In southeastern Greenland, two rivers of ice named Helheim and Kangerdlugssuaq flow in spurts and starts toward the coast. They are much like any other […]

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Today the Smithsonian Institution announced Eva J. Pell, Senior Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School at Pennsylvania State University, will be the new Under Secretary for Science at the Institution.

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The giant squid was collected during a 60-day scientific study in which NOAA scientists were studying the availability and diversity of sperm whale prey. The squid was caught in a trawl net pulled behind a research vessel at a depth of more than 1,500 feet.

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A new census of tropical sulfur butterflies (Aphrissa statira) migrating across the Panama Canal has revealed the central role that weather plays in determining why populations of these lemon-yellow insects vary from year to year.

The post A dry spring in Panama means more sulfur butterflies, study reveals appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The way that massive stars form remains mysterious, in part, because massive stars are rare and tend to spend their youth shrouded by dust and gas and hidden from view.

The post Radio telescopes give astronomers rare glimpse at a young protostar’s formation appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In a series of ongoing experiments on Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal, Kays and other researchers are using camera traps, radio collars and palm nuts with tracking transmitters attached to them to take a closer look at the nut-hoarding strategies of the agouti.

The post Camera traps & radio collars reveal hoarding strategies of the South American agouti appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum recently obtained two monumental instruments on loan from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

The post New Acquisition: Corrective instruments from the Hubble Space Telescope appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Dennis W. Kelly has been named director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., effective Feb. 15, 2010.

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The newfound world, GJ1214b, is about 6.5 times as massive as the Earth. Its host star, GJ1214, is a small, red type M star about one-fifth the size of the Sun. GJ1214b orbits its star once every 38 hours at a distance of only 1.3 million miles. Astronomers estimate the planet's temperature to be about 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Although warm as an oven, it is still cooler than any other known transiting planet because it orbits a very dim star.

The post Astronomers Find Super-Earth Using Amateur, Off-the-Shelf Technology appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Chi Cygni pulses once every 408 days. At its smallest diameter of 300 million miles, it becomes mottled with brilliant spots as massive plumes of hot plasma roil its surface. As it expands, Chi Cygni cools and dims, growing to a diameter of 480 million miles—large enough to engulf and cook our solar system out to the asteroid belt.

The post Distant, dying star gives astronomers preview of the fate of our Sun appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

For the first time in its history, the National Zoo has bred strawberry dart frogs (Oophaga pumilio), which are known primarily for their vibrant colors and poisonous skin. These frogs also stand out among others because of their dedication to their young as they undergo metamorphosis from egg to tadpole to frog.

The post Strawberry dart frogs bred at National Zoo for first time in Zoo’s history appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In their laboratory, scientists from the University of Cambridge, the University of Southampton and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, observed as a number of adult locusts walked along a horizontal ladder. After covering the right or left eye of an insect, the scientists observed a significant increase in the error rate of rungs missed by the front leg on the side of the covered eye.

The post For first time, scientists prove locusts use vision to place their legs when walking appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A meteorite that crashed through the roof of a Lorton, Va., doctors’ office on Monday, Jan. 18, 2010 was recently identified by scientists in the […]

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For the first time, astronomers have found a supernova explosion with properties similar to a gamma-ray burst, but without seeing any gamma rays from it.

The post Astronomers Find Rare Supernova by New Means appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Birds do it. Bees do it. And in a laboratory in northern California, scientists using bumblebees recently figured out the best way to measure it--vertical lift!

The post Laboratory tests reveal precise way to measure vertical lift in bumblebees and other small insects and birds appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The results show mergers of two dense stellar remnants are the likely cause of many of the supernovae that have been used to measure the accelerated expansion of the universe.

The post Mergers of dense stellar remnants are likely trigger for many supernovae appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The study found that infants whose mothers had higher levels of available milk energy soon after their birth, coped more effectively (moved around more, explored more, ate and drank) and showed greater confidence (were more playful, exploratory, curious and active) with this novel situation.

