Investigators from Rock County, Wisconsin, are one step closer to solving the mystery surrounding the death of an unknown teenager thanks to Smithsonian scientists. Christine […]

The post Smithsonian/Wisconsin police narrow search in 20 year mystery appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

If you love new animal species and have an Internet connection, chances are you have already seen the beautiful new golden bat species, Myotis midastactus. […]

The post Bolivia’s golden bat: one of six new species found by the Smithsonian’s bat detective appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post Volunteers needed for massive Smithsonian digitization project appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post Deadbeat ant species branched off as parasite inside its own colony appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

What crunchy food did Americans spend $5.5 billion on last year—with sales that spiked before snow and ice storms? If you guessed birdseed then you […]

The post Simple tips to keep your backyard birds healthy this winter appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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. […]

The post Diversity of resident crabs is key to coral survival appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Archived feed of this symposium » The world is changing at a rapid pace. Scientists have documented significant changes during the past century in climate, […]

The post Smithsonian Symposium: The Anthropocene appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Would you want to explore the world searching for long lost creatures of our past? […]

The post Five amazing fossil finds that will make you want to be a fossil hunter appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Have you ever had a pet that seemed just a little bit crazy or odd? Can you be sure that it was in control of […]

The post Crazy eyes and mind control – the power of parasites appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post A first: Ground-based telescope detects super-earth transit appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) may have detected the dusty hallmarks of an entire family of Pluto-size objects swarming around an adolescent […]

The post Swarms of Pluto-size objects kick up dust around adolescent star appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post Desire for Pacific bluefin puts fish on red list of threatened species appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post Dark matter guides growth of supermassive black holes appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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, […]

The post What squirms inside a tiny bird? Odd new tapeworm species appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post Clouded leopards, from crisis to success: Q&A with Janine Brown appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post Video from Solar Dynamics Observatory wows museum visitors appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Scientists examining the stomach contents of invasive lionfish caught on the inner barrier reef of Belize have discovered that nearly half of the diet of […]

The post In Belize, Critically endangered wrasse now favorite food of invasive lionfish appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Studies show that on average, the weight of cremated remains for men is about 7.13 pounds (plus or minus 1.2 pounds) and for women, 4.9 […]

The post Hi-Tech Analysis Cracks Curious Case of Contaminated Cremains appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A case of mistaken identity turned out to be the key for proving that a prehistoric aquatic reptile did not lay eggs, but rather gave […]

The post Fossil shows Prehistoric Reptile Gave Birth in Open Ocean appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

When it’s time for a meal of katydids, bats use their ears. When hunting and eating male katydids, different bat species locate their prey by […]

The post To hunt, bats listen for signals in prey mating calls 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.

Tiny Anolis lizards preserved since the Miocene in amber are giving scientists a true appreciation of the meaning of community stability. Dating back some 15 […]

The post Trapped in Amber: Ancient fossils reveal remarkable stability of Caribbean lizard communities appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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. […]

The post CASSIOPEIA’S HIDDEN GEM: THE CLOSEST ROCKY, TRANSITING PLANET appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The odds of being attacked and castrated by a variety of parasitic flatworms increases for marine horn snails the farther they are found from the […]

The post Parasitic flatworms flout global biodiversity patterns appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Smithsonian scientists and colleagues have discovered a new genus and species of river dolphin that has long been extinct. They made the discovery after carefully […]

The post Fossil Specimen Reveals a New Species of Ancient River Dolphin appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A word to the wise: don’t ask a paleontologist to pick a favorite fossil. It’s like asking your mother which child she loves most, or […]

The post Fossils help scientists build a picture of the past—and present appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

When astronomers study protoplanetary disks of gas and dust that surround young stars, they sometimes spot a dark gap like the Cassini division in Saturn’s […]

The post Disk Gaps Don’t Always Signal Planets appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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. […]

