was a large faux-cave wall that was covered with ancient paintings. In the middle of the 'cave,' there were various beads, sculptures, and other decorative objects. The overall narrative of the exhibit argued that art was the first form of communication and also the first form of self-expression, and I'd have to agree.
Many critics of this exhibit hall say that it undermines the human impact on climate change. I would personally have to disagree with this point. Unlike the "Cellphones: Unseen Connections" exhibit, I think this exhibit does properly address the climate effects that humans have induced. As I was in this exhibit, I found a full hallway in which the only focus was humans’ impact on the environment. On one wall, there were TVs that replayed videos about the topic and on the opposite wall were large displays that outlined the benefits (to humans) and costs (to the environment) of human development. Apart from focusing on the impact humans have already had, there was also a wall that was solely dedicated to the changing of current habits to better protect the environment. Because of all of these different media used to convey the climate change caused by humans, I disagree with the idea that this exhibit undermines humans’ effect on climate change.
Climate Change & Human Impact in The Sant Ocean Hall
In the Sant Ocean Hall, there was an exhibit called "The Changing Ocean," and in that exhibit, there were interactive video monitors on which I was able to watch informative videos about different aspects of the ocean. The first video I watched was called "Hurricane Scientists," and it started out with a quick introduction regarding the formation of hurricanes. After that, the speaker started talking about hurricane observing systems such as aircraft remote sensing, drones, and even radar systems in some cases. This video was extremely beginner friendly because it didn’t use significantly technical language, but instead served as an introduction to hurricane detection. The second video I watched was called "Deep Dive Discoveries, Greatest Hits of 2019," and it focused on various interesting discoveries that scientists made at the floor of the ocean. Furthermore, it also discussed the importance of these discoveries and the technologies that the scientists used to make them. In the video, different interactions between sea animals were recorded using specialized cameras that didn’t disturb the animals. These camera feeds were also live streamed to scientists across the world. Once again, this video was very informative and beginner friendly. Its main goal seemed to be to promote the study of the ocean using new technology.
The "Human Connections: Who Should Care For The Ocean? Everyone!" exhibit is essentially a wall that shows many of the human impacts on the ocean. To me, the biggest issues that it outlined were ocean acidification and pollution in the ocean. The exhibit used words to explain that the constant burning of fossil fuels pumps carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, some of which ends up dissolving into the ocean. Upon dissolving, carbonic acid is formed which acidifies the ocean. The exhibit used images of dead coral to show the effects of a more acidic ocean. The supplemental text explains that this can throw ecosystems off balance, thus having a large-scale negative butterfly effect on many of the ocean’s communities. To emphasize the negative effects of pollution on the ocean, the exhibit explained how many fishing nets are left in oceans, leading to marine life being killed by abandoned traps. The exhibit also uses graphic images to emphasize the scale of the problem. For example, there was an image of a dead layman albatross (a type of bird) chick’s stomach with over 12 ounces of plastic waste inside of it. The exhibit also uses images of physical representations of fishing nets and other waste that finds its way into the ocean. The usage of graphic images encourages people not to harm any more animals and wildlife any more than we already have.
"Ocean Focus Gallery: Art x Climate: Artists Reflect on Climate Change" is an exhibit that shows travelling climate advocating art. In this exhibit, I saw an oil painting called "Imagine Climate Resiliency in the Pacific Northwest" by Clare Seaman. The piece was painted in 2021 and it juxtaposes the effects of climate change with ways people can work to reverse it. For example, there are sustainable aspects of human life like grass roofs, and small farms but there are also forest fires. This juxtaposition allows audiences to understand the negatives that humans have done but also appreciate the ways we can counteract it.
Climate Change in The David H. Kock Hall of Fossils - Deep Time
There is a climate change exhibit within the David H. Koch Hall of Fossils, and within this exhibit are many pylons that feature miniature dioramas of previous life and ecosystems on Earth. The first pylon that I looked at showed "A Time of Ice," which was approximately 20-22 thousand years ago. The depiction showed Big Bone Lick, Kentucky with large ice sheets, fuzzy animals (like hares and mammoths), along with short shrubs that they used to feed on. The text part of the pylon outlined how in this time period, there was about 50% of the atmospheric carbon dioxide as there is today, the average temperature was nine degrees fahrenheit lower than today, and even sea levels were about 410 feet lower than today. The pylon used a combination of the precisely constructed diorama and the stated climate statistics to successfully show how humans have caused such a significant change to our environment. Another pylon that I analyzed was called "Giant Shadows on The Landscape," which was set between 145-147 million years ago in modern day Colorado. This exhibit showed different dinosaurs coexisting within a common land area. Unlike in "A Time of Ice," for this pylon, all of the climate statistics were higher than modern day climate stats. Specifically, there was about four times as much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at that time, the average temperatures were between fifteen and seventeen degrees fahrenheit higher, and the sea level was 330 feet higher than today. Experts predict that this is because of increased volcanic activity due to the breaking apart of Pangea. This pylon interestingly shows that despite the negative effects that humans have caused to the climate, it is still far from the highest levels of carbon dioxide, temperature, and sea level.
Across from the main sets of skeletons in the main hall are displays that describe climate changes of the past and present. The first major climate event that I noticed was explained in a display called "Past: A Global Heat Wave." According to this display, for the past 56 million years, global temperatures have been naturally rising due to natural causes like volcanism, melting of methane ice at sea floors, and breakdown of carbon in soils. The display uses a graph to show how the increasing temperatures also resulted from increased carbon dioxide. Interestingly, it also explained how plants started creating less protein because of heightened carbon dioxide levels, ultimately leading to animals decreasing in size because of smaller protein intakes. The next display that I looked at was called "Today: A New Global Heat Wave." In this exhibit, a combination of graphs and texts were used to explain how the rate of average temperature change will significantly increase if humans continue disregarding climate change. Specifically, a graph of the projected rate of temperature change was placed to show how quickly the rate will increase if change is not made. It is also written that our current habits are causing significant increases in sea level, droughts, and other major climate events. The display ends the section by discussing how animals are adapting to these changes, but they are far slower than the changes are happening, and as a result some species are dying out.
Final Reflection
My time at the National Museum of Natural History was very enjoyable and informative. My biggest takeaway from this experience is that trying new things (like visiting a new museum, for example), can not only help people learn important things about the world, but also spark internal thoughts about challenges the world faces. As a computer engineering student, learning about how new technologies influence the world has influenced how I want to apply my future knowledge and degree. It’s very easy to follow a simple pathway to working for any random engineering company, but it’s experiences like these that help shape the affect I want to have on the world.