The Smithsonian Secrets Most Likely to Amaze You

Text by Meghan Rosen
Photos by Stephen Voss

April 14, 2026

Billion-year-old meteorites, alien worms, massive blue whale jaws. These are just a few of the millions of wonders that the Smithsonian Institution has stored away.

Most are part of the collection of the National Museum of Natural History, which includes nearly 150 million objects. But it’s not all bones and rocks. The collection contains a spectacular range of biological, geological, astronomical and cultural objects, some seemingly unpretentious and others with an undeniable brilliance. At Smithsonian Museum Support Center In Suitland, Maryland, you’ll find both the world’s largest collection of mosquitoes and resplendent feathered ornaments worn by the inhabitants of what is now Papua New Guinea.

Most people have never seen this vast collection of amazing objects, the majority of which are nestled in gigantic storage pods. The center is not open to the public, but Scientific news was able to get a glimpse behind the scenes. Inside the MSC’s hushed halls, rows of cream-colored cabinets and miles of shelves evoke a catacomb on the surface. The scientists took us through long corridors, showing us the best specimens along the way. Stuffed pink fairy armadillos, spiral narwhal tusks, twisted tobacco used commercially during a trip to the Solomon Islands and Fiji in the early 1900s; we saw and touched an abundance of real-world treasures that captivated the mind and the eye. Some items even engaged the nose, like a freeze-dried crabeater seal giving off the aroma of burnt soy sauce.

But the center isn’t just a giant storage unit: It’s a place that scientists visit to research and answer big questions about Earth and its inhabitants. Forget the stereotype of old, dusty museums, says Kirk Johnson, director of the National Museum of Natural History. They are “much more dynamic and more important” than people think, he says.

The Smithsonian opened the MSC in 1983 to alleviate overcrowding at the natural history museum’s main building on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The center’s five storage pods are each the size of a football field and stand nearly three stories tall. A sixth pod is in preparation. A key objective: to protect the specimens.

In addition to controlling the pod climate and keeping pests away, the team has security guards on patrol 24/7. The main concerns are power outages, flooding, flames, evaporation and explosions. Large-capacity freezers require electricity to keep tissue and DNA samples ultracold; dried specimens may be damaged by fire and water; Wet items in alcohol-filled jars may dry out or explode.

MSC objects are part of an “everlasting” collection available for study today and in the future. For example, scientists are currently analyzing the DNA of an African elephant believed to come from a population that has long escaped humans. And previous work on bird eggs collected decades ago revealed that the insecticide DDT accumulated in the shells and thinned them, nearly driving some species, including the bald eagle, to extinction. “There is a cloud of knowledge on the planet that only exists because we have collections in museums,” Johnson says.

And the scientists who work here are passionate about the knowledge these modules hold. As we moved from one area to another, staff members rushed over to show us “one more thing!” » – like a reel of feathered money traditionally used for dowry in the Santa Cruz Islands in the South Pacific. All of these objects housed at the MSC or on display at the Natural History Museum represent everything we know about the planet, says Rebecca Johnson, the museum’s chief scientist. “It’s the world record.”

In the age of AI, where it can be difficult to separate truth from fiction, the treasures of the MSC allow us to see, touch, feel and study the reality of our planet. “People always want to know what’s real,” says Rebecca Johnson. “This is the place where we have the real thing.”

Let’s go on an excursion

Our private tour of the Smithsonian Museum Support Center introduced us to a colossal cache of charismatic objects. We saw objects that dazzled us and gave us chills. We wanted to photograph everything. In a place that is home to over 100 million objects, how do you choose what to display?

We selected objects from around the world, looking for specimens that stood out for their size or special features, or those that had an intriguing story. We could fill entire issues with photos and histories of these objects. But come meet our favorites.

Most likely to haunt your dreams

The Antarctic scale worm

No, this giant worm (Eulagisca giganteacenter) did not star in Moonlight as a character in the science fiction film Stranger. But with its retractable mouth and toothed jaw, it looks like it could play that role. Don’t worry; These worms usually live on the bottom of the sea, so you probably won’t encounter them in real life. This specimen is part of the Museum Support Center wet collection.

Most likely to remove flesh from your bones

The skin beetle

Carnivorous beetles may look terrifying, but they feed on the dead rather than the living. In any case, it is the larvae that consume the most meat, explains Inger Toraason, osteological sample preparer. So this beetle (Dermestes maculatus) on Toraason’s hand poses no danger of eating.

In fact, the insect and its thousands of friends are closer to its colleagues than to the specimens. They help clean animal bones, eating the tissues of specimens prepared for the museum collection. It’s a big job: the beetles have cleaned 429 skeletons in 2025. They can strip the bones of a hummingbird in less than a day. A whale skull can take months. The bones cleaned by the beetles then go through several additional steps. Toraason will remove the remains of flesh by hand and soak the bones in a degreasing solution, as with this little owl skeleton (Athens is nocturnalinset).

