The awarded film features STRI marine biologist Héctor M. Guzman diving with a group of five whale sharks while traveling in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. In the video, Guzmán tags a radiotransmitter to one of the sharks in order to follow its voyages.

The post Whale sharks featured in award-winning documentary following the work of Tropical Research Institute’s Héctor Guzman appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Astronomers are piecing together the reasons for these huge energy outputs, while sorting out why our own galaxy is so modest. The two primary suspects are bursts of star formation that produce many hot young stars, and processes associated with accretion of material onto a supermassive black hole at a galaxy's nucleus.

The post Luminosity of extreme galaxy most likely driven by star formation appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.


They found that the molars of fruit-eating species had sharp outer edges that likely allow them to pierce tough fruit skin and pulp... By contrast, the molars of insect-eating species were less complex, possibly because of their smoother shearing surfaces.

The post From chewing tough insects to soft fruit, bat teeth are highly specialized appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Recent work has added dozens of new measurements to star-forming regions in the Milky Way. These measurements have changed the map of the Milky Way, indicating our galaxy has four spiral arms, not two, as previously thought.

The post Very Large Baseline Array telescope is helping Smithsonian astronomers remap Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has discovered the first direct evidence for a superfluid, a bizarre, friction-free state of matter, at the core of a neutron star.

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Smithsonian WILD! a new Web site from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute designed to showcase the use of motion-triggered 'camera traps' by Smithsonian researchers, has been launched at the Web address siwild.si.edu.

The post Surprise! Rare animals caught on camera at “Smithsonian WILD!” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Tiny Antarctic marine creatures collected 100 years ago by British Royal Navy explorer Robert Falcon Scott are giving scientists new clues about polar environmental change.

The post Tiny creatures collected 100 years ago confirm accelerating carbon uptake in Antarctic Ocean appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Evidence for a diversified sea-based economy among North American inhabitants dating from 12,200 to 11,400 years ago is emerging from three sites on California's Channel Islands.

The post New archaeological evidence reveals California’s Channel Islands as North America’s earliest seafaring economy appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Funded by BP through the Florida Institute of Oceanography, the scientists will make the 10-day trip aboard the institute’s 115-foot research vessel. The divers, scientists and photographers will document hard bottoms of Florida, from the Keys to the Panhandle, to gain a better understanding of these sponge- and coral-dominated communities

The post Gulf of Mexico survey will benchmark diversity of ocean floor appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

For more than three decades JoGayle Howard dedicated her life and work to reproducing endangered species.

The post JoGayle Howard, National Zoological Park pioneer in reproductive biology, dies appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Smithsonian scientists report fledgling catbirds in suburban habitats are at their most vulnerable stage of life, with almost 80 percent killed by predators before they reach adulthood. Almost half of the deaths were connected to domestic cats.

The post Alarming number of fledgling, suburban catbirds fall prey to domestic cats, study finds appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

As researchers investigate the impact of the Burmese python in the Everglades, scientists from the Smithsonian Institution, South Florida Natural Resources Center and the University of Florida examined the snake’s predation of the area’s birds. They found that birds, including endangered species, accounted for 25 percent of the python’s diet in the Everglades.

The post Invasive Burmese pythons are taking a toll on Florida’s native birds appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Over 170 molecules have been detected in space, from simple diatomic molecules like CO to complex organic molecules with over 70 atoms, such as fullerene. […]

The post Astronomers explore the rich chemistry surrounding an evolved star appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The National Zoological Park’s 23-year-old male red-ruffed lemur, Joven, enjoys a tasty St. Patrick’s Day frozen treat made of apples, pears, cucumbers, honeydew and diluted […]

The post A St. Partick’s Day treat for the Zoo’s red-ruffed lemur appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Meet Sahelanthropus tchadensis. This newly unveiled bust by artist John Gurche is now on view in the the Hall of Human Origins at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

The post Artist’s recreation of 7- to 6-million-year-old early human unveiled in Hall of Human Origins appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

There is a new candidate for coldest known star: a brown dwarf with about the same temperature as a hot cup of coffee. That’s cool enough to begin crossing the blurry line between small cold stars and big hot planets.

