Press releases 2024

Thursday, 14. March 2024

Thursday, 07. March 2024

Tuesday, 05. March 2024

Monday, 26. February 2024

Tuesday, 13. February 2024

Tuesday, 06. February 2024

Austria’s Oldest Colour

Pigments in fossil snail shells from Austria dating back 12 million years are the oldest known preserved dyes from the polyene group, as scientists from the Natural History Museum Vienna and the University of Göttingen have now demonstrated.
Friday, 02. February 2024

Invitation to the Press Conference and Presentation of the Coin Series “White Gold from the Salzkammergut”

The Austrian Mint is dedicating a new coin series to “White Gold from the Salzkammergut” and we invite you to a press conference given by Münze Österreich AG and the Natural History Museum (NHM) Vienna on 13 February 2024 at 10:30 am in the Hallstatt Hall of the NHM Vienna. The images on the exhibited series of coins are also dedicated to Hallstatt’s rich archaeological heritage.
Tuesday, 30. January 2024

Hallstatt: Far-reaching trade networks during the first millennium BC. Scientific analyses show that copper was brought to Hallstatt from Salzburg and the Southern Alps

As part of a two-year EU-funded project, archaeometallurgist Mathias Mehofer from the University of Vienna, together with colleagues from the Natural History Museum Vienna, was able to systematically research the Iron Age metal trade in the Salzkammergut region of Upper Austria and the Eastern Alps for the first time. The scientific analyses show that copper was not only brought to Hallstatt from Salzburg, but also from the Southern Alps, where it was made into jewellery, weapons and tools.
Wednesday, 24. January 2024

Syphilis-Like Diseases Already Prevalent in the Americas before the Arrival of Columbus

Researchers from the Universities of Basel, Zurich and Sao Paulo and the NHM Vienna have discovered the genetic material belonging to the pathogen Treponema pallidum in the bones of people who died in Brazil 2,000 years ago. This is the oldest confirmed discovery of the pathogen to date and proves that people were dying from syphilis-like diseases, so-called treponematoses, long before Columbus sailed to the Americas. The new findings, published in the scientific journal Nature, call into question previous theories on the spread of syphilis by the Spanish conquistadors.
Monday, 22. January 2024

Unexpected findings: prehistoric megalodon shark differed from great white shark in body shape and lifestyle

Palaeontological research team furnishes new and better insights into the biology of one of the largest marine carnivores ever to have existed.
Scientists from the University of Vienna and the Natural History Museum Vienna are members of an international research team that is currently making waves in the expert community: the team was able to demonstrate that – contrary to previous assumptions – the iconic megalodon shark (Otodus megalodon) was markedly more slender than a white shark and also had a different lifestyle. The researchers' findings have now been published in the Palaeontologia Electronica journal.
Thursday, 18. January 2024

New Year’s reception including film presentation Archiv der Zukunft by Joerg Burger and 2024 Outlook by Katrin Vohland

The Natural History Museum Vienna and Stadtkino Filmverleih are pleased to extend an invitation to the press screening of the new film
 
ARCHIV DER ZUKUNFT by Joerg Burger
AT I 2023 I 92 minutes
 
on Thursday, 18 January 2024, at 12:30 pm in the Stadtkino
 
2024 Outlook presented by CEO Dr. Katrin Vohland
Monday, 15. January 2024

Genetic monitoring in times of climate change

Genetic diversity is crucial if species are to adapt to climate change. An international study co-conducted by the Natural History Museum Vienna shows that current efforts to monitor genetic diversity in Europe are incomplete and insufficient. Researchers particularly focused on those regions that will be especially relevant for adaptation to increasing heat and aridity.
  
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