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.

The recent field of invasion biology faces a new challenge as 19 eminent ecologists issue a call to "end the bias against non-native species" in the journal Nature.

The post Is ecology biased against non-native species? 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.

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.

The 5.8-magnitude earthquake that shook the eastern United States on the afternoon of Tuesday, Aug. 23, caused minor damage to some of the Smithsonian's natural history collections. All public Smithsonian museums are open and have been determined safe for visitors and staff.

The post Earthquake causes minor damage to Smithsonian natural history collections appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

What Google is attempting for books, the University of California, Berkeley, plans to do for the world's vertebrate specimens: store them in "the cloud."

The post New “cloud-based” storage initiative to make vertebrate research collections available worldwide appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new study by a team of scientists from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, the National University of Singapore and the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts have unlocked the secret to mate binding in orb web spiders, and revealed just how it calms the cannibalistic female spider.

The post Suitor’s gentle massage soothes aggressive, cannibalistic female spiders, researchers find appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Researchers who will study the microbial communities living on the skins of frogs that are surviving the fungal scourge of chytridiomycosis, deadly to the frogs.

The post Research team to explore how microbial diversity defends against disease appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Ornithologists Carla Dove and Storrs Olson used 700- to 1,100-year-old feathers from a long extinct species of Hawaiian ibis to help determine the bird’s place in the ibis family tree. The feathers are the only known plumage of any of the prehistorically extinct birds that once inhabited the Hawaiian Islands.

The post Fossil feathers from a Hawaiian cave help reveal lineage of extinct, flightless ibis appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In 2011, scholars from three institutions—National Museum of American History Curators Carlene Stephens and Shari Stout, Library of Congress Digital Conversion Specialist Peter Alyea and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Scientists Carl Haber and Earl Cornell—came together in a newly designed preservation laboratory at the Library of Congress to recover sound from those recordings made more than 100 years ago.

The post Digital technology allows Alexander Graham Bell’s 1880s disc recordings to be played again appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The image shows one of the most active and turbulent regions of star birth in our galaxy, a region called Cygnus X.

The post New Spitzer Space Telescope image shows space nursery appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Scientists conducting deep-sea research in the Galapagos have described a new species of catshark. The new shark is approximately a foot long and has a chocolate-brown coloration with pale, irregularly distributed spots on its body. The spotted patterns appear to be unique to each individual.

The post New species of deep-sea catshark described from the Galapagos appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Sun’s Active Region 1429 has been shooting off flares and coronal mass ejections since it rotated into Earth’s view on March 2, 2012. Two X-class flares have been released overnight, an X1.3 and an X5.4.

The post X-Class flares released by the Sun, March 6, captured by Atmospheric Imaging Assembly appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

This composite image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory) shows the distribution of dark matter, galaxies, and hot […]

The post Chandra image of the core of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520 appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Smithsonian astronomers have joined their colleagues from other observatories in a daring new venture: to photograph the giant black hole at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy.

The post Smithsonian astronomers and colleagues to photograph black hole at our galaxy’s heart appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

To celebrate its 22nd anniversary in orbit, the Hubble Space Telescope has released a dramatic new image of the star-forming region 30 Doradus, also known […]

The post New image of the star-forming region 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula Nebula 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 Age of Plastic: Ingenuity + Responsibility” a public Smithsonian Symposium that will take an uncommon look at the most common of materials. On Thursday, June […]

The post The Age of Plastic: Symposium June 7 & 8, 2012 appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A July 12 news alert from NASA indicates a X1.4 class solar flare erupted from the center of the Sun, peaking July 12 at 12:52 P.M.

The post Coronal mass ejection from July 12 solar flare headed toward Earth; minor geomagnetic storm activity predicted appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Today, astronomers are releasing the highest-resolution images ever taken of the Sun's corona, or million-degree outer atmosphere, in an extreme-ultraviolet wavelength of light.

The post Astronomers release highest-resolution images ever of the Sun’s corona appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Scientists at the University of Arizona and in California have completed the most challenging large astronomical mirror ever made.

