When a mosquito lands and begins to feed, the saliva it deposits in the skin stops blood from coagulating and makes the bite itch. A
https://insider.si.edu/2017/08/beautiful-bizarre-treehoppers-suck-sap-can-spread-disease/
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened Sept. 24, 2016, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is dedicated to
https://insider.si.edu/2017/08/latino-experience-focus-african-american-history-culture-museum/
“We need 500 juggling balls,” a project coordinator tells the supply coordinator with a straight face. In the final days leading up to the 2017
https://insider.si.edu/2017/06/folklife-festival-50-aims-attention-big-top/
Sometimes there’s just no telling what will turn up at the local market. Fish biologist Jeff Williams of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History
https://insider.si.edu/2017/06/surprise-distinctive-new-surgeonfish-species-makes-improbable-debut/
Even in its final days at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors” drew sold-out crowds to witness the exhibition’s colorful
Two decades ago, the Smithsonian Latino Center began telling the stories of the millions of Latinos who have contributed to the vast ongoing saga of America. Insider spoke with the Center's direc...
Most of us can’t begin the day without a cup of coffee. Coffee is a major agricultural crop in many Central and South American countries
https://insider.si.edu/2017/04/cup-joe-thats-also-good-birds/
The story of our nation can be told in many interesting ways. One of them is through art. The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery is a
https://insider.si.edu/2017/03/taina-caragol-putting-focus-latino-faces-national-portrait-gallery/
Muted moans of sadness punctuated the pandemonium that engulfed the Smithsonian’s National Zoo over the weekend as throngs of well-wishing visitors flooded through the Zoo’s
https://insider.si.edu/2017/02/bye-bye-bao-bao-america-says-goodbye-panda-work-continues/
Few things are more American than baseball: playing catch during the summer, going to the ballpark, rooting for your team in the World Series. Stories
https://insider.si.edu/2016/11/american-baseball-history-rich-latino-players-stories/
Peering closely at the surface of the ruddy red Maryland sandstone block, Bernat Vidal sets a chisel resolutely against the stone and confidently taps it
https://insider.si.edu/2016/07/castle-corbel-chisled-basque-country-stone-carver-bernat-vidal/
On a chilly evening, a limousine glides up to the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. A door opens, and a presidential foot plants itself on the
https://insider.si.edu/2016/05/national-portrait-gallery-real-portrait-fake-president/
A good bottle of table wine is often the gift of choice to carry along when invited to dine at a friend’s home. But in
https://insider.si.edu/2016/04/appreciation-fine-wine-came-slowly-american-palate/
Smothered in tartar sauce and cheese it’s difficult to know just what species of fish lurks beneath the breaded surface of a fast-food fish sandwich.
A social media celebrity was born last week when the bright lights and camera of NOAA’s remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer zoomed in on a
https://insider.si.edu/2016/03/ghost-octopod-shows-little-know-deep-sea-life/
Osteoarthritis in dogs is a serious and painful malady that effects many breeds. Recently Janine Brown, a biologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in
https://insider.si.edu/2015/12/x-ray-fluorescence-shines-new-light-on-arthritis-in-dogs/
Nausea, vomiting and weakness are but a few of the symptoms one might anticipate after eating leaves from the Taiwanese shrub Erycibe henryi. This wild
https://insider.si.edu/2015/09/meet-the-flea-beetles-new-species/
Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) were widespread across Europe and Western Asia for a long time, starting about 400,000 years ago. But things began to change when
https://insider.si.edu/2015/08/why-did-neanderthals-go-extinct/
Two rovers are active right now on the surface of Mars: Opportunity, which landed in January 2004, and Curiosity, which started exploration in August 2012.
https://insider.si.edu/2015/07/sol-man-john-grant-is-on-a-road-trip-across-mars/
“When you can’t breathe, nothing else matters,” once a tagline of the American Lung Association, today it might easily describe what is happening in many
https://insider.si.edu/2015/06/gasping-for-air-nutrients-warming-trigger-ocean-oxygen-deficit/
Carnivorous plants are a fascinating example of nature at its best. Living in habitats with nutrient-poor soil, carnivorous plants evolved to attract some insects as
https://insider.si.edu/2015/06/how-carnivorous-plants-avoid-eating-their-pollinating-insect-friends/
For Smithsonian ornithologist Gary Graves it was a captivating spectacle. At an outdoor café in Kingston, Jamaica, Graves watched three mornings in a row as
https://insider.si.edu/2015/06/sweet-survival-some-birds-have-a-sugar-edge/
Ever heard the joke about flying in from Mexico, and boy, are my arms tired? Try telling that to the blackpoll warbler. Researchers recently tracked
https://insider.si.edu/2015/05/satellite-tracking-helps-with-curlew-conservation/
A bird’s nest is a small bowl-shaped collection of twigs and straw built on a tree branch. Right? Well…maybe. As Chris Milensky, museum specialist in
https://insider.si.edu/2015/04/bird-nests-variety-is-key-for-avian-architects/
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
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,
https://insider.si.edu/2015/03/what-squirms-inside-a-tiny-bird-odd-new-tapeworm-species/
A new DNA study of ancient corn kernels and cobs from archaeological sites across North America has settled a long debate as to exactly where
Did you know that the blood-sucking parasite known as the tick is actually nearly 900 different species? Or that the tick is not an insect,
The majestic feathers of the greater bird of paradise (Paradisaea apoda) have inspired people for thousands of years. Like many birds on the isolated island
https://insider.si.edu/2015/01/feathers-seduction-connection-birds-people-new-guinea/
A few images of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko just sent back by the European spaceship Rosetta appear to be a snowboarder’s dream: pristine slopes covered in powder.
