AMNH Announces Their February 2012 Public Programs

American Museum of Natural History has announced their February 2012 public programs. 

Upcoming Programs include
Virus Hunters, Aphrodisiacs, Lunchtime Winter Bird Walks, and
Global Weekends: The African-American Musical Mosaic

Mystery at the Museum: An Accomplice Adventure
Select Saturdays and Sundays
Families with children ages 10 and up
$40
Embark on an exciting adventure through the Museum! Meet characters, follow clues, and solve puzzles as you unravel a tale that takes you to iconic locations and behind-the-scenes areas. Part game, part theater, and part walking tour, Mystery at the Museum is an experience you won’t soon forget.

SciCafe: The Virus Hunters
February 1 at 7 pm
Wallach Orientation Center, fourth floor
Free admission
21+ with ID
Enjoy cocktails, cutting-edge science, and conversation at this popular after-hours series, which takes place on the first Wednesday of every month.

Highly publicized diseases like Ebola and swine flu are only some of the many viruses that spread from animals to humans. Join virologist Nathan Wolfe and computational biologist Daniel Janies as they discuss their efforts to track infectious agents in animals before they reach people. Traveling from the jungles of the Congo to the marketplaces of China and using supercomputers and Google Earth, these two virus hunters are on a mission to stop the next global pandemic.

Nathan Wolfe is the founder and CEO of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative, an organization that studies emerging diseases in animals to curb infectious threats before they become pandemics. He spends much of his time chasing viruses in Africa. In 2011, Wolfe was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. Daniel Janies is an associate professor at Ohio State University. Along with colleagues, including researchers at the Museum, he created a web-based application called Supramap that tracks and maps pathogens as they evolve, providing crucial information for public health officials and national security experts.

Proudly sponsored by Judy and Josh Weston.

This program is made possible by a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) grant from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Adventures in Science: Beyond Planet Earth
Three Thursdays, February 2, 9, and 16, from 4:30–6 pm
For grades 3, 4, and 5
$90 for three classes
Will humans land on a moving asteroid or discover ancient life on Mars? What lies beyond our planet, and where will we go next? Explore these questions and more in a series of workshops based on the Museum’s special exhibition Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration. Workshops include hands-on activities, visits to the exhibition, and journeys in the Hayden Planetarium.

The Museum’s Youth Initiatives are generously supported by the leadership contribution of the New York Life Foundation.
Beyond Planet Earth is made possible through the sponsorship of Lockheed Martin Corporation.
And is proudly supported by Con Edison.
Major funding has been provided by The Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund.
Additional support is generously provided by Marshall P. and Rachael C. Levine, Drs. Harlan B. and Natasha Levine, and Mary and David Solomon.
Presented with special thanks to NASA.

Story Pirates: My Museum Story
February 4 at 11 am and 2 pm
Kaufmann Theater
$12
Enjoy this sketch comedy show based on stories written by kids that take place at the Museum. The show features actors, puppets, and live music, celebrating the words and ideas of all the young authors while reinforcing positive messages about science and self-expression.

Frontiers in Astrophysics: Dimitar Sasselov
February 6 at 7:30 pm
Hayden Planetarium Space Theater
$15 adults ($13.50 Members, students, seniors)
Dimitar Sasselov, a professor of astronomy at Harvard University, created the term ”Super-Earths“ to describe planets orbiting distant stars that are slightly larger than Earth and could harbor life. Join Sasselov for a discussion of new types of planets, new life-forms, and the Copernican revolution.

Adventures in the Global Kitchen
Aphrodisiacs: Myth or Reality
February 8, at 6:30 pm
Linder Theater, first floor
$30
Find out from food historian Francine Segan which foods unleashed passion in Cleopatra and the Marquis de Sade, which vegetable was responsible for King Henry VIII’s renowned stamina, and what Casanova served to his romantic partners. Discover the erotic origins of the champagne glass and hear the stories behind such aphrodisiacs as oysters, truffles, caviar, frog saliva, and rhinoceros horns. Tastings are included.

The Presenting Sponsor of the Museum’s cultural public programming is MetLife Foundation.

