Have you ever wondered about the true nature of cowrie shells? Where do they come from? Are they simply shells, or is there more to their story? You may have a vague understanding that cowries were ...

Just in time for summer, an old trend from the early 2000s is making a big comeback this season. Jewelry designers all over the world are channeling the natural beauty of the oceans for their summer ...

Dead or alive, the chestnut cowry, a snail with a brilliant shell, strongly draws the human eye with its beauty. The polished shine of the cowry shell varies in tone from white below to deep chestnut ...

“Before you do anything else,” curator Chris Meyer said the minute I arrived at the National Museum of Natural History’s Invertebrate Zoology collection, “you have to vote for beauty.” He led me ...