Keeper Tracey Barnes talks about Billie Jean, an Andean bear, and her two new cubs at the Smithsonian's National Zoo.

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Dr. JoGayle Howard of the Smithsonian's National Zoo discusses her work to breed and study one of the world's most endangered cats, the clouded leopard. More about the National Zoo's work to save clouded leopards: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/ReproductiveScience/ConsEn...
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/support/annualappeal/cloudedleo... ... (more info)

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Chip Clark came to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in 1973, with a degree in biology and an interest in photography. He has been a photographer on staff ever since, documenting thousands of specimens and exhibits, and accompanying scientists on research trips around the world. He died June 12, 2010. This video interview was made by Lauren Dare, an intern with the Smithsonian Institution Archives, on May 27, 2010, as part of an oral history project for the National Museum of Natural History's Centennial (2010-2011). To learn more about Chip Clark, see his page on the Centennial website-- www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears/profiles/Chip_Clark.html -- where you also can find more videos and stories about the people and the work of the NMNH.

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Researchers at the Smithsonian's National Zoo's new genetics lab use animal DNA to diagnose new diseases, discover new species help in conservation efforts and solve mysteries.

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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

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The three male cheetahs that left the Zoo's D.C. campus in 2009 returned in November and are now on exhibit. The five-and-a-half-year-old brothers―Draco, Granger, and Zabini, named after characters in the Harry Potter stories―have been living at the Zoo's Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Cheetah Science Facility in Front Royal, Virginia.

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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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As enjoyable as scientific work can be, says entomologist Dave Roubik, its greatest satisfactions are often long delayed. He gives the best example from his career: a seventeen-year study that finally helped to change our understanding of the notorious "killer bees."

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This new PBS Newshour video takes a look at a new exhibit at the Air and Space Museum celebrating NASA's space art program.

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Digging up early human and animal remains from the field in Africa, performing examination and publishing research about her findings, then enticing and educating the public about the implications are all in a week's work for Briana Pobiner.

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Keepers at the Smithsonian's National Zoo perform an artificial insemination procedure on a pair of Stanley Cranes. A Stanley Crane chick was successfully hatched on May 23, 2011.

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Tom Crouch, Senior curator in the National Air and Space Museum's Aeronautics Division, discusses Thaddeus Lowe and the birth of American aerial reconnaissance during the Civil War. This presentation was recorded on May 11, 2011 on the National Mall.

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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.

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Meet the Smithsonian's Matthew Carrano, curator of Dinosauria at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Matthew studies all things dinosaur, but focuses on the evolutionary history of predatory (meat eating) dinosaurs.

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School's nearly back in session, but the seven young lions at the Smithsonian's National Zoo have been working hard through the summer months!

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Members of the Human Origins Program team at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History describe why they love their job.

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Clip from silent edited film "Bryson Jones Travelogue: Lure of the West" (ca. 1927) shows Mount Rushmore National Memorial under construction, including blasting off cliff face, scaffolding, men working, and the completed monument.

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The Smithsonian Science Education Center (formerly NSRC) was formed by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Academies in 1985 with the mission to improve the learning and teaching of science in school districts in the United States and throughout the world.

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Don your clean room clothing and take a glimpse into the Smithsonian's new Antarctic meteorite storage facility in Suitland, Md., where all of the Antarctic meteorites in the national collection are kept under tight security and tight airlocks.

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The post Kepler 11: A Six-Planet Sonata by Alex Parker, postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Giant panda Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) gave birth to a cub at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. at 5:32 p.m., Friday, Aug. 23. The […]

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The gates at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo re-opened to the public Friday, October 18! The live animal cams that were turned off during the government […]

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The National Zoo’s Great Cats team celebrated the arrival of its first litter of African lion cubs in four years. On Jan. 24, the Zoo’s […]

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What is it like to be the curator of Great Cats at the National Zoo? We interviewed Craig Saffoe to hear firsthand.

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On Monday, June 23, Asian elephants Swarna, Maharani and Kumala finished their 30-day quarantine and made their public debut at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. This […]

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  In honor of its 125th anniversary, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is once again home to American bison, the animal that began the Zoo’s living […]

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Each year, a mysterious group of night herons flock to Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Then, they vanish. In episode three of our series, we go behind […]

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When two red panda babies are born in critical condition at Smithsonian’s National Zoo, caretakers make the crucial decision to raise them by hand.