https://insider.si.edu/2014/11/comet-probe-set-answer-ancient-question-life-earth/
Volcanoes are a source of fascination for many, attracting a steady stream of visitors worldwide. While the danger of sudden eruptions may add to the
https://insider.si.edu/2014/09/will-volcano-explode-ooze-lay-silent/
When some of the world’s largest mammals come your way, most animals steer clear. Not the genet. The small cat-like carnivore was captured on film
Q: Are things getting better or worse for birds in the United States? The 2014 The State of the Birds report provides both encouraging and
https://insider.si.edu/2014/09/state-of-the-birds-frequently-asked-questions-2/
We’ve seen a serious series of super moons this summer and the show’s not over yet. Mark your calendars: the next one will light up
https://insider.si.edu/2014/08/cutting-dust-radar-shows-moons-true-face-first-time/
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.
It was a first for the Federal Aviation Administration recently when it granted approval for the commercial operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle over United
Save the Rhinos! Save the Elephants! Save the humans?! It seems strange to be connecting our own fate to that of wildlife but new research
https://insider.si.edu/2014/04/losing-large-mammals-increases-human-risk-rodent-borne-diseases/
Mention coral reefs and images like snorkeling, tropical fish and sunny island getaways pop to mind. Vacation packages are not being offered, however, for many
An 880-pound asteroid moving at 38,000 miles per hour hit the moon last September with a blast equivalent to 15 tons of TNT. While errant
https://insider.si.edu/2014/02/give-us-the-telescopes-and-well-find-the-asteroid-mines/
Ants dominate the earth’s ecosystems and many are voracious predators that use their mandibles and sheer numbers to pin down and tear apart most other
For scientists who study non-insect invertebrates, the sheer diversity of these odd and fascinating creatures is both intoxicating and daunting. Occupying niches in habitats the
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
It is one of the most sensitive noses in the animal kingdom but what its owner seeks is no pungent bed of roses, in fact
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
Katie Cramer is a MarineGEO Post-Doctoral Fellow and travels to Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama throughout the year to conduct research. Her recent paper
In June, Odile Madden, materials scientist at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute, was a participant on a 6-day interdisciplinary expedition to a number of beaches
https://insider.si.edu/2013/07/qa-plastics-expert-odile-madden-on-plastic-debris-in-alaskan-waters/
A fiery explosion on the surface of the Moon, visible to the naked eye, recently surprised NASA astronomers monitoring the Moon for meteorite strikes. Occurring
https://insider.si.edu/2013/05/a-meteorite-explodes-on-the-moon-qa-with-geophysicist-bruce-campbell/
There is little doubt that human activity is affecting planet Earth, but just how much? And is it all negative? Rick Potts is the director
All bear species except for one live in either temperate or tropical woodlands. Only the polar bear is a stranger to the forest, living and
https://insider.si.edu/2013/04/polar-bears-in-a-warming-world-qa-with-don-moore-of-the-national-zoo/
Going for the gut will soon become standard protocol for scientists working to unravel the complex living web of interactions between plants and animals on
https://insider.si.edu/2013/03/going-for-the-gut-dna-from-beetle-stomachs-reveals-larger/
Marc Fries, a research associate in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, answers some basic questions about me...
https://insider.si.edu/2013/02/russian-meteor-qa-with-a-smithsonian-expert/
The remora's sucker disc is "one of the most remarkable and most highly modified skeletal structures among vertebrates."
Despite many laws to protect it, a new survey reveals wild ginseng in Maryland is on the decline.
A rising spike in West Nile virus is taking health officials across the country by surprise as this year more than 2,600 people in 45 states and the District of Columbia, have been stricken with ...
Today, Marra is helping launch an Animal Mortality Monitoring Program in Africa intended to serve as an early warning system for emerging infectious diseases that can pass from animal populations...
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’...
Suzan Murray, chief veterinary medical officer at the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park, recently returned from Hanoi, where she led a team of scientists training pathologists from Laos, C...
Richard Wunderman is managing editor of the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network and a geologist in the Division of Mineral Sciences at the Smithsonian’s
To celebrate a cool Halloween creature--bats--we teamed up with the Smithsonian’s Kristofer Helgen, curator of mammals at the National Museum of Natural History. Here, he answers three commonly...