The goal of the project—the Smithsonian’s Tennenbaum Marine Observatories—is to monitor the ocean’s coastal ecosystems over a long period of time.

The post Smithsonian launches Global Marine Biodiversity Project with $10 million donation appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Frontispiece illustration of “flies” from the 1882 book American game fishes, their habits, habitat, and peculiarities; how, when, and where to angle for them, featuring […]

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Striking Caribbean sunsets occur when particles in the air scatter incoming sunlight. But a particulate shadow over the sea may have effects underwater. A research […]

The post Human shadow cast over the Caribbean slows coral growth appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Emmett Duffy, currently the Gluckman Professor of Marine Science at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, has been appointed director of the Smithsonian’s […]

The post Emmett Duffy named director of Smithsonian’s Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

To download the free e-book Best of Both Worlds: Museums, Libraries, and Archives in a Digital Age, by G. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian, […]

The post Smithsonian secretary on the future of museums, libraries and archives appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The center of the Milky Way galaxy, with The supermassive black hole Sagittarius A–at center–is revealed in this image. Astronomers have used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to […]

The post Sagittarius A: Center of the Milky Way appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A newly released study focusing on an extinct species, the Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis), has revealed just how evolutionarily unique its only two living […]

The post Too valuable to lose: Extinct relative reveals rarity of last two remaining monk seal species appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In theory, crabs of the species Planes major should stay true to their mates for life. Heterosexual pairs of these small crustaceans live on loggerhead […]

The post Faithful crabs engage in risky behavior when opportunity arises appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Among the bats, rats and other ferocious animals that lie within the storage drawers of the mammal collection in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural […]

The post The world’s scariest rabbit lurks within the Smithsonian’s collection appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post Bird nests: Variety is Key for the world’s avian Architects appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Tiny Anolis lizards preserved since the Miocene in amber are giving scientists a true appreciation of the meaning of community stability. Dating back some 15 […]

The post Trapped in Amber: Ancient fossils reveal remarkable stability of Caribbean lizard communities appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Tucked away on the lower levels of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and National Museum of American History are some of science’s most […]

The post Smithsonian Libraries’ rare texts include early superstars of science appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Through sheer coincidence, two Smithsonian researchers at the National Zoological Park have discovered that 18 percent of the white-tailed deer population in the Eastern United […]

The post Smithsonian study reveals white-tailed deer in eastern U.S. are infected with a malaria parasite appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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. […]

The post Smithsonian scientist creating DNA database to track Caribbean conch and lobster appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Meet Scorpaenodes barrybrowni is a scorpionfish species newly discovered by Smithsonian scientists using a manned submersible in the deep-reef waters of the Caribbean island of Curaçao. It […]

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(Study is one of dozens to be presented by bird scientists this week at the 2016 North American Ornithological Conference in Washington, D.C.) To catch tuna […]

The post Fishing gear entanglements of marine birds is focus of Smithsonian ecologist’s study appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

An extraordinary arrangement of bristles, wrinkles and wart-like bumps cover the cold skin of Sphaerephesia amphorata, a new deep-sea worm described and named by researchers […]

The post Bizarre new marine worms covered in bristles, wrinkles & bumps appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Living in deep reefs in the Atlantic Ocean, the banded basslet, a small and colorful species with a wide range of distribution, has long been […]

The post Fishy Caribbean ‘juveniles’ recognized as new species appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Recent underwater photographs and video from the National Marine Park of the southern Caribbean island of Bonaire has led to the discovery of a new species […]

The post Meet the candy striped hermit crab, a new Caribbean species appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Washington, D.C. is a city of symbols. The rites, rituals, and places that define Washington capture the aspirations of our nation and its citizens. Just […]

The post Trusted Sources: Why Museums and Libraries Are More Relevant Than Ever appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Some of Hong Kong’s most disturbed and pristine marine environments were the recent focus of an intense 10-day MarineGEO survey of living organisms by a […]

The post MarineGEO survey conducted in Hong Kong appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Some of the earliest humans to inhabit America came from Europe according to a new book "Across Atlantic Ice: The Origin of America's Clovis Culture."

The post New book reveals Ice Age mariners from Europe were America’s first inhabitants appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Benjamin Ziman, Peter Karabinis, Paul Barghouth, and Nestor J. Oviedo

Nutrient availability upon feeding leads to an increase in body size in the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. However, it remains unclear how food consumption integrates with cell division at the organismal level. Here we show that Sirtuins is evolutionarily conserved in planarians and specifically demonstrate that Sirtuin-1 (Smed-Sirt-1) regulates organismal growth by impairing both feeding behavior and intestinal morphology. Disruption of Smed-Sirt-1 with either RNAi or pharmacological treatment leads to reduced animal growth. Conversely, enhancement of Smed-Sirt-1 with resveratrol accelerates growth. Differences in growth rates were associated with changes in the amount of time to locate food and overall consumption. Furthermore, Smed-Sirt-1(RNAi) animals displayed reduced cell death and increased stem cell proliferation accompanied by impaired expression of intestinal lineage progenitors and reduced branching of the gut. Altogether, our findings indicate Sirtuin-1 is a crucial metabolic hub capable of controlling animal behavior, tissue renewal and morphogenesis of the adult intestine.