Romance Under the Stars
February 14 from 6:30 pm–9 pm
Hayden Planetarium Space Theater
$85 per person (includes 1.5 hours of open bar and appetizers)
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a unique experience at the Hayden Planetarium. Join us for a cocktail hour complete with open bar, champagne, chocolates, and passed hors d’oeuvres, and the music of the Josh Rutner Quartet; then, sit back, hold hands, and enjoy some of the greatest romance stories of all time.

Lunchtime Winter Bird Walks
Three Thursdays, February 16, 23, and March 1, from noon–1:30 pm
$40
Catch a glimpse of owls, songbirds, and woodpeckers in the woods, seed-eating birds in the fields, and multiple species of ducks and gulls in the lakes as ornithologist Paul Sweet guides you through three Central Park habitats to observe the varied bird species on New York City.

Advance registration required; space is limited. Walks start across from the Museum at the northeast corner of Central Park West and 77th Street.

Global Weekends: The African-American Musical Mosaic
February 18 from noon–6 pm
Hall of African Peoples, Kaufmann Theater, LeFrak IMAX Theater
Free
Celebrate African-American History Month at the Museum with a variety of family-friendly activities and live performances by IMPACT Repertory Theatre, Charles Mack, and Sandra Reaves-Phillips.

Harlem’s own Grammy- and Academy Award-nominated IMPACT Repertory Theatre is rooted in the rich traditions of the African-American musical legacy. This popular choir, which received a standing ovation for its Oscar-night performance of “Raise it Up” from the critically acclaimed film August Rush, inspires as it “raises the roof” with soulful traditional and contemporary gospel favorites.Award-winning singer-songwriter Charles Mack, whose work is steeped in the Blues traditions of Chicago’s South Side, has brought funk, soul, and rhythm and blues to the stage with legends like Buddy Guy, Lucky Peterson, and Cypress Hill.

Singer and actress Sandra Reaves-Phillips has starred in numerous theatrical, television, and feature film roles, including as the dedicated music teacher in Lean On Me with Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman. A modern-day griot, Ms. Phillips blends the very best of the Blues, gospel, and jazz into an artistry all her own.

The Presenting Sponsor of the Museum’s cultural public programming is MetLife Foundation.

Support for Global Weekends is made possible, in part, by the Ford Foundation, the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc., and the family of Frederick H. Leonhardt.

The African-American Musical Mosaic is presented in association with Community Works and New Heritage Theatre Group.

Media Partner is WBGO 88.3FM.

Astronomy Live! Scales of the Universe
February 28 at 6:30 pm
Hayden Planetarium Space Theater
$15 ($13.50 for Members, students, seniors)
Explore the range of scales in the universe with Carter Emmart, the Rose Center for Earth and Space’s director of astrovisualization, and Christina Pease, an astrophysics educator at the Museum.

Museum Information

Hours
The Museum is open daily, 10 am–5:45 pm.
The Museum is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Space Show Hours
Space Shows are shown Monday through Friday every half hour, 10:30 am–4:30 pm except Wednesdays (first show on Wednesday begins at 11 am). Saturday through Sunday, every half hour, 10:30 am–5 pm.

Admission
Suggested general admission, which supports the Museum’s scientific and educational endeavors and includes 46 Museum halls and the Rose Center for Earth and Space, is $19 (adults) suggested; $14.50 (students/seniors) suggested; $10.50 (children) suggested.

The Museum offers discounted combination ticket prices that include suggested general admission plus special exhibitions, IMAX films, and Space Shows.
o Museum plus special exhibition, IMAX film, or Space Show: $25 (adults), $19 (students/seniors), $14.50 (children)
o Museum Supersaver, which includes the Space Show, IMAX, and all special exhibitions: $33 (adults), $25.50 (students/seniors), $20.50 (children)

Visitors who wish to pay less than the suggested Museum admission and also want to attend a special exhibition, IMAX film, or Space Show may do so only on-site at the Museum. To the amount they wish to pay for general admission, they should add $20 (adults), $16.50 (students/seniors), or $11 (children) for a Space Show, special exhibition, or IMAX film.

Public Information
For additional information, the public should call 212-769-5100 or visit the Museum’s website, amnh.org.