Science Museum Group Blog

Climate change may accelerate the disappearance of millennia of Indigenous knowledge tied to the plants people use for food, medicine, construction and cultural traditions. Roger Highfield, Science Director, reports on a study published today.  By the end of this century, Indigenous communities across Amazonia could lose around a third of the native plant species on which they depend. At the same time, the disappearance of their languages threatens to erase a quarter of the region’s documented knowledge of those plants. Together, the losses threaten one of the world’s […]

Lung cancer may be moving into the era of prevention. A blood test could identify high-risk people years before diagnosis, and existing anti-inflammatory drugs might stop some cancers before they start, reports Roger Highfield, Science Director.

On Wednesday (13 May) we welcomed several hundred guests to the Science Museum for the 2026 Science Museum Group Director’s Annual Dinner, celebrating a busy year of inspiring futures among the millions of visitors to our six sites. 

Curator Stewart Emmens reflects on the achievements of Sir Neil Cossons, a passionate advocate for industrial heritage and former Science Museum Director, who sadly died in March 2026.

As we begin preparations to welcome new participants for our 2026 Early Career programmes, Evelyn Robson celebrates past cohorts at the Science Museum Group.

To celebrate St David’s Day, the national day of Wales, Curatorial Lead Laura Humphreys looks at some of the Welsh stories of science and innovation in the Science Museum Group Collection.

Inspired by the theme for this year’s LGBTQ+ History month, ‘Science and Innovation’, members of the Gender & Sexuality Network celebrate LGBTQ+ people who have made vital contributions to science and innovation through the stories of objects in the collection.

For World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day on 30 January, Roger Highfield talks to a diplomat and leading biomedical researcher about the importance of a new vaccine and why often-overlooked illnesses demand global attention.

Arsenic-laced omelettes. Chloral hydrate in the brandy. Cyanide in a wound dressing. Poisons are standard fare in classic ‘whodunits’, but just how easy was it to buy a lethal dose in the early twentieth century?

More people are talking about science than ever, but fewer know what to think about it, report Roger Highfield and Lauren Souter.

In this blog post series, Associate Curator Gabrielle Bryan-Quamina explores a unique series of posters created for the East London Health Project. In this post, Gabrielle speaks to artist Loraine Leeson about the ‘Women in Health’ posters she created for the East London Health Project and explores the history of the Women’s Health Movement in the UK.

In this blog post series, Associate Curator Gabrielle Bryan-Quamina explores a unique series of protest posters held in the Science Museum Group Collection and speaks with artists Loraine Leeson and Peter Dunn about the East London Health Project.