Explore the worlds natural and cultural wonders beneath the dome of this 1910 Beaux Arts building. The museums 18 exhibition halls contain tens of thousands of artifacts and specimens that together tell the story of the earth and its evolution.

Against All Odds: Rescue at the Chilean Mine (Opens Aug. 5, 2011) second floor. See the actual rescue capsule that ferried 33 miners to safety in 2010 after 68 days in confinement underground. The Bright Beneath: The Luminous Art of Shih Chieh Huang (Sept. 3, 2011-Dec. 4, 2011) first floor. After studying bioluminescence in marine organisms while on a museum fellowship, the artist built an assemblage of lights and other found materials that evokes the underwater phenomenon.

The Evolving Universe (Oct. 21, 2011-Jan. 20, 2013) second floor. Explore how stars, galaxies and the universe change from birth to maturity.

A colorful collection of 500 species of mounted birds found throughout the District of Columbia, both year-round and seasonally, includes the 3-inch-long golden-crowned kinglet and the 16-inch pileated woodpecker.

At the rotundas center is the museums eight-ton, 13-foot-tall African bush elephant, which has been on display since 1959. Today, the elephant can be seen in a setting similar to its native savanna habitat.