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March Banner 2015 - Exploring Human Origins
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Exhibition in the Hall of Human Origins
IN THE MUSEUM TRAVELING
Celebrating its fifth anniversary on March 17, the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins offers visitors an immersive, interactive journey through 6 million years of scientific evidence for human origins and the stories of survival and extinction in our family tree during times of dramatic climate instability.

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The Smithsonian and the American Library Association have developed a new traveling exhibition on human evolution based on the Hall of Human Origins. “Exploring Human Origins: What Does It Mean to Be Human?” will appear at 19 public libraries across the country between April 2015 and April 2017.

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Marmato - Documentary at the Environmental Film Festival
From the documentary film, Marmato, part of the Environmental Film Festival. Credit: Mark Grieco.
The 2015 Environmental Film Festival
Living in the Anthropocene: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow  
Register now for the 2015 Environmental Film Festival at the National Museum of Natural History! Be one of the first to see some of the latest environmental films on topics ranging from ocean conservation to the Anthropocene, and join in discussions with Smithsonian researchers and the filmmakers themselves.

Saturday, March 21: Ocean Programming

Sunday, March 22:
Selections from the "Winners from Wildscreen"

Friday, March 27 & Saturday, March 28:
Living in the Anthropocene - Part of the series, "Anthropocene: Life in the Age of Humans"

Baird Auditorium, Ground Floor, and Johnson IMAX Theater, First Floor

View the schedule of films and register > 
Featuring W. John Kress, Ph.D., Interim Under Secretary for Science, Smithsonian Institution. 

We are living in the Anthropocene, also known as the Age of Humans. Never in its 4.6 billion year history has the Earth been so greatly affected by one species as it is now being affected by humans. But environmental change is not just a scientific issue. It is at the heart of one of the greatest social, cultural, economic, and political challenges of this century and hence a challenge for scholars in the humanities as well as the sciences. 

Part of the series, "Anthropocene: Life in the Age of Humans."

Wednesday, April 8, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Baird Auditorium, Ground Floor

Learn more and register > 
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Educational Programs
Live Webcast with Geologist Cara Santelli
Mineral Transformations: Demystifying Microbes
Ocean Biodiversity: Discovering Marine Invertebrates
Meet geologist Cara Santelli, who studies the relationships between minerals and microbes. Cara works to better understand how microbes can help clean up metal pollutants from old coal mines. During this live webcast, see how microbes are little machines for mineral transformations.

Thursday, March 12, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. EDT

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View the webcast live at qrius.si.edu/live >
Zoologist Karen Osborn searches for tiny organisms in the ocean's depths using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Take a visual journey with Karen to see the life she discovers in the surprising world below the ocean's surface, where polychaetes and other invertebrates abound.

Thursday, March 26, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. EDT

Learn more  >

View the webcast schedule >
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Research
Human Origins Research
Credit: Smithsonian Human Origins Program. 
Smithsonian Human Origins Program Field Research
The Age of Humans: Evolutionary Perspectives on the Anthropocene
The Human Origins Program conducts field and lab research on the evolution of early human adaptations. Key research partners are in East Africa and East Asia – especially in Kenya, China, and Indonesia. Curiosity about human origins drives our research, which supports our effort to bring the latest findings to public audiences worldwide.

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Human activity has fundamentally changed our planet. We live on every continent and have directly affected at least 83% of the planet's viable land surface. Our influence has impacted everything from the makeup of ecosystems to the geochemistry of Earth, from the atmosphere to the ocean. Many scientists define this time in the planet's history by the scale of human influence, and label it as a new geological epoch called the Anthropocene.

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Get Involved
Hominid Skull
Photograph: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
Support the Museum Today Volunteer Opportunities
Free educational programs, exciting exhibitions, and innovative research need your support. Make an impact by making a gift to the Museum today.

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Awed by animals? Curious about cultures? Share your enthusiasm for nature and culture with colleagues and the Museum's diverse visitors.

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Human Origins - Homo Sapiens
BANNER IMAGE:
Credit: Smithsonian's Human Origins Program.
The new traveling exhibition will highlight key milestones in the journey of human evolution such as symbolic language development, as depicted in this artist’s rendering of a Homo sapiens creating an outline of his hand on a cave wall. “Exploring Human Origins: What Does It Mean to Be Human?” was developed by the Smithsonian Institution and American Library Association and will appear at 19 public libraries across the country between April 2015 and April 2017.
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