Smithsonian Institution Libraries has recently acquired a rare first edition of Darwin's Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands, Visited During the Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle.

The post With 1844 first edition, Smithsonian Libraries completes its collection of Charles Darwin’s three-volume geology series appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A mysterious cycle of booms and busts in marine biodiversity over the past 500 million years could be tied to a periodic uplifting of the world's continents, scientists report

The post Boom and bust cycle of marine biodiversity every 60 million years linked to uplifting of continents appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The National Museum of Natural History will permanently display the Dom Pedro Aquamarine, which is the largest single piece of cut-gem aquamarine in the world, beginning Dec. 6.

The post Magnificent Dom Pedro aquamarine to go on view in the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In the battle against invasive species, giant commercial ships are on the front lines. But even when they follow the rules, one of their best […]

The post Battle against invasive marine species comes up short as global shipping surges appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

As average annual temperatures increase, mosquitoes have also been on the move—up the mountains of the Hawaiian islands. Once a refuge for native birds susceptible […]

The post Scientists race to find genetic clues as malaria decimates rare Hawaiian honeycreepers appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Appendices B4 and B5 of Cayron [Acta Cryst. (2019), A75, 411–437] contain equations involving the point group and the metric tensor in which the equality symbol should be substituted by the inclusion symbol.

The post Meet Our Scientist: National Zoo veterinarian Katharine Hope appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

What does it take to care for a pride of lions? Go behind the scenes with Great Cats Curator Craig Saffoe as he works with animal keepers and veterinarians to prepare the National Zoo's frisky lion cubs for their public debut. For more about the Zoo's growing pride and to watch them on live webcams: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GreatCats/default.cfm?cam=LC4

The post Great Cats curator Craig Saffoe discusses his work caring for the National Zoo’s seven frisky lion cubs appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

National Zoo Veterinarian Katharine Hope treats about 2,000 animals from 400 different species. She and her colleagues care for a variety of animals, from small baby flamingos to adult Asian elephants, so there's no such thing as an average day.

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The post Roland Kays, curator of mammals at the New York State Museum, discusses a new Smithsonian Website for sharing camera-trap images of wild animals appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Invasive Caribbean lionfish under scrutiny by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute intern appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Mark Torchin, a marine ecologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, talks about how he studies the parasites of invasive marine animals such as snails. Much of his research focuses on biological invasions and the dynamics between the host, the parasites and the surrounding ecosystem.

The post Meet our Scientist–Mark Torchin tracks invasive marine species and their parasites in Panama appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Animal care staff at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, are hand-rearing the pair of clouded leopard cubs born on March 28, increasing the chances that the cubs will be more successful at breeding later in their life.

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Kari Bruwelheide, forensic anthropologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, discusses how she came to work at the museum, the power of human remains and the information that bones can contain. She and her colleagues continue to discover new ways to interpret evidence from bones and burials.

The post Kari Bruwelheide, forensic anthropologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, discusses the power of bones. appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Belize’s South Water Caye Marine Reserve protects biodiversity of Belizean Barrier Reef appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Smithsonian Libraries offer a vast amount of resources to the general public. This video gives you a peek into the amazing world of discovery […]

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Smithsonian planetary geologists Sharon Purdy and Maria Banks explain how you can take your very own photo of Mars.

The post Scientists Maria Banks and Sharon Purdy explain how to take your own photo of Mars. appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Here are some of the many resources the Smithsonian Libraries have to offer for Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History

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This video is from a course on Taxonomy and Ecology of Caribbean Sponges, held in the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s Bocas del Toro Research Station […]

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Dried specimens of nearly 800 flowering plants were acquired by the Botany Department of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History from the National Botanical Research Institute in Windhoek, Namibia, Africa. The collection includes nearly 160 specimens from the Compositae, or sunflower family.

The post Namibian specimens come to the herbarium of the National Museum of Natural History appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

“Our guide celebrates the beauty of some of the most attractive inhabitants of Panama’s undersea realm and provides an indispensable, easy-to-use tool for their identification,” say the Littlers.

The post Researchers compile colorful on-line guide to marine algae of Panama appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Now the Global Plants Initiativeis catapulting biodiversity research to a new level by sharing these historic plant collections in a massive online database of high-resolution scans.

The post Online initiative makes massive database of herbarium specimens accessible worldwide appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Nutmeg-loving toucans wearing GPS transmitters recently helped a team of scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama address an age-old problem in plant ecology: accurately estimating seed dispersal.

The post Toucans wearing GPS backpacks help Smithsonian scientists study seed dispersal appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center has created NEMESIS--National Estuarine and Marine Exotic Species Information System--an online public database that provides key information about the non-native marine species throughout the United States.

The post New invasive species database allows public to ID marine invaders with a home computer appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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 […]

The post Q&A: Katie Cramer on the long term human impact on coral reefs in Caribbean Panama appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Residents of the southeastern United States might occasionally come across an oddity along a barbed-wire fence: a series of insects, mice or even small birds […]

The post Tiny, fierce and disappearing: breeding program aims to help the loggerhead shrike appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Melinda Peters, museum specialist at the U.S. National Herbarium in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, gives an in-depth tour of the U.S. National […]

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