Grant funds new exhibit at NM museum

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque will soon have a new permanent exhibition dedicated to a new look at the origins of life.

The exhibit is possible thanks to a grant from the National Science Foundation and a collaboration led by the Santa Fe Institute. The grant is worth more than $160,000.

The exhibit is called Emergence: A New View of Life's Origins. It's scheduled to open in May 2011. It will replace the museum's current origins exhibit, which is now 25 years old.

Emergence is a joint project of scientists at the Santa Fe Institute, the Institute of Complex Adaptive Matter, media arts students at New Mexico Highlands University, Americorps, as well as staff members from the Natural History Museum and the Department of Cultural Affairs.