Both investigations were carried out through DNA analysis of fish tissue performed in a laboratory using a U.S. Food and Drug Administration protocol that originated largely at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. DNA from the fish in question was identified by matching it against a database of DNA fish barcodes that again, has its origins at the Smithsonian.

The post Smithsonian research with DNA barcoding is making seafood substitution easier to catch appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Astronomers using NASA's Kepler mission have detected two Earth-sized planets orbiting a distant star. This discovery marks a milestone in the hunt for alien worlds, since it brings scientists one step closer to their ultimate goal of finding a twin Earth.

The post Two Earth-sized planets discovered orbiting a distant Sun-like star appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

  This photo shows developing embryonic cells of the coral species Acropora tenuis, from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Researchers from the Smithsonian Conservation […]

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As a coastal archaeologist and expert in prehistoric and historic settlement sites in the Chesapeake Bay region, Darrin Lowery of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and University of Deleware, is carefully watching the effects of coastal erosion and rising sea levels on coastal archaeological sites.

The post Rising seas, development are altering prehistoric artifacts in the Chesapeake’s tidal zone appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Scientists studying genetic variation and gene flow in a population of tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) in California’s Mojave Desert, were surprised recently to discover that two roads built in the desert in the 1970s had a noticeable impact on the population’s genetic structure.

The post Why did the tortoise cross the road? A recent study indicates few do. appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

An excavation at a site in South Africa has unearthed the 190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus–revealing significant clues about the evolution of complex reproductive behavior in early dinosaurs.

The post 190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site discovered in South Africa appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

"X-Ray Vision: Fish Inside Out," is a new exhibition of striking x-rays that reveal the complex bone structure of fishes in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

The post New exhibition looks at fishes from the “Inside Out” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A box jellyfish from the Caribbean appears to have recently become established in the red mangroves of Florida near Boca Raton.

The post Caribbean box jellyfish now thriving in southern Florida appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute has released the first completely portable bilingual species identification guide for the shore fishes of the tropical Eastern Pacific as a free iPhone application.

The post First fish App from the Smithsonian free on iTunes. “The Smithsonian Guide to the Shore Fishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new study of marmosets, small South American monkeys, indicates that obesity may begin very early in life and suggests that marmosets may be a helpful model for obesity in humans.

The post Is obesity predestined at infancy? Marmoset study may help scientists find out. appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Observations by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have come up with a new class of planet, a waterworld enshrouded by a thick, steamy atmosphere. It’s smaller than Uranus but larger than Earth.

The post Waterworld enshrouded by a thick, steamy atmosphere is new class of planet appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The discovery of two new extinct camel species by scientists from the University of Florida and the Smithsonian is casting new light on the history of the tropics, a region containing more than half the world's biodiversity and some of its most important ecosystems.

The post Two new species of extinct camels discovered in Panama Canal excavations appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Slithering in at 48 feet long and weighing an estimated one-and-a-half tons, the largest snake the world has ever seen is being brought back to […]

The post Largest snake the world has ever seen is being brought back to life by Smithsonian Channel appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A newly described species of toothed whale that lived some 3-4 million years ago during the Pliocene, is causing scientists to reconsider what is known about its living cold-water relatives: narwhals and belugas.

The post New fossil whale species raises mystery regarding why narwhals and belugas live only in cold water appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Jeholopsyche liaoningensis is a new genus and species of flying insect from northeastern China, recently revealed in two new fossil specimens.

The post Meet the 125-million-year-old pollinator “Jeholopsyche liaoningensis” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

An international team of scientists has discovered an ‘ordinary’ black hole in the galaxy Centaurus A. This is the first time that a normal-size black hole has been detected away from the immediate vicinity of our own Galaxy.

The post “Ordinary” black hole discovered in a galaxy 12-million-light-years away appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The same device used to detect early warning signs of heart disease in humans will now benefit two male sub-adult gorillas at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

The post Heart disease study to benefit lowland gorillas at the National Zoo appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

When most people look at a forest, they see walking trails, deer yards, or firewood for next winter. But scientists at the Harvard Forest and […]

The post Development will reduce carbon stored in forests, Smithsonian & Harvard scientists predict appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Biologists from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, the Papua New Guinea National Museum, and the U.S. Geological Survey have discovered a new species of gecko, adorned like a bumblebee with black-and-gold bands and rows of skin nodules that enhance its camouflage on the tropical forest floor.

The post New ‘Bumblebee’ gecko discovered in Papua New Guinea appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Incredibly, the narwhale’s only visible tooth is outside of its mouth. Its tusk, in fact, is a giant canine tooth—that can grow as long as 9 feet!

The post For a dentist, the narwhal’s smile is a mystery of evolution appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Two new species of blind snakes found living on small, low-lying atolls in the Caroline Islands, are an unexpected discovery that is quite difficult to explain,

The post Not on a plane, but how did blind snakes ever get to the Pacific’s Caroline Islands? appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Supermassive black holes snack infrequently, making the recent discovery of a black hole in the act of feeding all the more exciting to astronomers.

The post Scientists catch black hole in a feeding frenzy appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The National Museum of Natural History will construct a new dinosaur exhibition hall made possible by a $35 million donation from David H. Koch, executive vice president of Koch Industries and philanthropist.

The post $35-million donation will build new dinosaur hall at National Museum of Natural History appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The only explanation for such symmetry across these vast distances, explains Smithsonian anthropologist Dennis Stanford, is that the method of creating the points was handed down from person to person.

The post 3-D imaging adds remarkable new understanding of North America’s mysterious Clovis people appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The specimen’s skull measures 24 centimeters, roughly the size of a regulation NFL football. The shell which was recovered nearby – and is believed to belong to the same species – measures 172 centimeters, or about 5 feet 7 inches, long.