The post New study sees mother’s milk as a communications link that shapes infant temperament appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Eleven bats remain in the National Zoo’s colony. The initial challenge the team faced was how to feed the animals. Virginia big-eared bats, which are a subspecies of the Townsend’s big-eared bat (Corynorhinuss townsendii), eat while flying.

The post Captive colony of Virginia big-eared bats providing valuable lessons in battle against deadly white-nose syndrome appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Based on decades of cutting-edge research, the 15,000-square-foot Hall of Human Origins offers visitors an immersive, interactive journey through 6 million years of human evolution spelling out how defining characteristics of the human species have evolved during millions of years in response to a changing world.

The post New Hall of Human Origins points to environmental change as major force in evolution of hominins appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

"Just like mirrors in a changing room show you a clothing outfit from all sides, interstellar dust clouds act like mirrors to show us different sides of the supernova," Rest explains.

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The Caddo people of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma have maintained many of their traditional ways and actively work to preserve their unique tribal cultural today. One example is the pottery of Jeri Redcorn.

The post Clay vessels by Native American potter Jeri Redcorn added to Smithsonian collections appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Based on current hormone analyses, and not having seen a fetus during the ultrasound exams, Zoo researchers have determined that Mei Xiang experienced a pseudopregnancy.

The post National Zoo’s giant panda Mei Xiang is not pregnant appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

New world megafauna such as mammoths, bison and camelids that were alive at the end of the Pleistocene epoch (some 13,000 years ago) would have produced massive amounts of methane-rich flatulence and belching, thanks to the cellulose-digesting microbes in their guts.

The post Killing of methane-producing megafauna may have caused cooling 13,000 years ago appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

This innovative facility will be at the front line of Earth defense by searching for "killer" asteroids and comets. It will map large portions of the sky nightly, making it an efficient sleuth for not just asteroids but also supernovae and other variable objects.

The post Super sensitive telescope will detect “killer” asteroids and comets on collision course with Earth appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The funding will allow the National Science Resources Center to validate its LASER (Leadership Assistance for Science Education Reform) Model. LASER, a systemic approach to reform, is a set of processes and strategies designed to help state, district and school leadership teams effectively implement and sustain
high-quality science education for elementary, middle and secondary school students.

The post NSRC to receive $25 million Investing in Innovation grant from U.S. Department of Education appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Now that astronomers are finding rocky worlds orbiting distant stars, they're asking the next logical questions: Do any of those worlds have volcanoes? And if so, could we detect them? Work by theorists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics suggests that the answer to the latter is a qualified "Yes."

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The Kepler spacecraft was launched in March of 2009 to study extrasolar planets. One of its major goals is the detection of terrestrial planets in habitable zones.

The post Kepler spacecraft used by Smithsonian astronomers to find other earths appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Scientists and local dive operators first noticed coral bleaching in the waters surrounding Isla Colon, in Panama’s Bocas del Toro province in July. Smithsonian staff scientist Nancy Knowlton and colleagues documented an extensive bleaching event in late September.

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This circa 1910 Yup'ik mask from Good News Bay, Alaska--made of driftwood, baleen, feathers, paint and cotton twine--is part of "Infinity of Nations: Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian," an exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian, opening Saturday, Oct. 23.

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Should global warming cause sea levels to rise as predicted in coming decades, thousands of archaeological sites in coastal areas around the world will be lost to erosion. With no hope of saving all of these sites, three archaeologists—Leslie Reeder of Southern Methodist University, Jon Erlandson of the University of Oregon and Torben Rick from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History—have issued a call to action for scientists to assess the sites most at risk around the world.

The post Scientists issue call to action for archaeological sites threatened by rising seas, urban development appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

“Places of Invention,” a planned 3,500-square-foot exhibition at the National Museum of American History scheduled to open in 2014, will feature a selection of “hot spots” of invention and innovation—places where a critical mass of inventive people, networks, institutions, funding and other resources come together and creativity flourishes.