The post New candidate for “coldest star” is same temperature as a hot cup of coffee appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Faced with insufficient time and inadequate library resources to tackle the problem on their own, they instead posted a catalog of specimen images to Facebook and turned to their network of colleagues for help.

The post Facebook friends help scientists quickly identify nearly 5,000 fish specimens collected in Guyana appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The discovery of a pattern of X-ray “stripes” in the remains of an exploded star may provide the first direct evidence that a cosmic event […]

The post X-ray stripes in exploded star may reveal highest energies of cosmic rays produced in our Galaxy appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

To help regulators and engineers develop and test such treatment systems, and ultimately enforce these standards, a team of researchers developed a statistical model to see how to count small, scarce organisms in large volumes of water accurately.

The post Smithsonian researchers help block ship-borne bioinvaders with new screening strategy appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Looking at more than 200 skulls dating to 20th and 16th century Spain, as well as approximately 50 skulls from 20th century Portugal, the researchers found that craniofacial differences between contemporary men and women are less pronounced than they were in the 16th century.

The post Study finds facial structure of men and women has become more similar over time appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has been selected by the National Science Foundation as the recipient of a 12-meter (39-foot) radio antenna designed for submillimeter-wavelength astronomy. The ALMA Vertex Prototype Antenna was one of three antennas built as prototypes for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, a 66-dish radio observatory currently being constructed in Chile.

The post Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics to own and operate ALMA Vertex Prototype Antenna appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Astronomers have just discovered an amazing pair of white dwarfs whirling around each other once every 39 minutes. This is the shortest-period pair of white dwarfs now known. Moreover, in a few million years they will collide and merge to create a single star.

The post Two dying stars to be reborn as one…in a few million years appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Sita (SEE-ta), a 2-year-old female clouded leopard at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., gave birth to these two cubs on Monday, […]

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According to new research by Nick Stone and Avi Loeb (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), upcoming sky surveys might offer astronomers a way to catch a gorging black hole "in the act."

The post Astronomers seek monster black hole gorging on a buffet of stars appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

BROOKINGS, S.D. — Julie DeJong can’t set foot on the ground of an Oregon marsh to gather duck eggs on a spring day in 1875. […]

The post Work of 19th-century oologists enables researcher to track climate change with duck eggs appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A remarkable 5,000-year-old deposit of bones representing an entire herd of Persian gazelles recently discovered in northeastern Syria is firm evidence, scientists say, of an ancient hunting practice largely responsible for the near extinction of gazelles in this region today.

The post Archaeological evidence confirms mass hunting of gazelles 5,000 years ago appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

For decades, astronomers divided supernovas into two groups: one from young stars that explode and one from old stars that explode. They now have evidence for a new, third type of supernova explosion whose source is still a mystery.

The post New type of exploding star discovered appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

An international team of astronomers has revealed details of a “super-exotic” exoplanet that would make the planet Pandora in the movie Avatar pale in comparison.

The post Astronomers unveil portrait of newly discovered “super-exotic super-Earth” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The expanded and remodeled Mathias Laboratory, named in honor of U.S. Senator Charles "Mac" Mathias Jr. (1922-2010) (R-Md.) will have a low environmental impact on all fronts, from where it gets its power to where it gets its materials.

The post New Mathias Lab at Environmental Research Center will have low environmental impact appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The new research reveals that from the period between 1100-1600 small agricultural settlements up and down the Delaware River Valley caused a 50-percent increase in sediment runoff into the Delaware River.

The post Study reveals environmental impact of American Indian farms centuries before Europeans arrived in North America appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Image right: A sea of dunes, sculpted by the wind into long lines, surrounds the northern polar cap of Mars, covering an area as big […]

The post Mars polar dunes appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A study published in the journal Global Change Biology finds that while fertilizer has been the dominant source of nitrogen pollution in Caribbean coastal ecosystems for the past 50 years, such pollution is on the decline, thanks in part to the introduction of more advanced, environmentally responsible agricultural practices during the last decade.

The post National Museum of Natural History’s coral collection used in Caribbean agricultural and sewage pollution study appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Researchers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and partnering organizations will build a frozen repository of Great Barrier Reef coral sperm and embryonic cells. Genetic banks composed of frozen biomaterials hold strong promise for basic and applied research and conservation of species and genetic variation.

