Scientists from the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute illustrate the importance of shared standards in studying the origins of museum collections Continue reading Precise measurement standards have revolutionized museum science, helping nail down where artifacts are from
What happens after a mass extinction event? Does nature always “find a way?” Stewart Edie explains what we know about the planet’s ability to survive a hard reboot. Continue reading Ancient fossils show how the last mass extinction forever scrambled the ocean’s biodiversity
White-tailed deer are so common today that some areas have been forced to cull populations to reduce the environmental damage caused by their grazing. But only a century ago, this common backyard visitor was on the verge of extinction. Continue reading The rise and fall – and rise again – of white-tailed deer
And we’re not referring to that ancient blue eyeshadow from seventh grade you found in the back of the medicine cabinet. Continue reading MCI Researchers Help Recreate the World’s Oldest Pigment
Can you tell a toxic cane toad from a delicious Túngara frog just by listening? Fringe-lipped bats can. (Guess their super-hearing is some compensation for the fringe-lip thing.) Continue reading Young bats learn to be discriminating when listening for their next meal
NMNH paleoanthropologist Briana Pobiner helped identify the earliest evidence of humans in Eastern Europe—tiny cut marks on bone fossils. Continue reading Evidence suggests that our human ancestors were hunting (and eating) in Romania almost 2 million years ago
Reneé S. Anderson, collections manager at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, writes about a civil rights icon near and dear to her heart. Continue reading Fashion Forward: Mae Reeves used her show-stopping hats to help get out the vote
Visit the Harry Winston Gallery at the National Museum of Natural History to see some of the rarest diamonds in the world. Harry Winston gave the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1958, and 67 years later, Harry’s son Ron donated an equally exquisite collection of his own: 119 Fancy color diamonds, a portion of… Continue reading Winston Fancy Color Diamonds Make Their Public Debut
Is baseball ready for robot umpires? Or will they strike out? Historian Eric Hintz considers the implications of automating the calls of balls and strikes. Continue reading When algorithms take the field – Inside baseball’s experiment with robot umpires
Fernanda Abra, an award-winning post-doctoral fellow at the National Zoo’s Conservation Biology Institute, explains how her work building bridges for animals to safely cross busy highways also helped build bridges to local indigenous communities in Amazonia. Continue reading Building Bridges in the Amazon
Save the Date! The 22nd annual Smithsonian Staff Picnic is October 28 Continue reading Save the Date! The 22nd annual Smithsonian Staff Picnic is October 28
Secretary Bunch explores how we must engage young people if the Smithsonian is to “have tomorrow, bright before us, like a flame.” Continue reading The Kids Are Alright
More than $2.5 million in grants has been awarded to fund projects ranging from exposing little kids to nature, the link between movement and emotional wellbeing and building a robotic telescope. Continue reading 2025 Together we Thrive
Melanie Adams will serve as interim director beginning August 26. Continue reading Director of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum is stepping down
