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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 19h

This year marks Star Trek's 60th anniversary! Dr Emma Nicholls wanted her staff presenting case to celebrate the geology of Star Trek, so we said 'Make it so!'. Live long and Prosper, fellow Trekkies

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Reposted by Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford

Jane @craftybathcat.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Visited you recently and spent ages walking round looking up!

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Over 200 years ago, William Smith published the first geological map of England and Wales. This would have been an incredible feat under any circumstance, requiring an enormous breadth of geological knowledge; however Smith’s accomplishment was extraordinary because he achieved it on his own.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Have you ever taken the time to appreciate the magnificent carvings at the top and bottom of each column in our Museum? They are a display of their own!

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🌈 Dr Ross Brooks @rossbrooks.co.uk · 21/09/2026

📣 A date for your diaries . . . I’m looking forward to returning to Oxford's Museum of Natural History on Friday 6 November, 6–7:30pm. It’s free, and everyone’s welcome—but booking is essential. 🌈🦋🗃️ www.oumnh.ox.ac.uk/event/darwin... #histsci #sts #queerhistory #Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social

oumnh.ox.ac.uk

Darwin's Queer Theory

Queer ecology is a vibrant and rapidly evolving field, exploring the astonishing diversity of sexes and sexual repertoires found among plants and animals. For some, this has been a revelation.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

This cicada sits in our Great and Small case, which contains hundreds of arthropods and shows the vast scale found in nature, from tiny beetles to the giant Japanese Spider Crab.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Follow a botanical artists exploration outside of standard plant models and into the weird and whacky models needed for our more recent run of new displays on our blog. A Botanical Journey In Time by Inese Veismane oumnh.ox.ac.uk/post?slug=a-botanica…

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The end of summer is fast approaching! Don't forget to stop by the Museum and see all of our new displays. If you've haven't been to the Museum in a few years, you're in for a treat! Our final run of cases was installed earlier this summer, exploring Oxfordshire's prehistoric past.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Germanium is a key component of fibre optics cables that make up our internet, carrying information across distance at the speed of light. '34: The critical raw materials shaping our future' is open until 13 April 2027 oumnh.ox.ac.uk/34-critical-raw-mate…

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

If you'll be in Oxford for Open Day or Alumni weekend, why not stop by our pop-up shop on the Museum lawn? It is the perfect place to grab your official University of Oxford souvenir and explore the Museum's two new bespoke ranges of products!

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

This Common Warthog comes from the Tradescant collection and is thought to be the world's oldest specimen of the species, collected sometime between 1656 and 1678.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Read about one taxidermist's journey to bringing the small Jurassic mammal, Phascolotherium, to life in our new display on our blog From Fossil To Flesh; Reconstructing Phascolotherium by Alexandra Rose Cherrett oumnh.ox.ac.uk/post?slug=from-fossi…

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Tellurium helps make solar panels thinner and more efficient. It is one of the rarest elements on Earth. It is rarely found outside of being a by-product of gold and copper refining.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Come to the Museum lawn during Oxford Open Doors to explore our pop-up shop, featuring two new bespoke lines and official University of Oxford souvenirs! @oxfordprestrust.bsky.social @oxfordcitycouncil.bsky.social

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

If you’re looking for a unique wedding venue in Oxfordshire, look no further. Our Grade 1 listed historic neo-gothic building is filled to the brim with fascinating specimens and swoon-worthy architecture, guaranteed to make your wedding memorable.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

In need of a gift for any curious kiddos or nature-minded friends? You can shop with us online! shop.oumnh.ox.ac.uk

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Just a tiny amount of niobium can make steel much stronger and lighter. This makes niobium steel makes perfect for use in aircraft, where a lighter load helps save fuel. Coltan is a common name for Columbite, and major issues surrounding human and environmental impacts have been acknowledged.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Have you visited 34 Critical Raw Materials for a Sustainable Future yet? Our free exhibition is on now, featuring artworks made from copper e-waste, touchable specimens, and stories about the materials needed to build a sustainable future from across the globe.