The post Newly discovered sea urchin fossil is oldest of its kind appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Stealthy. Aggressive. Lethal. Assassin flies are predators that hunt and feed on other insects. They are the third most diverse group of flies, with more […]

The post Killer Insect profile: The Assassin Fly appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post Smithsonian lab receives GreenGov Presidential Award appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A Smithsonian team of scientists re-examined a fossil sperm whale for the first time in 90 years and created an entirely new group in the […]

The post “Call Me Albicetus”: Fossil Sperm Whale Is Named in Honor of Moby-Dick appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post VERITAS Detects Gamma Rays from Galaxy Halfway Across the Visible Universe appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post Elusive bush dog widespread in Panama appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post Smithsonian study reveals white-tailed deer in eastern U.S. are infected with a malaria parasite appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Einstein’s general theory of relativity predicts the emission of gravitational waves by massive celestial bodies moving though space-time. For the past century gravitational waves have […]

The post Astronomers complete First Search for Visible Light Associated with Gravitational Waves appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Cobia, a promising fish for aquaculture, lives throughout the world’s oceans except in the Central and Eastern Pacific. In August 2015, a large number of […]

The post Invasive Cobia Spreads in Panama appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post Ligo’s Twin Black Holes Might Have Been Born Inside a Single Star appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Pop quiz! Name the first five dinosaurs that come to mind. Chances are good that one you named was Tyrannosaurs rex, a popular favorite perhaps best […]

The post New horse-sized tyrannosaur with big brain reveals how “T. rex” became top predator appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Seven fossil teeth exposed by the Panama Canal expansion project are the first evidence of a monkey on the North American continent before the Isthmus […]

The post First North American Monkey Fossils Found in Panama Canal Excavation appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In a recently completed survey of more than 3,000 fish species in 44 countries around the world marine biologists have discovered that communities with a […]

The post Discovery: Biodiversity shields fish communities from warming appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The planet’s last stronghold of wild cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) is losing genetic diversity at an alarming rate according to a new study from the Smithsonian […]

The post Smithsonian Study reveals Decline of Genetic Diversity in Wild Cheetahs appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

President Jimmy Carter, an avid birder, talks about the importance of bird conservation and why birds really matter. Step outside your house in the morning […]

The post Why Birds Really Matter: President Jimmy Carter appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

There’s something exciting and strange about having an idea. It can come suddenly. Unexpectedly. Randomly. Intensely. Ideas can uninvitingly appear full-forced and bright—like the cliché […]

The post Making the Smithsonian’s New “Sidedoor” podcast series a reality appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Crustaceans that thrive in the vastness of the open ocean have no place to hide from their predators. Consequently, many creatures that live at depths […]

The post Tiny ocean crustaceans wear invisibility cloak of living bacteria appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In 1935, 101 cane toads from Hawaii were set loose in Australia to help control beetles that were decimating the Australian sugar crop. But instead […]

The post Discovery: Australia’s invasive cane toads modify their bodies to conquer new territory faster appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In 2012, under a scientist’s watchful eye, a comb jelly ate some fish, digested it, and excreted the waste out its back end. In doing […]

The post By simply pooping, comb jellies expel long-held scientific misconception appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A one-cubic-foot approach to studying biodiversity as showcased in the new Biocube exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History has led to the […]

The post New parasitic crab species discovered during Smithsonian Biocube work in Solomon Islands appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In 1969, 60 to 100 peacock bass imported from Buga, Colombia, were introduced into a pond in Panama for sport fishing. Several individuals escaped. By […]

The post Peacock bass invasion Had devastating, long-term impact on Panama’s Fish appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Every few thousand years, an unlucky star wanders too close to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The black hole’s powerful […]

The post Our Galaxy’s Black Hole is Spewing Planet-size “Spitballs” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Fat, toxic and nocturnal, cane toads (Rhinella marina) are abundant today in Hawaii, even though they are South American natives. Released on the Hawaiian Islands […]

The post Two invasive species have Hawaiian reunion after 80-year separation appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.