Research News

Newsroom of the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian is one of the world’s foremost research centers in science, the arts, and the humanities. In addition to research pursued by the museums, our research centers specialize in areas of inquiry spanning the globe and the farthest reaches of the universe.

Kirtland’s Warbler; environmental conditions in migratory birds’ winter homes carry over to affect their survival ability

Researchers found drier winters impact the likelihood of Kirtland’s warblers surviving migration and their ability to survive the breeding season. Credit: Nathan W. Cooper, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Drier Winter Habitat Impacts Songbirds’ Ability To Survive Migration
Climate Change-Driven Drying in Caribbean Likely To Impact Birds Throughout Annual Cycle
10.04.2024
National Zoo Research News
Close-up of a brown ant with six legs, bulbous body and two front pinchers crawling on jagged surface.

A lower-fungus-farming worker of the rare fungus-farming ant species Mycetophylax asper, collected in Santa Catarina, Brazil, in 2014, on its fungus garden. Credit: Don Parsons.

Ant Agriculture Began 66 Million Years Ago in the Aftermath of the Asteroid That Doomed the Dinosaurs
Smithsonian Scientists Assembled and Analyzed Sprawling Genetic Database, Finding Some Fungal Crops Later Became Completely Reliant on Ants 27 Million Years Ago
10.03.2024
Natural History Museum Research News
Gray pieces of stone with dark imprint of fan-shaped leaf.

This fossil palm leaf (Sabalites sp.), discovered in Petersburg Borough, Alaska, is on display in “The David H. Koch Hall of Fossils—Deep Time” at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. University of Alaska Museum Earth Sciences Collection 35034.

New Study Charts How Earth’s Global Temperature Has Drastically Changed Over the Past 485 Million Years, Driven by Carbon Dioxide
Smithsonian-Sparked Study Co-Led by University of Arizona Underscores Perils Presented by Unprecedented Rate of Human-Made Warming
09.19.2024
Natural History Museum Research News
A woman with shoulder-length brown hair and gray highlights framing faces wears black glasses and sits in wooden chair outdoors.

Megan A Smetzer, photo by Vance E. Williams.

Megan A. Smetzer Awarded the 36th Annual Eldredge Prize for “Painful Beauty: Tlingit Women, Beadwork and the Art of Resilience”
09.10.2024
American Art Museum Research News Education News
An image of a bright yellow sun with rays of light against a completely black background.

Solar wind flowing from the Sun measured by Parker Solar Probe near the edge of the corona and later with Solar Orbiter at a larger distance during a spacecraft alignment. The solar wind contains magnetic switchbacks, or large amplitude magnetic waves, near Parker Solar Probe that disappear farther from the Sun where Solar Orbiter is located.
Credits: Image background: NASA Goddard/CIL/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez, Spacecraft images: NASA/ESA

Smithsonian Scientists Help Uncover How Solar Wind Gets Its Energy
08.29.2024
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Cover of book with black and white image of football player about to throw a football.

Cover of Game Changers: Sports Photographs from the National Museum of American History and Culture.

National Museum of African American History and Culture To Release Its First Book of Sports Photography
08.13.2024
African American Museum Research News
Graphic design of blue circle with yellow sunburst in the center.
Smithsonian-Gallup Study Uncovers Gaps in How US Science Standards Are Preparing Students To Meet Sustainability Challenges of the Future
Stakeholder Insights Highlight Challenges and Opportunities for Integrating Sustainability Into US Classrooms
08.06.2024
Smithsonian Science Education Center Research News
Image of the side of brownish fish with small blue dots on scales.

Scientists cryopreserved skin samples from a starry goby, a common reef fish. The samples will undergo radiation exposure testing to prepare for biological material to be sent to the moon. Credit: Zerhan Jafar, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Smithsonian Scientists Devise Method To Secure Earth’s Biodiversity on the Moon
Proposed Lunar Biorepository Could Store Genetic Samples Without Electricity or Liquid Nitrogen
07.31.2024
Air and Space Museum National Zoo Natural History Museum Research News
Mosaic of many different colors--bright pink, blue, yellow, brown, gray, white--in shattered-looking surface.

A thin slice of the ancient rocks collected from Gakkel Ridge near the North Pole, photographed under a microscope and seen under cross-polarized light. Field width ~ 14mm.

Credit: E. Cottrell, Smithsonian.

New Study Supports Stable Mantle Chemistry Dating Back to Earth’s Early Geologic History and Over Its Prodigious Evolution
Smithsonian Scientists Conduct New Analyses on Ancient ‘Time Capsule’ Rocks, at Least 2.5 Billion Years Old
07.24.2024
Natural History Museum Research News
Group of people standing in front of a scenic outlook.
New Initiative Explores Innovative Financing Solutions for Co-Management of Ecosystems and Public Health in Africa
07.22.2024
National Zoo Research News
Smithsonian Logo
Smithsonian Announces Its 2024 Artist Research Fellows
07.22.2024
Research News Education News
Underwater photo of an oyster reef in clouded, greenish-yellow water

A restored oyster reef in a sanctuary in the James River, Maryland. Credit: SERC Fisheries Conservation Lab.

