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The great lakes, lizards and snakes, outer-space and beyond – all this and more is at your fingertips under one roof at the American Museum of Natural History. Some visitors gravitate towards the dazzling Hall of Minerals, others are captivated by the Robert Redford produced Cosmic Collisions and the Whoopi Goldberg narrated Journey to the Stars space shows, but almost everyone, regardless of age, remembers the first time that they came upon the life-size Sperm Whale swimming overhead in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life. It’s a breathtaking experience, and though it has been depicted in movies (Wes Anderson’s The Squid and the Whale is a Museum of Natural History classic) you have to see this Whale in person to really feel how small us humans are. And if that doesn’t do the trick, then visit the IMAX theater or stand next to the complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton – teeth included. And don’t forget to check out their new exhibit, Race to the End of the Earth, where you can experience the contest between two teams to reach the South Pole in 1912.

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