Hey, Sweet Tooth, clear your schedule! more ›

Sue the T-Rex may have weighed 9 tons in her prime. more ›

Crain's has a very interesting article in today's edition that details the depth of the struggles currently being wrestled by the Field Museum; the headline "Evolve or Die" is a nice and fitting touch to the story. more ›

The Field Museum is getting into the spirit of Bears-Packers III. They've bathed the outside of the museum in orange and blue, to show their support for the Monsters of the Midway Sunday. more ›

Whether you love spending time with your family or need to get them out of the house (or both), today’s a great day to take (or send) your out-of-town visitors to one of Chicago’s museums. There are some great exhibits showing, so skip Black Friday and work off your tryptophan hangover with some culture. While we think the crowds will be a lot more pleasant at the Art Institute than the mall, this is a busy day for museums, so plan accordingly. more ›

Anybody under the age of 50 knows that a Mold-A-Rama isn't a spore museum, but rather blow-molding machines that have fascinated area children since they were first introduced in the 1960s. Today's Sun-Times takes an in depth look at the machines -- currently residing at Lincoln Park Zoo, the Field Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry and Brookfield Zoo -- and the Jones' family business that keeps the Mold-A-Ramas in the area alive. Because once they're gone, they're gone for good -- as Paul Jones tells the paper, "No one [today] is going to build $50,000 machines to earn back $2 at a time." more ›

• Bad news from the Field Museum where they'll be trimming 50 jobs from the staff.
• McHenry County State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi was indicted today on felony conspiracy charges.
• A suspect is being held in this week's shooting of a Bowen High School student.

We hate to admit it, but the unofficial end of summer is nearly upon us. Since this will be the last weekend before Labor Day, we wanted to give you a heads up to the many art exhibits that will be closing in the next two weeks around town. We know it's hard to think about heading indoors when the weather is this beautiful, but we think you won't want to miss some of these: more ›

In an effort to lower the city's carbon footprint, a new exhibit focusing on climate change has opened at the Field Museum and will run through Nov. 28. "The exhibit and the plan provide a call to action on climate change," said the Nature Conservancy's Bob Moseley via the Chicago Sun-Times, speaking Friday at a joint launch for the show and the Climate Action Plan for Nature he helped create. "But the impact of the many things we can and should do will not be felt for another 50 to 100 years." more ›

As we've mentioned before, SUE, the Field Museum's T. rex, is throwing a party to celebrate 10 years with the museum (her 10th anniversary with the Field is actually today!). Of course, before a lady can throw a party, she's got to get herself lookin' good, especially when she's millions of years old. In the above photos, Bill Simpson, collections manager of fossil vertebrates at the Field Musem, can be seen giving the giant ruler of the Field a sprucing up as even giant T. rex skeletons need a cleaning. more ›

Sue, the Field Museum's T-rex - billed as "the world's largest, most complete and most famous" T-rex skeleton - is in the midst of getting a sprucing up as her 10th anniversary at the Field Museum approaches. Above, some schoolchildren get an up close and awe-inspiring look at the dino that looms over the main hall at the Field. At least when she's not busy Tweeting. more ›

• One University Park man took the "get off my lawn!" thing too far, shooting and killing a neighbor whose dog urinated on his front yard.
• Be careful on that train: theft on the CTA is up so far in 2010.
• Scott Lee Cohen has a running mate. Unsurprisingly, he did not get his first choice.

The Field Museum, when not planning for a big Star Wars event, is showing its Blackhawks pride this week by bringing back its tradition of putting jerseys on two of its exhibits. This year, the museum's Brachiosaurus located on the northwest terrace and the Dissemination of Knowledge statue (the one with the baby) received the lucky jerseys, installed earlier this week. Here's hoping the jerseys prove to be a better good luck charm later this week than they were last night and that the 'Hawks can turn the series around. But it seems even the Field Museum doesn't like the Bulls' chances against LeBron as no exhibits are currently sporting a Bulls jersey. Not even Sue. more ›

We're fast approaching the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, the second part of the original Star Wars trilogy and commemorative screenings don't surprise us. Lucasfilm Ltd has launched a year-long campaign, The Empire Gives Back and, lucky for Chicago-area Star Wars fans, a set of digital screenings will be taking place at the Field Museum benefiting the museum's Education Outreach programs. There will be four separate screenings with a variety of packages available. more ›

Remember last week's meteorite that created a giant fireball seen across multiple states in the Midwest? It seems one man has found a chunk of the space rock and has now donated it to the Field Museum. The Trib has the story of Terry Boudreaux, the man who, with his sons, hunted for the meteorite remains in a Wisconsin field. Boudreaux bought the meteorite remains from the farmer who's property the chunk was found on for $200 but then turned around and donated it to the Field Museum. And just for fun, the New York Times snuck in a little dig at the meteorite hunters by equating them with 1800s gold prospectors with their headline, "Meteorites in Them Thar Fields." more ›

If you've been to the Field Museum in the last 80 years or so, you've surely gazed on the snarling, terror-inducing visage of the Man-eating Lions of Tsavo. Reportedly responsible for 135 human deaths in Kenya while a railroad was being constructed in 1898; British engineer, hunter and probable all-around lady-slayer John Patterson killed the cats and sold the pelts to the Field for $5k. And now, a new study says that these wildcats were really a couple of pussy cats. (Comparatively.) more ›