Restored Oyster Sanctuaries Host More Marine Life
Sanctuaries in Chesapeake Shelter Higher Oyster Populations and More Marine Life—Including Parasites—Than Nearby Harvest Areas
07.09.2024
Environmental Research Center Research News
Photo of block concrete letters spelling ZOO sitting in landscaped flower beds.
Rising Carbon Dioxide May Be Diluting Plant Nutrients, Threatening Herbivores
Nutrient Dilution Could Be an Underappreciated Driver of Biodiversity Loss
06.13.2024
National Zoo Research News
TEMPO Air Quality Data

Credit: Trent Schindler/NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio

TEMPO Air Quality Data Now Publicly Available
Valuable Air Quality Collected by the TEMPO Mission Now Being Released to the Public
05.31.2024
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Black and white fluffy panda bear sits on wood trunks with green leaves in background.

Two-year-old male giant panda Bao Li in his habitat at Shenshuping Base in Wolong, China, May 16. Roshan Patel, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

Two New Giant Pandas Coming to Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute From China by End of the Year
New 10-Year Research and Breeding Agreement Signed
05.29.2024
National Zoo Research News New Acquisitions
Image of space with black background and fuzzy, bright bursts of light purple color.

Pan-STARRS and SMA image. Radio: SAO/ASIAA/SMA/K. Monsch et al; Optical: Pan-STARRS

A Giant Cosmic Butterfly’s Nature Is Revealed
05.14.2024
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
A 6 by 3 grid of pictures of various smiling people.

Photos, courtesy of subjects.

Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces 2024–2025 Fellowship Appointments and Residencies
05.01.2024
American Art Museum Research News Education News
A bioluminescent shape, sort of like a firework, against a black background.

The splendid deep-sea coral Iridogorgia sp. Deep-sea octocorals that are known to be bioluminescent. Credit: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.

Bioluminescence First Evolved in Animals at Least 540 Million Years Ago
Study Focuses on an Ancient Group of Marine Invertebrates That Includes Soft Corals, Pushes Back the Previous Oldest Dated Example of Trait by Nearly 300 Million Years
04.23.2024
Natural History Museum Research News
Skeleton of dinosaur with long body and tail, short front legs, and oblong skull against black background.

The museum’s fossil specimen of Allosaurus fragilis is perched like a nesting bird guarding a clutch of fossilized eggs. Credit: USNM V 4734, Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution. Photo by Mike Gaudaur.

Just Our Type: Smithsonian’s Dinosaur Skeleton Becomes the Scientific Standard for Prehistoric Predator
Displayed in the National Museum of Natural History’s Deep Time Fossil Hall, the Allosaurus Fossil Is Now the Name-Bearing Specimen for the Entire Species
04.05.2024
Natural History Museum Research News
An underwater photo of a group of white, opalescent fish swimming in one direction near a piece of coral.

Bluestriped grunts swim around a reef in Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Belize. Credit: Luciano Candisani /iLCP.

Adult Fish Struggle To Bounce Back in Marine Protected Areas
To Replenish Adult Spawners, Marine Protected Areas Need Strong Enforcement and Climate-Friendly Design
04.04.2024
Environmental Research Center Research News
Two men stand beside green felt puppet, Kermit.

Arjan Mann (right), a Smithsonian postdoctoral paleontologist and former Peter Buck Fellow, and Calvin So (left), a doctoral student at George Washington University, holding the fossil skull of Kermitops in front of the Kermit the Frog puppet display in the “Entertainment Nation” exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Photo credit: James D. Tiller and James Di Loreto, Smithsonian. Fossil skull of Kermitops; USNM PAL 407585, Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution. Kermit the Frog puppet; 1994.0037.01, Gift of Jim Henson Productions. From the collections at National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Researchers Name Prehistoric Amphibian Ancestor Discovered in Smithsonian Collection After Kermit the Frog
Discovery Sheds Light on the Origin of Living Frogs and Other Amphibians and Pays Homage to the Iconic Muppet
03.21.2024
Natural History Museum Research News
Photograph of rough moon surface with computer graphics showing small pink boxes at varying points.

Possible Epicenters of Moonquake.
NASA/LRO/LROC/Smithsonian Institution

Shrinking Moon Causes Temblors and Faults in the Lunar South Polar Region
New Paper Published by Smithsonian Scientist Emeritus Tom Watters
01.25.2024
Air and Space Museum Research News
Computer-generated image of the dusty, hilly surface of Mars.

Perspective view of Lucus Planum part of the Medusae Fossae Formation, a series of thick deposits found along the highland-lowland dichotomy boundary on Mars. The deposit shown here in this false color, Context Camera (CTX) mosaic, is several kilometers thick.

Credit: Caltech/JPL Global CTX Mosaic of Mars/Smithsonian Institution.

New Study Reveals Evidence of an Ice-Rich Layered Deposit on Mars
New Paper Published by Smithsonian Scientist Tom Watters
01.18.2024
Air and Space Museum Research News
Side profile of a small brown animal against white background.

Hylomys peguensis photographed in Wang Nam Khiao District, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

Credit: Charoenchai Tothaisong, CC BY-NC 4.0 DEED.

Smithsonian-led Study Reveals Five New Species of Soft-Furred Hedgehogs From Southeast Asia
DNA Analysis of Museum Specimens Brought the New Hedgehogs to Light
12.21.2023
Natural History Museum Research News

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