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Reposted by Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford

Oxford Flash Fiction Prize @oxfordflashfiction.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

4 DAYS TO GO Lithium. Cobalt. Tungsten. A story waiting to be discovered. Four days remain to turn the raw materials of our world into the raw materials of fiction. In partnership with @morethanadodo.bsky.social with a special Hidden Element Prize!

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Rocks. Beats. Geological bodies. Stone circles. Copper mining. The Museum is hosting Megalith by MECHANIMAL, a performance, with shows on 30 & 31 October, along with an interactive exhibition that is open from 24 October to 2 November. Get your tickets now oumnh.ox.ac.uk/event/megalith

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Reposted by Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford

Oxford Flash Fiction Prize @oxfordflashfiction.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

6 DAYS TO GO There are stories hidden everywhere. What will you uncover? Six days remain to enter — and we’d especially love to see stories inspired by the critical minerals at the heart of our partnership with @morethanadodo.bsky.social A word after a word after a word is power — Margaret Atwood

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Platinum is a key component of the catalytic convertors in are cars that help filter exhaust gases, making them less harmful. It is one of the densest elements: a cube just 15 cm wide weighs as much as a human being, and a single gram can be stretched into a wire over two kilometres in length.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Meet Ptychodus, a large, extinct, shell-crushing shark. This model of the Ptychodus Is the first of its kind and you can see it now in our new permanent displays about Oxfordshire’s prehistoric past.

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Reposted by Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford

Corentin Jouault @cocomacro.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

~35 Myr ago, a female pseudoscorpion grabbed a fly's hind leg and got caught in resin, with a brood sac of 12 eggs still attached. µCT let us count every one. 🦂 ✍️ Earliest fossil evidence of parental care and phoresy together, in iScience (open access): doi.org/10.1016/j.is...

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, but rare on Earth. But once it's used, it is released into the atmosphere and can’t be recovered. Helium is extracted from the Earth as a by-product of drilling in certain natural gas deposits.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Borates help make glass heat resistant so it can withstand the high temperatures of your oven. Invented by Otto Schott in 1887, it revolutionised laboratory glassware as well as cooking glassware, as is not as liable to crack from thermal shock.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Having a nose through the archives and came upon this ichthyosaur diagram by John Phillips.

A very long diagram of ichthyosaurus platyodon

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Have you been to see our new display 'A Reef History of Time'? Explore the Earth's history through the formation and destruction of shallow marine reefs over millions of years.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

The global demand for copper is set to rise by 50%, from nearly 28 millions tons to 42 million metric tons per year. Electric cars require 5x as much copper as traditional petrol cars, plus the demand to scale up data centres. Right now, mining output is failing to keep up with the pace of demand.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Copper is one of the most in demand critical raw materials. It makes up our key electrical infrastructure and helps us power our digital devices. And copper can be recycled! To recycle your electrical waste in Oxford, you can place it in a clear plastic bag on top of your bin on collection day.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

If you could peer through the drawers in any of our collections, which would you want to look through first?

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Summertown dinosaurs - Did you know that the fossils of this Eustreptospondylus were discovered in Summertown in 1870? We have a new run of cases all about Oxfordshire's prehistoric past.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Manganese is essential to steelmaking and makes it less brittle. But humans have been using manganese since around 30,000 years ago. They made pigment from pyrolusite, a mineral that contains manganese, to paint cattle onto a cave wall.