The post First of seven mirrors completed for Giant Magellan Telescope appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Small migratory male birds that winter in a stressful environment age faster than those that winter in a high-quality habitat, according to research stemming from […]

The post Small migratory birds age faster in stressful places, study reveals appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Cheeseburgers. Ice cream. French fries. These are a few of the culprits, doctors warn us, responsible for atherosclerosis, a disease commonly known as hardening of […]

The post Ancient mummies reveal atherosclerosis is very likely just a part of aging appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

This simulated image shows the Giant Magellan Telescope in operation in Chile while deploying lasers for its adaptive-optics system. The GMT is scheduled to begin […]

The post Giant Magellan Telescope appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Magnetic field measurement techniques have long enabled scientists to probe the internal structure of biological and material samples. For example, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides […]

The post Magnetic Imaging of Living Cells appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In 2009, during an expedition by a Russian research ship, a small length of yellow flesh about 5 centimeters long was dredged up from the […]

The post Last seen 140 years ago, deep sea worm resurfaces, delighting scientists appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The center of the Milky Way galaxy, with The supermassive black hole Sagittarius A–at center–is revealed in this image. Astronomers have used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to […]

The post Sagittarius A: Center of the Milky Way appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Roses, carnations and lilies are today among the most popular flowers people use to express sympathy and condolence. The simple act of sending flowers to […]

The post Funeral flowers in the Stone Age: Q&A with Smithsonian anthropologist Reuven Yeshurun appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Santa Claus and his sleigh full of gifts has been upstaged early this holiday season by news of autonomous drones possibly delivering packages to your […]

The post Package-delivering drones? Q&A with Roger Connor of the National Air and Space Museum appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new species of mite discovered recently in Ohio is so tiny that it lives in the space between particles in sandy, impoverished soils. Despite […]

The post New dragon-like mite found in Ohio is gentle, reclusive appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Turtles have long been the subject of one the most contentious questions in evolutionary biology: where do they fit among vertebrates in the evolutionary tree […]

The post Turtle lineage solved in new study appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Defining what makes a star “Sun-like” is as difficult as defining what makes a planet “Earth-like.” A solar twin should have a temperature, mass, and […]

The post Sun-like stars reveal their ages appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In theory, crabs of the species Planes major should stay true to their mates for life. Heterosexual pairs of these small crustaceans live on loggerhead […]

The post Faithful crabs engage in risky behavior when opportunity arises 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.

The challenges of conceiving only get greater as we get older. But if you have some of the most prized genes within your entire species, […]

The post High hopes for 60 year-old crocodile to become mother again appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

1. Centaurus A – A split-personality elliptical galaxy Centaurus A isn’t your typical elliptical galaxy. Its most striking feature is a dark dust lane across […]

The post Five Images of our universe that will astound you 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.

Three new species of dragon-esque woodlizards have been discovered in the Andean cloud forests of Peru and Ecuador. The new species differ from their closest […]

The post 3 new species of dwarf dragons discovered in Ecuador & Peru appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

For the first time, researchers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Migratory Bird Center have accurately tracked small migratory ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla) to their tropical […]

The post Miniaturized GPS Tags Allow Tracking of Small Songbirds for first time 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.

Like other kids at summer camp, a group of youngsters in the cities of Miami, Okla. and Fort Wayne, Ind. play games, work on crafts […]

The post Digitized, Searchable Archives Help Revive ‘Sleeping’ Languages 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.

When the population of one of the Chesapeake Bay’s most famous residents, the blue crab, went into rapid decline due to overfishing, the Smithsonian stepped […]

The post Waiter, There’s a Tag on My Crab! appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The collection of rocky planets orbiting distant stars has just grown by one, and the latest discovery is the most intriguing one to date. The […]

The post Astronomers Eager to Get a Whiff of Newfound Venus-like Planet appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Most people think of black holes as giant vacuum cleaners sucking in everything that gets too close. But the supermassive black holes at the centers […]

The post Event Horizon Telescope Reveals Magnetic Fields at Milky Way’s Central Black Hole appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

As the Zika virus is rapidly taking hold around the world, health officials are racing to find its cause and prevent further spread of the […]

The post Smithsonian’s mosquito collection is weapon in battle against Zika appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Keith Gagnon, a 9-year-old fascinated by birds, talks about the importance of bird conservation and why birds really matter. Step outside your house in the […]

The post Why Birds Really Matter: Keith Gagnon appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The center of the Milky Way galaxy is currently a quiet place where a supermassive black hole slumbers, only occasionally slurping small sips of hydrogen […]

The post The Milky Way’s blowout bash 6 million years ago! appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Ricardo Moreno, research associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama and director of the Yaguará Panamá Foundation, reported at the 20th Congress […]

The post 26 jaguars killed in Panama so far this year appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Food is scarce in the deep, dark regions of the ocean where barbeled dragonfishes and their relatives dwell. Known as the Stomiidae, some of these […]

The post Odd anatomy: flexible joint between skull and spine allow dragonfish to open wide appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.