The post Giant prehistoric turtle from Colombia chomped everything in sight–including crocodiles! appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Scientists from the Smithsonian and University of British Columbia have discovered a sensory organ in the chin of rorqual whales that communicates to the brain. It orchestrates the dramatic adjustments needed in jaw position and throat-pouch expansion to make lunge feeding successful

The post Scientists discover sensory organ in baleen whales that choreographs movement of their massive jaws and throat-pouch appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Last summer and this spring Boy Scout Arthur Carlton-Jones (shown here), working in conjunction with researchers at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md., […]

The post Save your local fishing hole appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Their research revealed that the types of waterbirds that inhabit urban estuaries are influenced not only by urban development, but also by a far more natural process―rain.

The post Scientists find that rain may not always be a welcome thing to waterbirds appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The loud love calls of tiny túngara frogs (Physalaemus pustulosus) that reverberate through the nighttime jungles of Panama are bold advertisements for a suitable mate. […]

The post With picky eating, bats avoid poison prey appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Smithsonian herpetologist George Zug answers a few questions about skinks....

The post Speaking of skinks: short limbed, long tailed & prehistoric appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Imagine a gas giant planet spanning three times more sky than the Moon looming over the molten landscape of a lava world. This alien vista exists in the newly discovered two-planet system of Kepler-36.

The post Close encounters between planetary systems of Kepler-36 stun astrophysicists appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Accumulations of drifting snow are the most plausible explanation for the presence of a number of puzzling alluvial fan deposits found inside large impact craters on Mars

The post Melting snow likely created fan deposits inside Martian craters, geologists say appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Coral reefs worldwide are being destroyed by changes in ocean temperature and chemistry faster than at any time since the last reef crisis 55 million years ago, thousands of marine scientists warned from the International Coral Reef Symposium in Cairns, Australia.

The post Coral reef emergency: 2,600 scientists call for worldwide rescue appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The most peculiar feature of this new turtle is its extremely circular shell, about the size and shape of a big car tire.

The post Prehistoric turtle was size and shape of a big car tire appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have detected X-rays emitted by the debris from the explosion of supernova 1957D.

The post Astronomers discover X-rays from a young supernova remnant appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

JoVonn Hill, a research associate with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station at Mississippi State University, recently borrowed 32,000 grasshoppers from the Smithsonian’s National […]

The post Mississippi State borrows grasshopper collection from Smithsonian appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The discovery of the first transiting circumbinary multi-planet system: two planets orbiting around a pair of stars, is announced by astronomers.

The post Planetary system orbiting two suns discovered by astronomers appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The dying star, which lit the galactic scene, is the most distant stellar explosion of its kind ever studied.

The post Dying star illuminates distant galaxy, lifting veil of interstellar darkness for astronomers appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A rising spike in West Nile virus is taking health officials across the country by surprise as this year more than 2,600 people in 45 states and the District of Columbia, have been stricken with severe symptoms of this mosquito-transmitted disease.

The post As robins disperse, West Nile mosquitoes switch diet to humans: Q&A with Smithsonian ornithologist Peter Marra appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

stronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to find evidence our Milky Way Galaxy is embedded in an enormous halo of hot gas that extends for hundreds of thousands of light years.

The post Chandra X-ray Observatory shows Milky Way is surrounded by halo of hot gas appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute are recommending that Panama adopt revised traffic patterns and slower speeds for vessels crossing the Gulf of Panama to reduce the risk of collisions between ships and whales.

The post Ships need to slow down for whales in Gulf of Panama, scientists advise appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new study finds that since 1985, half of Australia's Great Barrier Reef coral has died.

The post Smithsonian marine biologist Nancy Knowlton discusses Great Barrier Reef coral dieoff on PBS NewsHour appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

What scientists found was that the domestic turkey that ends up on the dinner table exhibits less genetic variation than its ancestral wild counterparts, which were first domesticated in 800 B.C..

The post Today’s domestic turkeys are genetically distinct from wild ancestors appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A specimen recently pulled from deep in the southwest Atlantic may represent a new species of squid, say scientist who have studied the animal’s unusual morphology. But then again, it may not…

The post As they grow some squid change dramatically, making scientists cautious about naming new species appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientists and collaborators have found that the island scrub-jay’s population on Santa Cruz Island—its only habitat—is significantly smaller than previously believed […]

The post New count reveals scrub-jay on Santa Cruz Island is among rarest bird species in the U.S. appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Frontispiece illustration of “flies” from the 1882 book American game fishes, their habits, habitat, and peculiarities; how, when, and where to angle for them, featuring […]

The post Illustration from American game fishes, their habits, habitat, and peculiarities appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The western long-beaked echidna, one of the world's five egg-laying species of mammal, became extinct in Australia thousands of years ago…or did it?

The post Scientists discover long-beaked echidna may not be a thing of the past in Australia appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Found in well preserved shale deposits the fossils are so detailed that scientists were able to determine they represent two previously unknown species.

The post Discovery of new prehistoric mosquitoes reveal these blood-suckers have changed little in 46 million years appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Archaeologists working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama have discovered a cluster of 12 unusual stones in the back of a small, prehistoric rock-shelter near the town of Boquete.

The post 4,000-year-old shaman’s stones discovered near Boquete, Panama appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

NASA's next Small Explorer (SMEX) mission to study the little-understood lower levels of the sun's atmosphere has been fully integrated and final testing is underway.

The post NASA’s IRIS spacecraft scheduled to launch in April appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.