The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum announced that it will receive a $6 million donation from the Thomas W. Haas Foundation to establish an […]

The post Air and Space Museum receives $6 million donation for Public Observatory Program appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, has posed an enduring mystery. Why is it so hot? The Sun’s visible surface is only 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, […]

The post Sun’s loops are displaying an optical illusion appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In June, Odile Madden, materials scientist at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute, was a participant on a 6-day interdisciplinary expedition to a number of beaches […]

The post Q&A: Plastics expert Odile Madden on plastic debris in Alaskan waters appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute are celebrating the birth of a female Przewalski’s (Cha-VAL-skee) horse—the first to be born via artificial insemination. The […]

The post First wild horse species born from artificial insemination at Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Microbes that live in rice paddies, northern peat bogs and other previously unexpected environments are among the bacteria that can generate highly toxic methylmercury, researchers […]

The post Toxic methylmercury-producing microbes more widespread than realized appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Hot spots of mercury pollution in aquatic sediments and soils can contaminate local food webs and threaten ecosystems, but cleaning them up can be expensive […]

The post Toxicity of mercury hot spots can be reduced with application of activated carbon, researchers discover appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Hopes are high for Comet ISON, which has the potential to become the most spectacular comet seen in years. ISON is speeding through the inner […]

The post Micro-Observatory catches comet ISON appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas and oceans, Dolabrifera dolabrifera is a species of sea hare, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Aplysiidae. […]

The post Sea hare chemical fights leishmaniasis appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute rung in 2014 with the hatching of the most endangered species in its collection—a Micronesian kingfisher—Jan. 1. The chick, whose […]

The post Micronesian kingfisher chick hatches at the National Zoo’s Conservation Biology Institute appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new coral species, Psammogorgia hookeri, has been collected by scuba divers from rocky ledges at depths to 25 meters in Peru’s Paracas National Reserve. The […]

The post Fiery-red coral species discovered in the Peruvian Pacific appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Paddling the remote oxbow lakes and bayous of the White River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, the team of scientists was seeking proof of a […]

The post Nest discovery turns back the clock to days of Daniel Boone and Colonial America appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Almost 14 billion years ago, the universe we inhabit burst into existence in an extraordinary event that initiated the Big Bang. In the first fleeting […]

The post Astronomers observe first direct evidence of Cosmic Inflation appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Finding a fossil is the first step, recognizing it for what it truly is, is the real challenge. While closely studying three fossil skeletons from […]

The post One Scary Chicken—New species of large, feathered dinosaur discovered appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Move over Matrix, astronomers have done you one better. They have created the first realistic virtual universe using a computer simulation called “Illustris.” Illustris can […]

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After eluding scientists for nearly 80 years, the Clarion nightsnake (Hypsiglena ochrorhyncha unaocularus), a nocturnal reptilian species that was initially discovered in the first half […]

The post Lost species of nightsnake rediscovered in Mexico appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

For the first time in roughly 2 million years, melting Arctic sea ice is connecting the north Pacific and north Atlantic oceans. The newly opened […]

The post Global warming will open Arctic to invasive species, Smithsonian scientists say appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A research team from the Smithsonian and Arizona State University have developed a new, non-destructive method using spectroscopic analysis to help unravel the complex chemistry […]

The post Feathers yield mysteries of pigment chemistry to spectroscopic analysis appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The world of astronomy has changed. An astronomer used to have to travel to a remote location and endure long, cold nights, patiently guiding a […]

The post Mining astronomical archives yields haul of “red nugget” galaxies appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Investigators from Rock County, Wisconsin, are one step closer to solving the mystery surrounding the death of an unknown teenager thanks to Smithsonian scientists. Christine […]

The post Smithsonian/Wisconsin police narrow search in 20 year mystery appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., are celebrating the anniversary of the first birth of a Przewalski’s horse by artificial […]

The post First Przewalski’s horse born by artificial insemination birthday appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In the United States, natural-gas production from shale rock has increased by more than 700 percent since 2007. Yet scientists still do not fully understand […]

The post Biological fallout of shale-gas production still largely unknown appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Wetlands Wetlands are one of the habitats to benefit most from conservation. The North American Wetlands Conservation Act has enabled strategic conservation projects covering a […]

The post The State of the Birds: Four critical habitats (videos) appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Before iPhones and laptops there were human computers, some of whom worked at the Harvard College Observatory. Women like Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Williamina Fleming, and […]

The post Volunteers needed to preserve astronomical history and promote discovery appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Human skin and gut microbes influence processes from digestion to disease resistance. Despite the fact that tropical forests are the most biodiverse terrestrial ecosystems on […]

The post Smithsonian scientists discover tropical tree microbiome in Panama appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

