Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, although we're all being cautious during the COVID nineteen pandemic, that doesn't mean we're any less curious, and it doesn't necessarily mean being stuck at home here
in the US. International travel maybe out right now, but the good old American road trips still offers amazing sights and learning opportunities because there's a whole other country out there to see within our borders, one that's older than the Blacktop itself. It's the America where dinosaurs once thrived and mammoths were as common as road signs. Fierce cats and other deadly mammals once had to fight for territory and food here instead of pulling into the nearest road stop.
And it's a country you can still see today because Mother Nature has a unique way of preserving her memories through fossils, the remains and impressions of plants and animals locked forever in the earth until intrepid researchers uncover them. There are lots of fossil sites across the north central United States, but one of our favorites is Ashfall Fossil Beds Historical State Park in Royal, Nebraska. It's home to the largest number of mostly intact, three dimensional prehistoric animal
skeletons in the world. This is because about twelve million years ago, a supervolcano erupted and what is now Idaho. The volcanoes spread a giant cloud of ash over a wide area, including the northeastern section of Nebraska where this park is located. As the ash was inhaled by the animals living in this area, they died over the course of several weeks, and because their bodies were then surrounded by the falling ash, their skeletons were well preserved for millennia.
In fact, some of them still have evidence of their last meals in their mouths or stomachs. Today, visitors can see complete skeletons still in the earth and watch some of the excavation work as it happens. An enclosed facility known as the Hubbard Rhino Barn has been built around the primary excavation site, so a visit is possible in
all types of weather. More than three and fifty full skeletons and twenty five thousand fossil specimens have been unearthed belonging to animals such as a raccoon dog, a bone crushing dog, a sabretoothed deer, and a barrel bodied rhino, which is the most common animal at the site. In addition to the rhino barn, visitors can also stop in at the fossil Preparation Lab, where paleontologists are available to answer questions. Nature and geology trails and picnic facilities are
also available. Advanced tickets are required and available on their website. But unlike other fossil sites that often offer a peak at one particular period of ancient history, the John Dave Fossil Beds National Monument in east central Oregon holds within a rugged landscape history of extinct life spanning from six million to fifty four million years ago. It's one of the best records of evolutionary change on Earth. Also, John Dave Fossil Beds is really three parts in one, with
scenic hour to two hour drives between each. Hiking trails around the Clarno Unit offer visitors a chance to see wild fossils still in the earth. Trails around the Painted Hills Unit include stunning vistas. The hills are beautiful records of past climate change that appear in dramatic colored stripes
and shades of red, orange, tan, and black. And in the Sheep Rock Unit, you can visit the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center, which offers a series of superb exhibits about the animal and plant life that once thrived in the region. Fossil talks and walks are also scheduled during all seasons except for winter. As with all national parks, the removal of fossils is prohibited by law, so you might want to stop in at the nearby town of Fossil to
purchase a souvenir to take back home. But if your interests in science are a little further out there, there are a bounty of observatories and space science centers to tickle your fancy. The East Coast bears plenty, but one a little further off the beaten is NASA's Stennis Space Center, which now has its visitor center as part of the Infinity Science Center in par Linked in Mississippi. That's right in the Deep South. You'll find grits, greens, and rocket engines.
This space center is the nation's premier test facility for rock engines of all kinds. Including Space Shuttle main engines for NASA and now other groups. Surrounded by primordial feeling canals, the place has a neat layout. The Stennis uses the waterways to transport rocket parts to the site and then assembles the rockets in separate facilities. The next stage is the test stands, which determine whether rocket engines can fire
at high altitudes and in space. Staff members simulate the conditions the engines will encounter by shooting gases at the engines and changing local pressures. You can tour the site, and if you'd like to see an engine test, you can call the Infinity Science Center to find out whether any are on the schedule. The center also features Earth, space and ocean science exhibits and activities drawn from the real research being done at the more than thirty labs
and offices that work out of Stennis. Of course, even if you can't make it out, these attractions and many others around the country and the world, have been posting at home activities, virtual field trips, and other learning experiences online. But if you do go, it's more important than ever to plan your trip, as some attractions are restricting attendance, requiring advanced ticket purchases, or have limited hours or other restrictions,
but they will be so happy to have you. Today's episode was written by Susan al Naser, Michael Franco, and myself, and it was produced by Tyler Clang. For more in this and lots of other trippy topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio. Or more podcasts my heart Radio visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.