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Volunteers needed for massive Smithsonian digitization project

Today the Smithsonian launches its Transcription Center website to the public. The website is designed to leverage the power of crowds to help the Smithsonian […]

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Deadbeat ant species branched off as parasite inside its own colony

A newly-discovered species of ant supports a controversial theory of species formation. The ant, known to live only under a single eucalyptus tree on the […]

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The State of the Birds: Four critical habitats (videos)

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 […]

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Volunteers needed to preserve astronomical history and promote discovery

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 […]

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Maybe it’s safer riding a rhino. Genet expert poses new ideas on the mammal’s hitchhiking behavior

When some of the world’s largest mammals come your way, most animals steer clear. Not the genet. The small cat-like carnivore was captured on film […]

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Diversity of resident crabs is key to coral survival

Imagine sitting down at your favorite restaurant when something under the table begins painfully pinching and snipping at your toes. This is basically how T. […]

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Nautilus shell deformity puzzles scientists

In the wild, wide milk chocolate-brown stripes adorn the beautiful smooth, white shells of the chambered nautilus, a deep-diving mollusk from the Indo-Pacific Ocean. But […]

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Vultures remarkably tolerant to deadly bacteria, study reveals

A new study of microorganisms living on the skin and in the intestines of North America vultures (black and turkey vultures) has turned up a […]

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A first: Ground-based telescope detects super-earth transit

Astronomers have measured the passing of a super-Earth in front of a bright, nearby Sun-like star using a ground-based telescope for the first time. The […]

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In modern amphibian “ark,” new species added with due diligence

Bright orange with a distinctive call the Panamanian poison dart frog Andinobates geminisae lives in only a small area of the Caribbean Coast of Panama. […]

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Desire for Pacific bluefin puts fish on red list of threatened species

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 […]

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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 […]

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Dark matter guides growth of supermassive black holes

Every massive galaxy has a black hole at its center, and the heftier the galaxy, the bigger its black hole. But why are the two […]

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  • Science & Nature
  • Space
  • astronomy
  • astrophysics
  • Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
  • Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

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What squirms inside a tiny bird? Odd new tapeworm species

Parasites such as nematodes, tapeworms, flukes, ticks and lice are normal in nature and can even be beneficial for animals, including humans, says Anna Phillips, […]

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Golden Frogs with Unique Skin Microbes Survive Frog-Killing Fungus

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 […]

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Newly named mites have thick skins to deter predators

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 […]

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6 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Andean Bears

Giant pandas. Grizzlies. Polar bears. You’ve probably heard a lot about these bear species, but what about Andean bears? To the Quechua and Aymara, the […]

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Clouded leopards, from crisis to success: Q&A with Janine Brown

The clouded leopard, a native of Southeast Asia, is among the most charismatic, secretive and least understood cat species in the world. In 2002, the […]

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Video from Solar Dynamics Observatory wows museum visitors

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 […]

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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 […]

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Meet a new true bug: “Wheelerodemus muhlenbergiae”

Who: Wheelerodemus muhlenbergiae What: A newly discovered species of plant eating bug belonging to the family Blissidae, members of which are found worldwide. W. muhlenbergiae […]

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Jamestown skeletons identified as colony leaders

Within the 1608 church where Pocahontas and John Rolfe married, the skeletal remains of four early settlers were uncovered during a 2013 archaeological dig at […]

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CASSIOPEIA’S HIDDEN GEM: THE CLOSEST ROCKY, TRANSITING PLANET

Skygazers at northern latitudes are familiar with the W-shaped star pattern of Cassiopeia the Queen. This circumpolar constellation is visible year-round near the North Star. […]

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Study reveals Agriculture and Fishing Cause Coral Reef Decline

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 […]

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Stunning deep space photo reveals new details of Orion nebulae

Recently crowned the “astronomy photo of the year” by Slate’s Bad Astronomy blog, a new image of a region of Orion’s belt reveals the deepest […]

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In Western China’s deserts an ancient competition for water resumes

If you were dumped into the middle of a desert, your first instinct would be to look for water—it is, after all, the stuff of […]

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Warming may shrink ancient range of heat loving desert lizard

The Mojave Desert and Death Valley are among the hottest, driest places in North America. So how might climate change impact a resilient reptile that […]

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RADIO TELESCOPES COULD SPOT STARS HIDDEN IN THE GALACTIC CENTER

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 […]

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National Zoo Opens New Home for Appalachian Salamanders

Salamanders are typically elusive animals and adept at hiding, but National Zoo visitors will have a chance to see a variety of different amphibian species […]

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Cosmic “Death Star” is Destroying a Planet

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, […]

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  • Science & Nature
  • Space
  • astronomy
  • astrophysics
  • Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
  • Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

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Newly discovered sea urchin fossil is oldest of its kind

Researchers have uncovered a fossil sea urchin that pushes back a fork in its family tree by 10 million years, according to a new study. […]

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Smithsonian lab receives GreenGov Presidential Award

Throughout 2015 the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Edgewater, Md., has marked its 50th year of operation. Now there’s another reason for SERC to […]

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VERITAS Detects Gamma Rays from Galaxy Halfway Across the Visible Universe

In April 2015, after traveling for about half the age of the universe, a flood of powerful gamma rays from a distant galaxy slammed into […]

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Elusive bush dog widespread in Panama

The bush dog is one of the most enigmatic of the world’s canid species, seldom seen throughout its range in Central and South America. New […]

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Smithsonian Scientists Solve Puzzle of Dramatic Wood Thrush Decline

For the past 50 years, the number of wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) that breed in the United States has decreased more than 60 percent. However, […]

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Smithsonian study reveals white-tailed deer in eastern U.S. are infected with a malaria parasite

Through sheer coincidence, two Smithsonian researchers at the National Zoological Park have discovered that 18 percent of the white-tailed deer population in the Eastern United […]

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Ligo’s Twin Black Holes Might Have Been Born Inside a Single Star

On September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detected gravitational waves from the merger of two black holes 29 and 36 times the […]

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Carotenoid pigments make extinct duck a rare bird indeed

The pink-headed duck was no lucky duck. In 1948 a single specimen of this waterfowl, Rhodonessa caryophyllacea, was donated to the Division of Birds of […]

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Ghost octopod shows how little we know about deep-sea life

A social media celebrity was born last week when the bright lights and camera of NOAA’s remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer zoomed in on a […]

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New golden frog species discovered in Colombia

A team of scientists including a Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) research associate announced the discovery of a new species of pale-gold colored frog from […]

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Discovery: trap-jaw spiders snap prey with super-spidey speed and power

New high-speed videos of 14 species of tiny Mecysmaucheniid “trap-jaw” spiders have revealed that some species can snap their mouth parts shut at incredibly fast […]

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Cownose Rays Aquitted: Not Guilty of Decimating Chesapeake Oysters

Ten years ago, cownose rays in the Atlantic got a bad rap when this species (Rhinoptera bonasus) was accused of excessively eating up scallops in […]

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Acidification, Low Oxygen Can be Deadly Combination for Fish

Higher acidity in coastal waters can make fish more sensitive to low oxygen, causing them to become debilitated and suffocate in water with oxygen levels […]

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