From bizarre bugs to penis spines on bats, our world is infinitely expanded when we look down the microscope! Check out the stories behind these […]

The post What is that?! Five Amazing Microscopic Images appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) may have detected the dusty hallmarks of an entire family of Pluto-size objects swarming around an adolescent […]

The post Swarms of Pluto-size objects kick up dust around adolescent star appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Eaten raw and thinly sliced, the dark-red belly meat of the Pacific bluefin tuna is highly prized—and priced—for its rich oily flavor by sashimi and […]

The post Desire for Pacific bluefin puts fish on red list of threatened species appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Native Americans and America’s early colonists ate many more blue crabs than modern researchers previously thought, according to a team of scientists studying crab remains […]

The post American Indians, colonists had healthy appetite for crabs, study shows appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Did you know that the blood-sucking parasite known as the tick is actually nearly 900 different species? Or that the tick is not an insect, […]

The post How Do Ticks…Tick? appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Point your smartphone at the skeleton of a vampire bat mounted in a museum case, wait a minute and you will see it wiggle, jump […]

The post New App adds Virtual Flesh to Victorian-era Bone exhibit appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new study published this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society by scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) found unique communities […]

The post Golden Frogs with Unique Skin Microbes Survive Frog-Killing Fungus appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Lurking on leaves in the tropical forests of Brazil microscopic mites in the family Cheyletidae are ambush predators. They wait quietly until another mite crawls […]

The post Newly named mites have thick skins to deter predators appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Stars form when gravity pulls together material within giant clouds of gas and dust. But gravity isn’t the only force at work. Both turbulence and […]

The post As Stars Form, Magnetic Fields Influence Regions Big and Small appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

For the first time, astronomers have detected the presence of complex organic molecules, the building blocks of life, in a protoplanetary disk surrounding a young […]

The post Complex Organic Molecules Discovered in Infant Star System appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Tucked in the shadow of the towering Skylab exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, there’s an inferno raging. Lucky for all of […]

The post Video from Solar Dynamics Observatory wows museum visitors appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Scientists examining the stomach contents of invasive lionfish caught on the inner barrier reef of Belize have discovered that nearly half of the diet of […]

The post In Belize, Critically endangered wrasse now favorite food of invasive lionfish appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A case of mistaken identity turned out to be the key for proving that a prehistoric aquatic reptile did not lay eggs, but rather gave […]

The post Fossil shows Prehistoric Reptile Gave Birth in Open Ocean appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

  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 […]

The post The oldest microscope in the museum appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post Geologic Mapping of Mars appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

It is a simple solution to a wildlife water shortage. During the annual dry season [November through April] in a protected forest in eastern Cambodia, […]

The post This simple trick helped fix a wildlife water shortage in Cambodia appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Smithsonian is embarking on a multi-project partnership with Kickstarter, the funding platform for creative projects. The inaugural project will support conservation of Neil Armstrong’s […]

The post Kickstarter funding: Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Surplus mustard gas canisters and unexploded bombs dumped in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii after WWII, have become, scientists say, a potential reef that is […]

The post Old bombs, chemical weapons now home for deep-sea starfish appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The odds of being attacked and castrated by a variety of parasitic flatworms increases for marine horn snails the farther they are found from the […]

The post Parasitic flatworms flout global biodiversity patterns appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Since researchers began surveys in the 1980s, coral reefs in the Caribbean have undergone widespread change following bleaching and disease epidemics that have reduced the […]

The post Study reveals Agriculture and Fishing Cause Coral Reef Decline appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Warming temperatures may mean more generations of monarch butterflies in North America during summer months, say scientists who recently finished experiments with monarch caterpillars and […]

The post Warming temperatures may mean more monarch generations in some areas of North America appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The center of our Milky Way galaxy is a mysterious place. Not only is it thousands of light-years away, it’s also cloaked in so much […]

The post RADIO TELESCOPES COULD SPOT STARS HIDDEN IN THE GALACTIC CENTER appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A word to the wise: don’t ask a paleontologist to pick a favorite fossil. It’s like asking your mother which child she loves most, or […]

The post Fossils help scientists build a picture of the past—and present appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Here’s some good news that should hit you in the gut. A team of scientists searching thousands of environments for bacteria that produce the deadly […]

The post Survey pinpoints where toxic mercury accumulates in world environments appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Death Star of the movie Star Wars may be fictional, but planetary destruction is real. Astronomers announced today that they have spotted a large, […]

The post Cosmic “Death Star” is Destroying a Planet appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Researchers who examined thousands of migratory birds arriving in the United States from Central and South America have determined that three percent carry ticks species […]

The post Disease carrying ticks hitchhike into U.S. on migratory birds appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.