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NASA’s Kepler mission is responsible for history’s first detection of Earth-sized planets orbiting other suns in their temperate “habitable zones.” The team in charge of […]

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Five critically endangered Cuban crocodiles hatched at the National Zoo’s Reptile Discovery Center between July 29 and Aug. 7. The eggs were laid by Dorothy, […]

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Now eight months old, Giant Panda Cub Bei Bei is learning to come when called and undergoing ‘target’ training to teach him to respond to […]

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This video highlights the mass-digitization of the National Postal Museum’s Sidney N. Shure Collection of Israeli and Palestinian stamps and covers.

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National Museum of African American History and Culture grand opening Sept. 24, 2016.

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Happy Holidays from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum!

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On the morning of Monday, Jan. 30, 2017 a 25-pound female bobcat cat was discovered missing from its exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in […]

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Jeopardy’s Clue Crew visits the Smithsonian’s National Zoo!

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The start of spring brought a cheetah cub boom to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Va., where two large litters were […]

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As the world prepares to celebrate Global Tiger Day this Saturday, July 29, Great Cats keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo have some big news […]

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Ashkii, a North American river otter, at the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park

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On World Elephant Day–Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017–the Smithsonian’s National Zoo celebrated Ambika the elephant’s 70th birthday. Hear her keepers of more than 30 years talk […]

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The contamination of Foster Farms chickens has provided insight into food regulation.

Steve Julian: Business analyst Mark Lacter, had we been paying attention before this happened?

Mark Lacter: You know, Steve, we often have an out of sight, out of mind attitude when it comes to food safety, and - as we're seeing with this episode - the government has a way of enabling that attitude.  What stands out, first of all, is that people started getting sick from salmonella-contaminated chicken back in March, and yet, it wasn't until the past few weeks that news stories began appearing about the seriousness of the problems.

Julian: At last check, more than 400 people have been infected, with most of them in California...

Lacter: Right, and Foster Farms, which is based in Merced County, controls two-thirds of the poultry market along the West Coast.  No fatalities so far, but many of the people who became sick had to be hospitalized - and that leads to still more concerns that the salmonella strains were resistant to antibiotics.  Now, why it took this long for consumers to be made aware that there was a problem tells you something about the way the federal government regulates poultry plants.  It was only last Friday, after the company had seen a 25 percent drop in sales, when the president of Foster Farms decided to go public.  He said he was embarrassed by the outbreak, and promised to change the company's processing facilities so that salmonella can be better identified.

Julian: Where was the US government in this?

Lacter: Apparently, the Department of Agriculture only requires testing for levels of salmonella at the time of slaughter - not later on, after the poultry is cut into parts.  Foster Farms now says it will do retesting at that later stage.  What's also interesting is that Foster Farms was not asked to recall any of its products because the chicken is considered safe as long as it's handled properly and then cooked to the right temperature, which is at least 165 degrees.  That's why some supermarkets have kept carrying the brand.

Julian: Can the government even order a recall?

Lacter: Not in a case like this - and that's because of a court case in the 1990s involving a Texas meat producer that federal inspectors were ready to shut down due to a salmonella outbreak involving ground beef.  The company sued the government, arguing that salmonella is naturally occurring, and therefore, not an adulterant subject to government regulation.  And the courts agreed.  Foster Farms has been using much the same argument.

Julian: Why isn't there more public outrage over this?

Lacter: Well, again, we go back to out of sight, out of mind.  Slaughterhouses are not exactly fun places, and they're usually not well covered by the news media until something bad happens, like the Foster Farms situation.

Julian: Chino comes to mind - a story we covered.

Lacter: That's when an animal rights group used a hidden camera to record inhumane treatment of cattle at a meat processing plant.  That company was forced into bankruptcy.  Another reason coverage is spotty is because it's not always easy to trace someone's illness to a contaminated piece of meat or chicken.  And, that leads to lots of misinformation.  The broader issue is figuring out a way to monitor these facilities without the process becoming cost prohibitive.  The Agriculture Department has been pushing a pilot program that would allow plants to speed up processing lines, and replace government inspectors with employees from the poultry companies themselves.

Julian: The idea being?

Lacter: The idea being to establish safeguards that can prevent problems before they get out of hand.  But, this is pretty controversial stuff, and advocacy groups representing poultry workers say that processing lines need to be slowed down, not speeded up.  So, you have this ongoing back and forth involving industry, government, consumer groups, and labor organizations.  And unfortunately, most of us tend to move on after one of these outbreaks gets cleared up.

Mark Lacter writes for Los Angeles Magazine and pens the business blog at LA Observed.com.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.