The post Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute to help create frozen repository of sperm and embryonic cells for Great Barrier Reef corals appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Smithsonian scientists have discovered hundreds of new species around the world. To mark this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity, May 22, here is a […]

The post Slideshow: Species discovered by Smithsonian researchers the past decade appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

By compiling and comparing long-term data from stranding records and visual sighting records, both taken from nearly every ocean basin in the world, Pyenson verified that stranding records “faithfully reflect the number of species and the relative abundance” found in live surveys.

The post Stranding records are faithful reflection of live whale and dolphin populations, new study reveals appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Collecting trips for Charles Doolittle Walcott (1850-1927), paleontologist and fourth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, were often a family affair. This 1910 photograph shows their […]

The post Charles Doolittle Walcott (1850-1927) family campsite in the Canadian Rockies appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

This new research, which involved both surface and aerial surveys, has revealed an enormous aggregation of whale sharks—the largest ever reported—with up to 420 individuals off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.

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Puffer fish (Tetraodontidae) are masters of self-defense. When threatened they blow up like a balloon. Not only does this make them harder to swallow, but […]

The post Puffer fish voucher library appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The National Zoo’s great cat program recently expanded with the arrival of two-and-a-half-year-old female Sumatran tiger, Damai, who is now out of quarantine and spending time outside in her exhibit where visitors can see her.

The post Damai, a two-and-a-half-year-old female Sumatran tiger, makes her debut at the National Zoo appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A local supernova factory has recently started production, according to a wealth of new data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory on the Carina Nebula.

The post The Carina Nebula, a local supernova factory, is ramping up production appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The National Zoo has received a breeding pair of Asian small-clawed otters at Asia Trail for the first time. Mac, a three-year-old male from the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, Wash., and Smidge, a five-year-old female from the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, arrived in April and are now in their exhibit.

The post Keepers are optimistic about Zoo’s new breeding pair of Asian small-clawed otters appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A description and photos of the green-headed tanager (Tangara seledon), a bird native to east-central South America, can be found in the Species of the […]

The post Green-headed Tanager (Tangara seledon) of east-central South America appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Using the deepest X-ray image ever taken, astronomers found the first direct evidence that massive black holes were common in the early universe. This discovery from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows that very young black holes grew more aggressively than previously thought, in tandem with the growth of their host galaxies.

The post Chandra X-Ray Observatory finds massive black holes common in early universe appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Astronomers have probed into the distant universe and discovered that galaxies display one of two distinct behaviors: they are either awake or asleep, actively forming stars or are not forming any new stars at all.

The post Astronomers find that galaxies are either asleep or awake appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Researchers from the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Florida have announced the discovery of a bone fragment, approximately 13,000 years old, in Florida with an incised image of a mammoth or mastodon.

The post Bone fragment is only Ice Age artwork from America to show a “proboscidean” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new genetic study by a team of Cuban and American researchers confirms that American crocodiles are hybridizing with wild populations of critically endangered Cuban crocodiles, which may cause a population decline of this species found only in the Cuban Archipelago.

The post Genetic study confirms American crocodiles and critically endangered Cuban crocodiles are hybridizing in the wild appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

To prevent the loss of Inupiaq words for ice and the knowledge that it embodies, Igor Krupnik, ethnologist at the Arctic Studies Center of the National Museum of Natural History, and Wales native Winton Weyapuk Jr., recently compiled an illustrated dictionary of some 120 Kingikmiut words used in Wales to describe different types of ice.

The post Dictionary captures traditional ice knowledge of the Inupiaq people of Wales, Alaska appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Scientists and educators from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and George Mason University broke ground June 29 on a green-design conservation complex that embodies the concept of the living classroom.

The post Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and George Mason University expand partnership appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Gray whales survived many cycles of global cooling and warming over the past few million years, likely by exploiting a more varied diet than they do today, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, and Smithsonian Institution paleontologists.

The post Varied diet has allowed gray whales to survive millions of years, study reveals appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

This image of lawyer Clarence S. Darrow (center) talking with group of men in Dayton, Tenn., in July 1925 is one of 10 photographs from […]

The post Scopes Trial photographs released on Web by Smithsonian Archives appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.