The post Lemelson Center receives $2.6 million grant for informal science education appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new study suggests that the annual long-distance migration of gray whales may be a relatively recent phenomenon, and that only a few thousand years ago, these marine mammals stayed much closer to home.

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New research by astrophysicist David Kipping has revealed that in some special cases, a star can be weighed directly. Such a star must have a planet orbiting it with a moon orbiting the planet.

The post Harvard-Smithsonian astrophysicist discovers new method to weigh some distant stars appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has unveiled a previously unseen structure centered in the Milky Way--a finding likened in terms of scale to the discovery of a new continent on Earth. The feature, which spans 50,000 light-years, may be the remnant of an eruption from a supersized black hole at the center of our galaxy.

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Today, researchers who found the first hypervelocity stars escaping the Milky Way announced that their search also turned up a dozen double-star systems. Half of those are merging and might explode as supernovae in the astronomically near future.

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The turkey has become synonymous with Thanksgiving in the United States. But when exactly where turkeys first domesticated? And where? Bruce Smith, senior archeologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History has the answers.

The post Turkey’s trip to table: Domesticating North America’s largest fowl appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A diminutive bat with cinnamon-brown coloring collected in 1979 in Ecuador by mammalogist Don Wilson of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History represents a new species a recent paper in the journal “Mammalian Biology” has revealed.

The post New species of bat named from central coastal Ecuador appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

On the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal, staff members are taking down a network of seven tall Automated Radio Telemetry System towers used to track animals wearing radio-transmitters. Scientists on the island are switching to GPS and camera trap systems to produce more data with less infrastructure.

The post GPS and camera traps to replace radio antennas in tracking animals on Barro Colorado Island appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Thepytus carmen, a newly described species of butterfly from Brazil, was recently named in memory of Carmen Lúcia Buck in recognition of the gracious support […]

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National Zoo lion keeper Rebecca Stites, at right in photo, was joined by Georgie Henley, at left in photo, and Skandar Keynes, actors in the […]

The post Zoo lion cub named “Aslan” by actors Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Despite the general perception of exurban development as environmentally preferable to urban sprawl, this is not necessarily correct. Housing development is detrimental for natural bird communities even at low housing levels.

The post Exurban development is changing communities of birds in Eastern Forests appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A research team from The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and Virginia's Old Dominion University will be awarded $110,999 to develop a tool to help seagrass restorers predict which places will be the best for planting seagrasses, the Virginia Sea Grant has announced.

The post Environmental Research Center to help with Chesapeake Bay seagrass restoration appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

An instrument on board NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, developed by Smithsonian scientists, is giving unprecedented views of the Sun's innermost corona 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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For two weeks the team recorded and documented the community’s elders, families and llamas along a pilgrimage of remembrance in Pisaq, Peru.

The post American Indian Museum launches Chawaytiri documentation project in Peru appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The new agreement, effective immediately through Dec. 5, 2015, stipulates that the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park will conduct research in the areas of giant panda breeding and cub behavior.

The post Smithsonian signs new giant panda agreement with China appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Subjects watched demonstrators for varying amounts of time. When given the pipe, each of the subjects in both groups opened the door on their first attempt using the method they had seen demonstrated.

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To honor Harvard-Smithsonian astronomer John Huchra, who passed away in October 2010, his friends and colleagues at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have created a […]

The post New interactive World Wide Telescope tour chronicles career of Harvard-Smithsonian astronomer John Huchra appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In a new paper, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics astronomer Hagai Perets studies the role of binary planetesimals--clumps that orbit each other and jointly mature via three basic processes.

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Water is a critical molecule for human life, and, because it is abundant in space, it also plays an important role in the life of […]

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The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics continues to be a major player in the planet-hunting realm. It is part of an international collaboration building a new instrument called HARPS-North.

The post HARPS-N instrument will help confirm Kepler’s planet finds appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.