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Climbing plants disturb carbon storage in tropical forests
Stefan Schnitzer, a research associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, talks about lianas, or woody vines, on Panama’s Barro Colorado Island. (Photo by Sean Mattson/STRI) Although...
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Nano Bible donated to Smithsonian
The Bible is only 0.5 square millimeters – much smaller than the head of a pin. The text was etched with a focused beam of energetic gallium ions. (Photos courtesy Technion-Israel Institute of...
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Smithsonian lab receives GreenGov Presidential Award
The Mathias Laboratory at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md. Throughout 2015 the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Edgewater, Md., has marked its 50th...
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Research shows same growth rate for farming, non-farming societies
University of Wyoming students excavate a prehistoric rock shelter in the Big Horn Mountains of northern Wyoming during the summer of 2015. (UW Photo) Prehistoric human populations of hunter-gatherers...
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The Power of Touch: Sex-changing snails switch sooner when together
Many animals change sex at some point in their lives, often after reaching a certain size. Snails called slipper limpets begin life as males, and become female as they grow. A new Smithsonian study...
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Trees employ similar strategies to outcompete their neighbors
By studying forests in the same way at sites around the world, the Smithsonian ForestGEO network provides some of the best on-the-ground data to understand forests and their responses to global change....
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Elusive bush dog widespread in Panama
Bush dogs photographed in Donoso, Colón Province, Panama, Dec. 7, 2012. (Image provided by Ricardo Moreno, MWH Global, Inc., Minera Panama S.A.) The bush dog is one of the most enigmatic of the world’s...
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invasive cobia spreads in Panama
Cobia, a promising fish for aquaculture, lives throughout the world’s oceans except in the Central and Eastern Pacific. In August 2015, a large number of young fish escaped from offshore cages in...
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‘The Wrong Wrights’: A Graphic Novel from Smithsonian Books
In the first volume of the Secret Smithsonian Adventures graphic-novel series from Smithsonian Books, The Wrong Wrights, four middle-school kids visit the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum to...
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Asteroids: Breaking up is Hard to Do
This image, taken by NASA’s Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission in 2000, shows a close-up view of Eros, an asteroid with an orbit that takes it somewhat close to Earth. A new paper argues that the...
View ArticleReptile rejuvenation at National Zoo
Reptiles have a rough exterior that make them seem like they don’t need a lot of very specific care. The reality is quite the opposite. Caretakers at Smithsonian’s National Zoo introduce us to some of...
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Mismatched Twin Stars Spotted in the Delivery Room
The majority of stars in our galaxy come in pairs. In particular, the most massive stars usually have a companion. These fraternal twins tend to be somewhat equal partners when it comes to mass – but...
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Panda Semen from China arrives at Zoo
Mei Xiang, a giant panda at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Caitlin Burrell, research scientist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, returned from China last night...
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Water may Have Been Abundant in First Billion Years after big bang
This Hubble image features dark knots of gas and dust known as “Bok globules,” which are dense pockets in larger molecular clouds. Similar islands of material in the early universe could have held as...
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Scientists Find Andean Bears with Camera Traps In Peru
For the first time, a team from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s (SCBI) Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability collected photo evidence of an Andean bear (also known as...
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The oldest microscope in the museum
In the store-rooms of the National Museum of American History curators recently discovered a small microscope made around 1750 by John Cuff (1708-1772), a talented instrument maker whose shop was...
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Geologic Mapping of Mars
Geologic mapping is an integral part of exploration and understanding a planetary landscape, because it shows the relationships between geologic units and helps delineate the history of a surface. New...
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Oasis in the city
The Smithsonian Pollinator Garden on the grounds of the National Museum of Natural History. (Smithsonain Gardens photo) Pollinators like butterflies, bees, beetles, flies, and moths help to pollinate...
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Smithsonian and Partners To Preserve Earth’s Genomic Plant Diversity
Once captured, genomic samples will be stored in the Smithsonian’s biorepository, a complex of sub-zero freezers which can hold up to 4 million cryo-preserved samples in perpetuity, located at the...
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A Precocious Black Hole
In this illustration a black hole emits part of the accreted matter in the form of energetic radiation (blue), without slowing down star formation within the host galaxy (purple regions). (Illustration...
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