Research News

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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.

Solar flare

Still image of several supra-arcade downflows, also described as “dark, finger-like features,” occurring in a solar flare. The downflows appear directly above the bright flare arcade. This solar flare occurred June 18, 2015. Image credit: NASA SDO

Scientists Explain Mysterious Finger-like Features in Solar Flares
Astronomers Have Presented New Explanation for Mysterious Downward-Moving Dark Voids Seen in Some Solar Flares
01.27.2022
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Illustration of bubble in space

Artist's illustration of the Local Bubble with star formation occurring on the bubble's surface. Scientists have now shown how a chain of events beginning 14 million years ago with a set of powerful supernovae led to the creation of the vast bubble, responsible for the formation of all young stars within 500 light-years of the sun and Earth. Credit: Leah Hustak (STScI

1,000 Light-Year-Wide Bubble Surrounding Earth Is Source of All Young Stars Nearby
For the First Time, Astronomers Have Retraced the History of Earth’s Galactic Neighborhood, Showing Exactly How the Young Stars Nearest to Its Solar System Formed
01.12.2022
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Illustration of the sun

Artist’s conception of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

Spacecraft Enters the Sun’s Corona for the First Time in History
Instrument Made by Scientists and Engineers at the Center for Astrophysics Has Helped Verify That—for the First Time in History—a Spacecraft Has Entered the Corona of the Sun
12.14.2021
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Person on a boat stands behind a close-up of trash

Anika Albrecht of Ocean Voyages Institute, on a 2020 expedition collecting plastic in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, where she served as Chief Mate. (Photo courtesy of Ocean Voyages Institute 2020 Gyre Expedition)

Ocean Plastic Is Creating New Communities of Life on the High Seas
Coastal Organisms Thrive on Floating Plastic Debris in the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”
12.02.2021
Environmental Research Center Research News
Illustration of a star in space

Artist's depiction of a new type of binary star: a pre-extremely low mass (ELM) white dwarf. Pictured in blue, the star is losing mass to a white dwarf companion and transitioning to an ELM white dwarf. Credit: M.Weiss/Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian/

Astronomers Observe a New Type of Binary Star Long Predicted To Exist
Researchers Predicted the New Class of Star’s Existence for 50 Years but Until Now Had Never Observed It in Space
12.01.2021
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Whale surfacing the water

Credit: John Durban

World’s Largest Whales Eat More Than Previously Thought, Amplifying Their Role as Global Ecosystem Engineers
Recovery of Baleen Whales to Pre-Whaling Levels Could Restore Lost Ocean Function and May Help Curb Climate Change
11.03.2021
Natural History Museum Research News
Finger pointing at a bug on foliage

Credit: Jorge Alemán, STRI

Orchid Bees Show Remarkable Resistance to Major Climate Events
Longest Continuous Study of Euglossines in the Tropics Found Relatively Stable Populations of These Wild Bees Over Four Decades
10.27.2021
Tropical Research Institute Research News
Planet illustration

Astronomers have found evidence for a possible planet candidate in the M51 ("Whirlpool") galaxy, representing what could be the first planet detected outside of the Milky Way. Chandra detected the temporary dimming of X-rays from a system where a massive star is in orbit around a neutron star or black hole (shown in the artist's illustration). This dimming is interpreted as being a planet that passed in front of an X-ray source around the neutron star or black hole. Credit: NASA/CXC/M. Weiss

Chandra Sees Evidence of Possible Planet in Another Galaxy
10.25.2021
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Crab encased in amber

Cretapsara athanata: The first crab in amber from the dinosaur era is spectacularly preserved, including delicate tissues like antennae, mouthparts lined with fine hairs, large compound eyes, and even its gills. Credit: Lida Xing (China University of Geosciences, Beijing)

Unique Dinosaur-Era Fossil Bridges a Gap in the Evolution of Crabs
The Oldest and Most Complete Fossil Crab Ever Discovered Suggests These Animals Ventured Onto Land at Least 25 to 50 Million Years Earlier than Previously Thought
10.21.2021
Tropical Research Institute Research News
Illustration of Milky Way

Astronomers have discovered a giant, spherical cavity within the Milky Way galaxy; its location is depicted on the right. A zoomed-in view of the cavity (left) shows the Perseus and Taurus molecular clouds in red and blue, respectively. Though the clouds appear to touch in this 2D view, new 3D images of the clouds show they lie at very different distances on the surface of the cavity shown in green. This image was produced in glue using WorldWide Telescope’s Milky Way data-driven cartoon (produced by Robert Hurt). Credit: Alyssa Goodman/Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.

Gigantic Cavity in Space Sheds New Light on How Stars Form
Astronomers Discover a Humongous Cavity in Space While Mapping Interstellar Dust; the Sphere-shaped Phenomenon May Explain How Supernovae Lead to Star Formation
09.22.2021
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Drawing of planet and stars

In this artist’s conception, planets form from the gas and dust in the protoplanetary disk surrounding a young star. The gas is made up of many different molecules, including hydrogen cyanide and more complex nitriles—linked to the development of life on Earth. The soup of molecules in a particular location in the disk shapes the future of the planet forming there and determines whether or not that planet could support life as people know it. Credit: M.Weiss/Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Planets Form in Organic Soups With Different Ingredients
Series of New Images Reveals That Planets Form in Organic Soups—and No Two Soups Are Alike
09.15.2021
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Coral underwater

Scientists from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and partners are the first to use frozen coral sperm to bolster coral genes of the same species that would otherwise remain apart as they are geographically isolated, with the aim of giving coral like this endangered Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) a boost against warming oceans.

