The Peggy Notebaert Museum's Society for Urban Nature's "Helios Bash" beadlines today's listings. more ›

Earth Day is Friday, April 22nd and this year the Earth Day Network is striving to generate a billion acts of environmental service and advocacy before Rio+20, a United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. To contribute, attend a local event: more ›

On April mornings, occasionally we wake up to mild weather. The breeze is blowing through our windows, we've tossed off the blanket during the night. As we hazily grope towards wakefullness, we instinctively think "which farmers market should we go to today?" Then, we come to our senses and realize that it's still April. For those of you who are having cravings, have no fear - it's almost time! more ›

We've seen excellent under-the-radar exhibits at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in the past, and we were hopeful that Cooper: Cat Photographer might be one of them. So we were disappointed to find that this exhibit is a mere 18 large photographs hung on a single wall outside the Butterfly Haven. There is only one introductory panel explaining that Cooper is a handsome orange tabby (we're a little biased toward orange tabbies) who lives in Seattle with his filmmaker owners, Michael and Deirdre Cross. Once a week, they put a lightweight digital camera on Cooper's collar that automatically snaps a photograph every two minutes. more ›

Realizing a long-held goal, the folks at Green City Market are set to have the market open year-round. Starting January 17 and running every first and third Saturday until April 18, vendors and farmers will hawk their wares at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (2430 N. Cannon) from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. more ›

Is the Blanding's turtle slowly disappearing from the Midwest? Um...it's a turtle! It does everything slowly! more ›

We read somewhere that the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (formerly the Chicago Academy of Sciences) is one of the least visited of the Chicago museums, but it’s one of our favorite places in the city to bring our toddler. Unlike the MSI, the Notebaert’s exhibits are accessible to those under three feet tall. The taller displays have low interactive panels and those that don’t have stools nearby. And the bugs! What kid doesn’t like bugs? more ›

Crime Fiction started life in 2005 as a modestly-budgeted project by some University of Chicago students. It's a sly dark comedy of artistic ambition, deceit and murder (no, it is not based on the day-to-day workings of Chicagoist). When we last chatted with associate producer Marc DeMoss in January, it had just gotten into the Slamdance Film Festival. That screening seems to have been some kind of golden ticket, because since then it's played at... more ›

.. or at least they go less than they used to? Or something? Wait, what's going on here? 9 out of the 10 largest museums in the city saw a decline in visitors last year, but one had a huge leap. The Museum of Science & Industry saw a 34% increase in attendance. People must have really liked that video game exhibit they had last year! more ›

Wow. Chicago really loves Halloween.. really, really loves Halloween. We started looking into city-sponsored events that are happening to celebrate our 3rd favorite holiday (Christmas 1st, Thanksgiving 2nd) and were overwhelmed by the options. There's a crapload of events going on. We'll try to summarize them here, but if you want a complete list of happenings, download this PDF of a brochure put out by the Mayor's Office of Special Events. Best of all, most events are FREE! more ›

"Pick it up!" a group of children shouted on a recent afternoon to a museum aide who was standing over a flattened pig carcass. "Turn it over!" more ›