If Toraason and his colleagues didn’t have these beetles, they could simply let the flesh rot in the water. But it’s a long process that leaves nothing but a pile of bones behind. With the beetles, the team obtains an intact skeleton, with connective tissue still in place. Beetles are “our little unsung heroes of the museum,” he says.

Most likely to stay calm and carry on

A North Atlantic right whale

This strange spine belongs to Tips, a 14 meter long North Atlantic right whale (Glacial Eubalaena) who appears to have survived a collision with a ship. Squiggles of bone protrude from a section of vertebrae, a sign that the injured tissue has not healed properly. The tips died in 2010, probably after becoming entangled in fishing gear. Tangles And ship collisions threaten North Atlantic right whales, an endangered species with fewer than 400 individuals.

The biggest stinker

The tongue orchid

This massive plant, which is part of the Smithsonian Gardens Orchid Collectionis an example of one of the largest orchid species on Earth.

Bulbophyllum fletcherianum has leaves that can stretch almost 2 meters long. But it’s known for much more than its epic foliage.

When they bloom, the flowers of this orchid give off a foul scent of fetid flesh. This delicious scent attracts pollinating insects such as blowflies or scavenger beetles that seek to lay eggs on dead and decaying animals.

Best Dressed

The pink fairy armadillo

In life, this pink fairy armadillo (Chlamyphorus truncatusleft) would have been a fashion designer’s dream, with its pale pink shell and whitish fur. The shell gets its hue from blood vessels and can help the smallest species of armadillo regulate your body temperature. Check out these oversized claws, used for digging. They get even bigger in the Great Fairy Armadillo (Calyptophractus retususin the middle) and the giant armadillo (The largest priodontsclaws shown, right).

Most likely to be confused with a mushroom

A Dracula orchid

Known as the Dracula orchid for its blood-red coloring and long, pointed structures, this plant (Dracula’s Chimera ‘Pacifica’) can be found in Ecuador and Colombia.

To fungus gnats, the orchid’s flowers give off an alluring mushroom smell. And they look a bit like them too.

Fine ribbing decorates the orchid’s pouch-like central petal, a feature that mimics the gills of a mushroom.

The biggest buzzkill

The largest collection of mosquitoes in the world

With some 2 million specimens, the collection is the largest and most diverse in the world and includes a stunning assortment of insects. These Uranotaenia saphirina mosquitoes may not really be a nuisance – at least to humans. Bloodsuckers are one of a handful of modern mosquito species that feed on cold-blooded creatures such as earthworms or leeches, says curator of entomology Yvonne-Marie Linton.

Very likely to make you take a closer look

Wet collection

Resting in rows upon rows of jars, some 25 million specimens are preserved in fluids at the MSC.

Items such as sand dollars, shrimp, corals, sea cicadas and octopuses occupy approximately 72 kilometers of shelves. This is more than four times longer than the trails men ant at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Most of these jars are filled with ethanol, almost 2 million liters in total. All jars should be refilled as the ethanol evaporates over time, so that the samples do not dry out.

Very likely to make you feel very small

The jaw bones of a blue whale

Marine mammal curator Michael McGowen stands inside the massive lower jaw bones of a blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). An adult female, she once lived off the coast of Antarctica. Weighing 2 tonnes and measuring almost 7 meters long, the jaws are the largest bones in the museum’s collection. In fact, the mandibles of blue whales are the largest bones of all animals. McGowen, who studies the evolution and genetics of whales and other cetaceans, says he loves coming to the Whale Bone Repository, a building large enough to house airplanes. “I’m always impressed,” he says.

The most beautiful feathers

Bird of Paradise Hair Ornaments

These vibrant ornaments, which entered the collection in 1946, were used in hairstyles in what is now Papua New Guinea.

They are made from Bird paradise of Raggiana (Paradise radiana) and they are supposed to move, says globalization curator Joshua Bell.

Men and sometimes women wore these ornaments while dancing in ritual performances. . Flickering light and rapid movement would have blurred the red feathers, making it almost appear as if the dancers were transforming into birds themselves.

Most likely to ghost you

Henry the Elephant

Inside the Washington Museum of Natural History, more than 4 million people a year stroll past an imposing taxidermy display: Henry, the African bush elephant (African Loxodont). Most visitors probably don’t know that his skull (pictured) is actually stored about 15 kilometers away at the MSC. Measuring approximately 4 meters tall and weighing 11 tonnes, Henry is the largest elephant ever placed in a museum collection. Researchers recently scanned his skin and hope to use that data to calculate Henry’s weight even more accurately, says lead scientist Rebecca Johnson. Henry may have belonged to a population of “ghost” elephants in Angola known to avoid humans.