The Brain Scoop

Last year, The Brain Scoop kicked off Project Hyena Diorama, an Indiegogo campaign aimed at raising the funds necessary to build a brand new permanent habitat diorama at The Field Museum that would house a quartet of striped hyenas taxidermied by Carl Akeley in 1896. In six weeks we raised 91% of the funds thanks to Brain Scoop and museum fans from all over the world, and so began the long process of research and construction. The diorama will be officially open to the public on January 27th, 2016!

In 1896, taxidermist Carl Akeley ventured to Somalia on a research expedition with Field Museum scientists, and procured a quartet of striped hyenas (among many other things). For more than six decades, these taxidermied mounts sat in an unfinished diorama case - and we wanted to do something about it! Fast forward to last year, when we launched our Indiegogo campaign, "Project Hyena Diorama." Today, thanks to more than 1,500 donors, 50+ staff, viewers of The Brain Scoop, and many many more supporters who shared and promoted Project Hyena Diorama, the Field Museum is celebrating the opening of its first full-scale habitat diorama in more than six decades.

Field work can be the most exciting part of research science, but unfortunately there aren't a lot of resources for adventurers when it comes to managing your period in oftentimes remote locations, which can lead to a lot of nervousness about your upcoming trip. Never fear! We talked with a number of experienced field scientists in order to compile some tips and tricks to help you plan for the next adventure. Explore on!

145-year-old beans from the Field's botanical collections are being used today to help restore a local native plant habitat. How does that work? We talked with Robb Telfer - a poet, and a passionate 'plant nerd' - about how he became involved in working to de-extinct rare species of endangered legumes and flowers!

New species of lifeforms are being discovered and described on our planet every single day -- but, when we talk about a species, what are we really referring to? Turns out, the answer is... complicated. This video is by no means comprehensive. Species concepts are some of the most complex and, at times, controversial topics in biology. This video ought to serve as your window down into the rabbit hole.

In our previous video 'What is a Species?,' we talked about the many ways scientists approach classifying organisms. So, I thought it'd be fun to get a few scientists from The Field Museum to apply their taxonomic know-how on something we're all familiar with: candy! How would you have organized these various confections? This experiment in classification can be used with anything from pasta, to cell phones, beverages, cereals... seriously, start asking your friends and family if they think Pepsi and Coca-Cola are synonymous species, or similar via convergent evolution, and you're sure to have a lively Tuesday night.

Want to travel the world? Become a biologist! Crystal Maier - Collections Manager of Insects at The Field Museum - spent a month in New Zealand, going from stream to stream in search of hobbits. And by hobbits I mean beetles that spend their entire lives underwater. How?! Why?! We get answers. Thanks to Crystal for taking the time to talk with us about her research!

The insect collection is the largest at The Field Museum, with more than 12 million specimens - only (only?!) 4 million of those are pinned in the dry collection. Crystal is in charge of all of them- no pressure. Want to search the zoological collections on your own? Look no further!: http://bit.ly/fmnhzoology Big thanks to Crystal for showing us around! Can we come back some time!?

How is it that a Museum can have 1,200+ fossils of a particular species in its collection since the 1960's... and not even know what it is? For decades, it was thought the 'Tully monster' -- a bizarre animal that lived 307 million years ago -- was an invertebrate, like a kind of worm. But in March, Field Museum scientists helped finally crack the mystery of the monster, to reveal it's actually related to lamprey fish. BOOM.

What does it mean to be an endangered species? Are endangered species destined for extinction? We're exploring some of these ideas in celebration of Endangered Species Day, May 20th!

In 2015, a deep-sea discovery was described to be unlike anything else in the animal kingdom. It was a snail with a shell made out of iron sulphide, with some populations also having magnetic properties in their unique exoskeletons. It made me wonder - what other magnificent marine snails are out there?

Ask Emily: Hotline Edition

Datuk Dr. Robert F. Inger published his first scientific paper in 1942 and hasn't looked back since. I'm inspired by his dedication to science, and his commitment to curiosity - and although it's impossible to cover his 74+ year career in a 10-minute video, I hope you'll take away the lesson I did: never stop asking questions and seeking answers!

In 1936, Ruth Harkness - a dressmaker from New York -- set off to China in search of the rare, elusive Giant Panda. Her goal? Bring one back alive to share the wonder of China's wildlife with the western world. She became the first explorer to do so, and so set in motion a public fascination with these creatures that continues 80 years later.

Original Title: This flower only grows in the wild on a single tiny island... in Illinois. The Kankakee Mallow (Iliamna remota) is a special little flower. The only place in the world it's found in the wild is on a single small island in the middle of the Kankakee River in Illinois - but until last year, it hadn't been seen in over a decade, and was feared to be extinct. Thanks to volunteer efforts, we got to be some of the first to see it back in bloom!

In our last video we got to see one of the rarest flowers in the world blooming in its habitat for the first time in over a decade. It's the Kankakee mallow (Iliamna remota), under threat of extirpation and completely unique to Illinois... and we want to make it the official state flower! Field outreach coordinator Robb Telfer kicked off the campaign and we're TAKIN' IT TO THE STREETS. It's an election year, after all.

In 1898, two African lions began attacking and consuming railway workers in Tsavo, Kenya. First reports estimated that 135 people fell victim to these "man-eaters," but further research published in 2009 lessened that number to 35 individuals. Over the years, different theories as to what motivated these attacks have varied, and recently we got to talk with two experts who are working towards finding an answer.

STARTING SEPTEMBER 14TH! There's a lot of science that happens both within and outside the walls of a natural history museum, and we thought it was about time we bring more of those stories right to you. Stay tuned for regular news updates!