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star crossing the event horizon
Smithsonian Insider

Do Stars Fall Quietly into Black Holes?

Putting a basic principle of black holes to the test.
amber
Smithsonian Insider

Resin from Shipwreck Hints at Trade Routes and Botany of Ancient Asia

By examining an 800-year-old piece of resin or tree sap, a Smithsonian scientist is helping reconstruct ancient sea trading routes and human uses of plants.
Confiscated illegal ivory products
Smithsonian Insider

New Technique May Help Authorities Quickly ID Real and Fake Ivory Products

Fetching close to $1,500 per pound, ivory ranks fourth in black-market traded items just behind illegal drugs, weapons, and humans.
cross section of a meteorite found
Smithsonian Insider

Ancient Native American Beads Traced to Otherworldy Source: An Iron Meteorite

How the Hopewell came by enough near-pure iron to produce a handful of exotic beads, small tools, and other decorations.
birds in nest
Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center

Neighborhood Nestwatch

Be a biologist in your own backyard! Neighborhood Nestwatch participants help answer questions related to the survival of bird populations.
Odile Madden
Smithsonian Insider

Microplastics in Our Environment

Odile Madden knows a lot about plastic. Q&A with Smithsonian plastics scientist.
genomic samples
Smithsonian Insider

Global Genome Initiative

In the face of mass extinctions, the Smithsonian’s Global Genome Initiative quietly saves the world’s DNA.
blue whale
Smithsonian Insider

Only Recently Did Whales Become Giant

Scientists traced the evolution of whale size through more than 30 million years of history for a surprising find.
pod of Akrtocara yakataga
Smithsonian Insider

New Species of Extinct River Dolphin Discovered in Smithsonian Collection

Explore the digital three-dimensional model of the fossil.
3D digital scan of bat specimens
Smithsonian Insider

Next Engineering Revolution Is Hiding in Museum Collections

Engineers shouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel—or wings, or sonar systems—when mother nature has already done much of the heavy design work.
Aedes aegypti mosquito
Smithsonian Insider

Smithsonian's Mosquito Collection Is Weapon in Battle against Zika

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 disease.
illustration of moth with food source
Smithsonian Spotlight

The Illustrations of Maria Sybilla Merian

This 17th century natural science illustrator brought artistic observation to scientific practice.

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