Check out the Academy's daily schedule of activities, programs, shows, and events.

What happens on Earth’s surface is directly related to its interior. About 4.6 billion years ago, Earth formed from a hot cloud of dust orbiting a blazing sun. As the planet cooled, dense elements ...

Movement in narrow zones along plate boundaries causes most earthquakes. Most seismic activity occurs at three types of plate boundaries—divergent, convergent, and transform. As the plates move past ...

Free and low-cost admission opportunities, field trips, and other access programs make the Academy open to all.

The Swamp is best known as the home of Claude, the startlingly white Alligator mississippiensis who's become one of the Academy's most famous residents. Go below for underwater, eye-to-eye views of ...

We're open every day of the year. Visit an aquarium, planetarium, and natural history museum—all under one living roof and with a single ticket.

Learn about our charismatic African penguin colony from an Academy biologist. Daily, 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The spotted eagle ray is considered a data deficient species and its distribution, migration, feeding habits, growth rates and reproductive biology are poorly defined. The objectives of our study ...

At 25 feet deep, the Philippine Coral Reef tank is one of the deepest and largest indoor display of living coral in the world. Under the surface, hundreds of fish mingle with eels, anemones, starfish, ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (February 18, 2025) — Academy researchers and partners made the first discovery of both a new genus and species of plant in a U.S. national park in nearly 50 years. The ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (December 20, 2022) — In 2022, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences added 146 new animal, plant, and fungi species to the tree of life, enriching our understanding of ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (December 19, 2024) — Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences described 138 new animal, plant, and fungi species in 2024, enriching our understanding of Earth’s ...