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This Image was taken from the International Space Station nearly 12 years ago on July 21, 2003. Think of it, the Earth’s Space Station - Humanity’s Space Station - is now more than 16 years old. Before that humanity had separate stations, but now we explore the grandest of mysteries united. This great effort of space exploration demands peaceful compromise and cooperation. There are now millions of children who know space in this way. So, when you feel that life is heavy. If the news tells you that we have failed. If you are beginning to loose hope. Just look up. Know that this is the future of our Species: On a Station orbiting Earth once every 90 minutes, the peaceful ascent of humanity into the Solar System has begun. This is the beginning of our great journey.

“If we crave some cosmic purpose, let us find ourselves a worthy goal“

~ Carl Sagan

Today, we’re celebrating cephalopodweek with one of our favorites–the amazing ammonite. 

The extinct mollusks known as ammonites inhabited the planet for more than 300 million years—almost twice as long as dinosaurs—before disappearing in the mass extinction event more than 65 million years ago. As many as 10,000 species may have existed, ranging from tiny organisms that measured only a fraction of an inch across to formidable animals more than 2 feet (0.6 meters) in diameter, such as the spectacular 75-million-year-old specimen shown above, which is on view in the Museum’s Grand Gallery.

Like the modern-day pearly nautilus, ammonites had shells that contained a body chamber for the animal and a series of connected chambers to hold air, enabling them to remain buoyant in water. A thin tube ran through the chambers, allowing the removal of water and replacement by air. Diverse, widespread, and abundant in their marine environments, ammonites left behind an extraordinary number of fossils.

Curator Neil Landman, who is investigating whether ammonites were already in decline at the time of their extinction, has examined specimens from all 31 known genera from around the world that were alive at the very end of the Cretaceous period. He is also researching jaw and tooth structures of different species to determine their role in the marine food web. “The challenge in studying ammonites is that they all are found in rock,” says Dr. Landman. “We are learning to get more information from CT [computed tomography] scans, which offer a non-destructive way to look at internal structures.”

The most commonly found ammonite fossils are coiled like rams’ horns. In fact, ammonites are named for the Egyptian god Ammon, who was sometimes represented as a ram. But many ammonites were elongated or tubular, others snail-like, with surfaces ranging from smooth to heavily ribbed, probably for protection from predation. Since soft body tissues rarely fossilize, shells, along with jaws, are the focus of most ammonite research.

Ammonite fossils have intrigued humans for centuries. In medieval Europe, the coiled fossils were known as “snakestones” and were thought to have curative powers against snakebites and poisons.

In North America, Crow, Sioux, and other Great Plains Indian tribes often found such fossils, relics of the sea that once covered the continent’s western interior, and used these “stones” to heal injuries and to bring good fortune in marriage, hunting, travel, and warfare.