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Reposted by Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford

Jennifer Ebeling🎙The Daily Gardener Podcast @gardenerpodcast.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Today's episode features botanist William Burchell. He turned to plants after losing his love. After he died, his sister Anna made sure his life's work found a home at @rbgkew.bsky.social and @morethanadodo.bsky.social. Some people remember the plants. Others make sure we remember the people. 🌿

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Reposted by Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford

University of Oxford @ox.ac.uk · 23/07/2026

The Museum of Natural History (@morethanadodo.bsky.social) has completed its redisplay project with installations showcasing Oxfordshire dinosaurs. 🦖 Marking the final phase of ‘Life, as we know it’ – transforming the presentation of the Museum’s collections to visitors. ⬇️ bit.ly/4b7qp9v

This image shows the interior of Oxford's Museum of Natural History after a major redisplay. It features ornate architectural details, including high arched ceilings and intricate columns. Various exhibits and display cases are visible throughout the gallery space. Text at the bottom reads: "Oxford’s Museum of Natural History completes biggest redisplay in its 165-year history."

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Hundred of millions of years ago, the world was a warm and humid swamp and Griffinflies flitted about. With a wingspan over 70cm, they were just a touch bigger than your average modern dragonfly (the largest has a wingspan of 16cm).

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

As part of our exhibition 34: Critical Raw Materials we commissioned art from Katie Surridge. She forged, textured and shaped these copper sheets using hand cast tooling. The copper sheets are actually e-waste copper.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Gallium has a melting point of 29.7C and can melt in your hand! There are only four non-radioactive metals that are liquid at, or near, normal room temperature. Gallium is the only of these four that is not highly reactive or highly toxic.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

We are excited to announce the completion of a historic redisplay project! Including a permanent display for our Megalosaurus fossils. This encompasses the installation of 48 new displays in 24 state-of-the-art showcases themed around Biodiversity, Ecosystems, Evolution, and Earth.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Echinoderms have pentaradial (5-fold) symmetry but DNA tells us that echinoderms are part of the animal group Bilateria, animals with bilateral symmetry. Associate Doctoral Researcher @lej-palaeo.bsky.social is uncovering the evolutionary steps involved in this transformation body plans

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

What do Alice in Wonderland and our sunfish have in common? We only had one image of the specimen in peak condition, and that was taken by the author of Alice In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll. Our conservator worked from this image to get it repaired ready for display again.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

A new major partnership between this Museum, @CamPlantSci and @ZoologyMuseum will see over 1 million specimens digitised. This project is part of DiSSCo UK, a national programme aimed at digitising and connecting the UK's natural science collections.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Vanadium is a lesser known metal, but no less important. It is malleable and corrosion-resistant and used in the manufacturing industry and to create steel alloys used in space vehicles, nuclear reactors and aircraft carriers.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Did you know we were the first purpose built natural history museum? This building was created to be a temple to science and nature, and house the University's science departments. Our main court has seen some changes since 1860, but some specimens out on display then can still be seen today.

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Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

A battery has four main components: cathode, anode, separator and electrolyte. The anode side of the battery is where the electrons or ions are stored during charge, and are moved to the cathode side during discharge.

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Reposted by Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford

Dr Michael Fraser @ffinlo.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

As reported in the London Illustrated News, 30 June 1855: "Dr. Acland said, with reference to the new @morethanadodo.bsky.social, that Oxford was about to perform an experiment: it was about to try how Gothic art could deal with those railway materials -- iron and glass..."

"At the annual meeting of the Oxford Architectural Society, on the 13th inst., Dr. Acland said, with reference to the new Museum, that Oxford was about to perform an experiment: it was about to try how Gothic art could deal with those railway-materials-iron and glass; and he was convinced, when the interior court of this Museum was seen, with its roof of glass supported by shafts of iron, while the pillars and columns around' were composed of variously-coloured marbles, illustrating different geological strata and ages of the world, and the capitals represented the several descriptions of Floras, that it would be felt that a problem had e been solved of the greatest importance to architecture."

The Illustrated London News, 30 June 1855, page 652

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Reposted by Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford

Wild Oxfordshire @wildoxfordshire.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Even in the blazing heat, Oxford showed up for nature 💪🦋🐾 Last Saturday, we attended Oxford's Nature Festival with our wildlife activity stall. Thank you to The Oxford Natural History Museum @morethanadodo.bsky.social and @naturerecovery.bsky.social for creating this opportunity!

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