Credit: Roshan Patel, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

 

Smithsonian and Partners Pioneer Method To Boost Endangered Coral Populations Separated by Vast Distances
Assisted Gene Flow Using Cryopreservation Is a Critical Step Toward Buffering Coral Reefs Against Warming Oceans
09.09.2021
Research News
Map of planet

Model of the crustal thickness of Mercury. Credit: Smithsonian Institution.

Study Reveals Evidence Mercury’s Mantle Goes With the Flow
New Paper Published by Smithsonian Scientist Tom Watters
08.30.2021
Air and Space Museum Research News
Bright interstellar object in dark sky

Detected in 2019, the Borisov comet was the first interstellar comet known to have passed through our solar system. Credit: NASA, ESA and D. Jewitt (UCLA).

Interstellar Comets Like Borisov May Not Be All That Rare
Astronomers Calculate That the Oort Cloud May Be Home to More Visiting Objects Than Objects That Belong to Earth’s Solar System
08.23.2021
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Bat on a tree

Mother-pup pair of Saccopteryx bilineata in the day-roost. The pup is attached to its mothers’ belly. Photo credit: Michael Stifter

Similar to Human Babies, This Bat Species Learns to Communicate Through Babbling and Vocal Imitation
Long-Term Monitoring of the Bat Species Saccopteryx bilineata in Their Natural Setting Revealed That Pups Display Babbling Behavior Strikingly Similar to That of Human Infants
08.19.2021
Tropical Research Institute Research News
Acorn woodpeckers doing the spread-wing display

Acorn woodpeckers doing the spread-wing display. Copyright Steve Zamek

Sharing the Love Helps Male Acorn Woodpeckers Father More Chicks
Males in Polygamous Breeding Groups With One or Two Other Male Woodpeckers Sire Significantly More Chicks Over Their Lifetimes
08.17.2021
Natural History Museum Research News
Smithsonian sunburst logo
Smithsonian Announces Its 2021 Artist Research Fellows
07.27.2021
Research News
Underwater oyster habitat

Oyster habitat in Tred Avon, one of four tributaries biologists surveyed with video cameras. Oyster reefs with more complex, vertical structure offer better habitat for other animals to live and grow. Credit: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

 

For Bay Oysters, Protection Plus Restoration Creates Healthiest Reefs
Underwater Videos Reveal Thriving Reefs and Provide Scientists a Quick, Low-cost Method To Rate Habitats
06.10.2021
Environmental Research Center Research News
Ariel view of river and surrounding forest

An aerial photo of the Algodón River flowing through a forest of the Amazon Basin in the remote northeastern corner of Peru. Credit: Álvaro del Campo.

Indigenous Peoples Were Stewards of the Western Amazon
Study Points to a History of Indigenous Sustainable Use of the Western Amazon Stretching Back 5,000 Years
06.07.2021
Natural History Museum Research News
Zebras wander grassy plains

Increased human–animal interactions lead to the emergence and spread of zoonotic pathogens, which cause about 75% of infectious diseases affecting human health. In this photograph, wild zebras graze alongside a pastoralist and cows in Kenya. Credit: James Hassell/Smithsonian 

New Model for Infectious Disease Could Better Predict Future Pandemics
Potential Benefits to Health Across Species, Communities and Environments Are Enormous
05.18.2021
National Zoo Research News
Large telescope outdoors

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is installed on the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope on Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona. Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Marenfeld

Astrophysicists Launch Largest Sky Survey Yet To Map the Universe
Nearly 40 Years After Creating the First, Iconic Map of the Universe, Researchers Aim for the Largest Map Ever
05.17.2021
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Interior of crystals under a microscope

Credit: Michael Ackerson, Smithsonian.

Earth’s Oldest Minerals Date Onset of Plate Tectonics to 3.6 Billion Years Ago
Ancient Zircons From the Jack Hills of Western Australia Hone Date of an Event That Was Crucial To Making the Planet Hospitable to Life
05.14.2021
Natural History Museum Research News
Illustration of microscopic plant elements

New and improved plant sex: Plants produced attractive flowers containing sugary rewards for insects who carry pollen (basically the male sperm of the plants) to other flowers, helping plants reproduce. This strategy was so successful that flowering plants took over tropical forests, and the world.

Credit: Hace Tiempo. Un viaje paleontologico ilustrado por Colombia. Instituto Alexander von Humboldt e Instituto Smithsonian de Investigaciones Tropicales. Banco de Imágenes (BIA), Instituto Alexander von Humboldt.

How the Chicxulub Impactor Gave Rise to Modern Rainforests
04.01.2021
Tropical Research Institute Research News
Aerial view of lush tree tops

Tropical trees may grow to be more than 250 feet (77 meters) tall. Note person in red on the forest floor, below. Credit: Evan Gora, STRI

How Will the Biggest Tropical Trees Respond to Climate Change?
03.29.2021
Tropical Research Institute Research News

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