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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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Astronomers have discovered a new comet that they expect will be visible to the naked eye in early 2013.A preliminary orbit computed by the Minor Planet Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., shows that the comet will come within about 30 million miles of the sun in early 2013, about the same distance as Mercury. The comet will pose no danger to Earth.

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A scientist from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute uses a pick to dislodge the fossil skull of an extinct toothed whale from sediments on the […]

The post Fossil skull of an extinct toothed whale excavated from Panamanian sediments appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The whole-genome analysis of two Tasmanian devils—one that died of a new contagious cancer known as Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD) and one healthy animal—is at the center of a new management strategy to help prevent the extinction of this species.

The post Whole-genome analysis at center of effort to save Tasmanian devil 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.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo has a new addition: Rocky, a male whooping crane (Grus americana). This is the first time the Zoo has exhibited this species in 88 years.

The post Whooping crane will help teach visitors and scientists alike appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian is hosting a series of public satellite broadcasts featuring a multinational team of researchers, engineers and archaeologists who are working in Peru on the origins and engineering of the Inka Road of South America.

The post American Indian Museum to host public broadcasts focusing on the Inka Road appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

New research shows that aurorae on distant "hot Jupiters" could be 100-1000 times brighter than Earthly aurorae. They also would ripple from equator to poles (due to the planet's proximity to any stellar eruptions), treating the entire planet to an otherworldly spectacle.

The post Exoplanet aurora: An out-of-this-world sight appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Alaska’s pristine coastline is ripe for an influx of invasive marine species such as the European green crab and the rough periwinkle (an Atlantic sea snail) warns a new study by a team of scientists from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.

The post Alaska’s cold waters no barrier to invasive marine species, scientists say appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

This Jupiter-sized world reflects less than one percent of the light that falls on it, making it blacker than any planet or moon in our solar system.

The post Darkest known exoplanet, a Jupiter-sized gas giant, discovered appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Researchers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute have discovered why older females are rarely able to reproduce—and hope to use this information to introduce vital […]

The post New finding may enable scientists to bolster genetic diversity of captive cheetah population appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A small-eel like fish newly discovered in a cave in the Republic of Palau in the western Pacific represents an extremely primitive "living fossil."

The post Video: Newly discovered eel a “living fossil” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, more commonly known as the Jefferson bible, is a volume created by Thomas Jefferson containing passages he […]

The post Unlocking the mysteries of Jefferson’s bible with high-tech analysis and microscopic testing appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Kandula, an 8-year-old male Asian elephant at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, recently demonstrated to researchers for the first time that elephants are capable of insightful problem solving.

The post A first: National Zoo elephant shows insightful problem solving appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory discovered the first pair of supermassive black holes in a spiral galaxy similar to the Milky Way. Approximately 160 million light years from Earth, the pair is the nearest known such phenomenon.

The post Newly discovered supermassive black holes are just 160 million light years from Earth appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Zoo’s Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., is celebrating the recent hatching of two Micronesian kingfisher (Todiramphus c. cinnamominus) chicks, a female and male, born July 25 and Aug. 20, respectively.

The post Zoo celebrates birth of two Micronesian kingfishers, a species extinct in the wild appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Now, for the first time scientists at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute have developed a fast and reliable method to date silk.

The post New technique for dating silk developed by Smithsonian conservation team appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

NASA's Kepler spacecraft has spotted a planet that alternately runs late and
early in its orbit because a second, "invisible" world is tugging on it.
This is the first definite detection of a previously unknown planet using
this method.

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The fossil represents the youngest nodosaur ever discovered, and the only known specimen of a new genus and species of dinosaur that lived approximately 110 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous Era.

The post New dinosaur species named from hatchling fossil donated to National Museum of Natural History appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

These green crabs have been doing a number on native shellfish. They eat a lot of clams. And they're a very cosmopolitan species—they've now spread all over, to places as far afield as the West Coast of the U.S. and South Africa.

The post Location matters: For invasive aquatic species, it’s better to start upstream appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new study on the dodo’s island home of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, paints a picture of this unusual bird as an intrepid survivor on par with the giant tortoise for its resiliency.

The post Dodo bird a resilient island survivor before the arrival of humans, study reveals appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Two scientists at the Smithsonian Institution have been honored with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for their innovative research and scientific leadership. It is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.

The post President Barack Obama recognizes outstanding scientists at the Smithsonian appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Humanity's most complex ground-based astronomy observatory, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), has officially opened for astronomers at its 16,500-foot high desert plateau in northern Chile.

The post Center for Astrophysics project gets first look through new ALMA telescope 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.

The first DNA barcoding survey of crustaceans living on samples of dead coral taken from the Indian, Pacific and Caribbean oceans suggests that the diversity of organisms living on the world’s coral reefs—one of the most endangered habitats on Earth—is seriously underestimated.

The post New DNA study suggests coral reef biodiversity is seriously underestimated 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.

A fragment of whale rib found in a North Carolina strip mine is offering scientists a rare glimpse at the interactions between prehistoric sharks and whales some 3- to 4- million years ago during the Pliocene.

The post Details of ancient shark attack preserved in fossil whale bone 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.

Researchers from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and other partnering organizations spent two weeks at the end of November collecting sperm and embryonic cells during spawning from two species of coral and have built the first frozen repository for the Great Barrier Reef.

The post Smithsonian scientists help build first frozen repository of Great Barrier Reef coral appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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.

In a laboratory at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md., scientist João Canning Clode and colleagues tested the cold-water tolerances of a number of invasive green porcelain crabs.

The post Cold spells spell trouble for warm-weather invasives appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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.

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 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.

Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough, left, talks with Carlos Jaramillo, scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, at a research site near the Panama […]

The post Wayne Clough & Carlos Jaramillo, at a research site near the Panama Canal. 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.

A new X-ray study of the remains of an exploded star indicates that the supernova that disrupted the massive star may have turned it inside out in the process.

The post Remains of exploded star indicate supernova turned it inside out appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The crustaceans are much more effective when they fight together than when they fight alone, a process McKeon calls the Multiple Defender Effect. “It is a clear example of synergy, and one that underscores the importance of biodiversity in the ocean.”

The post Preventing home invasions means fighting side-by-side for coral-dwelling crabs and shrimp appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new study by astrophysicists at the University of Utah and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., has found a new explanation for the growth of supermassive black holes: they repeatedly capture and swallow single stars from pairs of stars that get too close.

The post Steady diet of binary star partners makes black holes grow “supermassive” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The snakes are not only eating the area’s birds, but also the birds’ eggs straight from the nest.

The post Invasive pythons in Florida now stealing bird eggs straight from the nest appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

More than 70 scientists from 9 institutions including the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, sequenced the entire genome of the butterfly genus Heliconius, a brightly colored favorite of collectors and scientists since the Victorian era.

The post Heliconius butterfly genome explains wing pattern diversity 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.