10 Best Science Instagram Accounts You Should Follow

With the increasing use of the phrase “Science Meets Art”, people are realising more and more how we can see the beauty in science. With this in mind, some major science publications have extended their social media presence to Instagram, so anyone interested in science or art can experience science through visual media.

Here are our 10 of the best science Instagram accounts that share all things science with their followers.

1.     Science Museum

Regular visitors of the Science Museum in London might enjoy their very active Science Musuem Instagram account, which contains an array of relics and artifacts that are on display in the museum, such as human skulls, old cars and even a telephone from 1863.

The Reis from 1863 is the earliest surviving attempt at a working telephone. See it in #smInfoAge, opening next week!

A photo posted by Science Museum (@sciencemuseum) on Oct 17, 2014 at 1:24am PDT

2. NASA

Visit NASA’s official Instagram account for beautiful image updates of the universe and planet earth taken by astronauts and other staff at NASA. Follow this Instagram account for stunning photos of planets and of ascending rockets.

Happy Earth Day! This composite image of southern Africa and the surrounding oceans was captured by six orbits of the NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership spacecraft on April 9, 2015, by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument. Tropical Cyclone Joalane can be seen over the Indian Ocean. Celebrate our home planet with us by sharing pictures and video of your favorite place on Earth. Just be sure to include the hashtag ‪#‎NoPlaceLikeHome‬ – no matter what social media platform you’re posting on. Image Credit: Ocean Biology Processing Group at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center #nasa #earthday #earthday2015 #space #earth #earthrightnow #science A photo posted by NASA (@nasa) on Apr 22, 2015 at 8:36am PDT

3. National Geographic

Get a taste of the life of a multitude of species that live around the world through these colourful and intriguing photos. Breath-taking photos of tigers taking a bath in a river, pandas in their natural habitat, and humans interacting with nature in ways you’ve never seen.

The year 1953: Boys dressed up in school uniforms pose with king penguins at the London Zoo. Flashback 127 years into photographic history as we bring you images from the Natgeo archives—see more at natgeofound.tumblr.com @natgeocreative Photo by B. Anthony Stewart and David S. Boyer

A photo posted by National Geographic (@natgeo) on Apr 22, 2015 at 8:35am PDT

4. AsapSCIENCE

Follow AsapSCIENCE for a dose of science humour; from memes to funny doodles, and from photos of the creators to photos of celebrity babies.

NEW VIDEO: Science Style – Taylor Swift Acapella cover! We show you how cool science really is. Link in our profile. A photo posted by AsapSCIENCE (@asapscience) on Apr 12, 2015 at 10:57am PDT

5. Manchester Science Festival

Can’t make it to the Manchester Science Festival run by MOSI? Their Instagram account perfectly catches the excitement of the festival so you don’t miss out on the science and art on display.

6. Women in STEM ASU

Women in STEM ASU is an organisation based at Arizona State University that brings women interested in STEM subjects together. The Instagram account combines photos of female achievers in science to encourage more women to pursue their love for STEM.

WiSTEM ladies at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure this morning! #regram #wistem #arizonastate A photo posted by Women in STEM @ASU (@womeninstemasu) on Oct 12, 2014 at 2:26pm PDT

7. MythBusters

The MythBusters team from the Discovery Channel are known for their dedication to busting science myths, by doing weird and wonderful experiments – many of which they’ve brought to Instagram for our entertainment. Check out cool science facts on their Instagram.

Beware of flying Savages! #mythbusters #adamsavage #demolition #lol #jump

A photo posted by MythBusters (@mythbusters) on Aug 27, 2014 at 9:11am PDT

8. Science Alert

See Science Alert’s Instagram account for “The science that matters”. Science Alert’s website is updated regularly with science news and stories, so now they have the Instagram Account to accompany this. With images of owls with eyes like galaxies and facts about plants that are kept as pets in Japan.

This is Zeus, a blind Western Screech Owl whose eyes look like forming galaxies. The stellar effect is likely caused by chunky vitreous strands in his eyes. The handsome owl was found injured in Southern California and now lives at the Wildlife Learning Centre in LA. A photo posted by sciencealert (@sciencealert) on Nov 20, 2014 at 2:17pm PST

9. Discovery Channel

You can follow the Discovery Channel’s Instagram account to discover parts of the world you’ve probably never seen before. You’ll find photos of the hosts sitting 3000 feet above the ground, rare Bengal tigers and beautiful Alaskan sunsets.

The Bengal #Tiger may look fierce, but the species is extremely at risk. Only 2,500 Bengal Tigers remain in the wild. #facts #discovery #tigers #endangered

A photo posted by Discovery (@discoverychannel) on Apr 1, 2015 at 9:41am PDT

10. American Museum of Natural History

The last of our science Instagram accounts is the official Instagram account of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It’s a regularly-updated place for learning about strange species and specimens, all of which come with a detailed description so you know exactly what they are and why they’re significant.

Long before the development of paleontology, people unearthed fossilized bones in Asia and Europe–and believed they had found the remains of dragons from an earlier age. The skull of a woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) was once kept in the town hall of Klagenfurt, Austria. It was said to be the remains of a dragon slain before the city was founded around AD 1250. In traditional Chinese medicine, longgu, or “dragon bones,” were prescribed as a treatment for numerous ailments, from madness to diarrhea and dysentery. Most fragments and powders sold in Chinese pharmacies as dragon bone came from fossil remains of extinct mammals, unearthed from China’s renowned fossil beds. A photo posted by AMNH (@amnh) on Apr 12, 2015 at 2:50pm PDT