The days are getting shorter, the weather is getting colder... so cold, in fact, that a woolly mammoth will soon be calling Chicago its temporary home. The best-preserved baby woolly mammoth ever found, named Lyuba, will be on exhibit beginning in March at The Field Museum. It will be the first time Lyuba has been shown in the U.S. since its discovery in 2007. more ›

A new study shows that Sue, the Field Museum's mighty T-Rex, may have been felled by something not so mighty, more War of the Worlds than Jurrasic Park: a parasite. The Tribune fills us in on the details, deduced from holes in Sue's jaws. more ›

You love elephants, don't you? Who doesn't? Tuesday was Elephant Appreciation Day and the Field Museum is celebrating by performing a vacuum cleaning of the museum's famed fighting elephants on display in the main hall. The two fighting African elephants have been on display since 1909 when The Field Museum was located in Jackson Park. They were collected and mounted by Carl E. Akeley, who also revolutionized the art of taxidermy. But get there early if you want to get in on the action because it starts shortly after the museum opens at 9 a.m. more ›

Saturday was "Talk Like A Pirate Day" and the Field Museum celebrated with festivities for the youngsters in an effort to show them the Pirate Way and to help promote their Real Pirates exhibit, closing soon (so get ye to the Field Museum). more ›

It's Thursday which means it's time to start planning for the weekend. And not just for you, but for the entire family. Luckily for you, Saturday is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. And luckily for you, the Field Museum - who has a thing for pirates - is all over it. There will be treasure hunts, sword-fights by Lifeline Theater’s Treasure Island cast members, an appearance by Navy Pier’s mascot Patch the Pirate Dog, and crafts for the kids. The fun runs from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. more ›

The struggle for African-American civil rights is full of dramatic stories. Bravery, violence, hatred and hope; all of these are part of the complex and interesting tale of the movement. Sadly, for many the exposure to these stories is limited to a half-remembered week of high school history class, or a few dusty books sitting on shelves. Thanks to the Field Museum’s amazing exhibit, “Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement 1956-1968,” visitors have a chance to understand this struggle in an entirely different and much more visceral way. more ›

It all started in November 2007 with this picture on Flickr. Then it popped up here a year ago. Now, suddenly, in the wake of the pop singer's death, it's becoming a phenomenon. Does a Field Museum mummy really look like latter day Michael Jackson? Well...yes. Yes it does. The Sun-Times' Michael Sneed has more on the bust - carved sometime between 1550 BC and 1050 BC. One correction, though, in regards to perhaps the biggest conversation piece of this striking similarity: the nose. Everyone knows of Michael's shape-shifting nose as a result of multiple plastic surgeries. But what about the bust's nose? Sneed says: more ›

Yesterday we got a sneak peak at the Field Museum's latest addition: a 3D movie theater. Wearing the requisite glasses, we saw Dinosaurs Alive!, an educational film about bones more than dinosaurs. The film shows how bones are found, who looks for bones and, best of all, what the dinosaurs and their environs looked like. more ›

We're serious about our sports teams here in Chicago and with both the Bulls and Blackhawks battling in the postseason, we're not the only ones following the action. The Field Museum is showing their love for our playoff players as well. According to the Field: "The Chicago Blackhawks jersey will now be on the Museum’s Dissemination of Knowledge statue, an nine-foot high figure of a woman reading to a baby, located in the northeast corner of Stanley Field Hall. The baby will be dressed as the Blackhawks fan. The Chicago Bulls jersey will now adorn the Museum’s Pterodactyl hanging from the ceiling of Stanley Field Hall outside of our Evolving Planet exhibition." more ›

Employees at the Field Museum had one of "those mornings" last Friday. A museum alarm went off around 5 a.m. Friday morning, alerting workers that there was a leak in the roof in a large storage room on the third floor that houses around 25,000 artifacts. The cause of the leak was a broken drainage pipe and workers moved quickly to relocate around 200 artifacts that had already gotten wet. Lance Grande, a senior vice president of the museum, confirmed that three of the artifacts were damaged but that they would be restored later this week. The museum hopes to have the pipe repaired by tomorrow. [Tribune, ABC 7] more ›

Today, CNN featured The Field Museum as one of the "Five Museums You and Your Kids Will Enjoy." What did the House of Anderson have to say about the Field? more ›

What happens when a dinosaur gets mounted in a museum? Well, it gets taken out of the ground, cleaned with brushes and dental drills, inventoried and arranged. Fiberglass molds are made, it gets fitted with metal rods for support and, eventually, it’s put on public display with great fanfare and probably some wine and cheese. But then what? It sits there. For years and years and years. more ›

In 1984, underwater explorer Barry Clifford made one whale of a discovery off the coast of Cape Cod: the remains of the Whydah, the first fully-authenticated pirate ship discovered in American waters. Now, 25 years later, Clifford, along with National Geographic and AEG Live, is bringing his discovery to the Field Museum in their newest exhibition, Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship. more ›

Last October, The Aztec World opened at the Field Museum. The exhibit focuses on the daily lives of the Aztecs, as well as the development of their civilization and culture. To tie in with the theme of “everyday life,” the Field Museum has teamed up with 16 Chicago-area restaurants, including Adobo Grill, Cuatro, Cafe Ba Ba Reeba and Zapatista, to bring some dishes inspired by the ancient Aztecs to life. The Taste of the Aztec World starts on Sunday, January 11th and runs through January 17th. more ›