In a recent study of the mating behavior of these Asian spiders, researchers found that 87.5 percent of males had both palps amputated during copulation.

The post Don’t pick a fight with a eunuch spider. It has nothing to lose appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A remarkable 5,000-year-old deposit of bones representing an entire herd of Persian gazelles recently discovered in northeastern Syria is firm evidence, scientists say, of an ancient hunting practice largely responsible for the near extinction of gazelles in this region today.

The post Archaeological evidence confirms mass hunting of gazelles 5,000 years ago appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In addition to the species name, Leafsnap provides high-resolution photographs and information about the tree's flowers, fruit, seeds and bark—giving the user a comprehensive understanding of the specie

The post Leafsnap, a new mobile app that identifies plants by leaf shape, is launched by Smithsonian and collaborators appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Smithsonian scientists have discovered hundreds of new species around the world. To mark this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity, May 22, here is a […]

The post Slideshow: Species discovered by Smithsonian researchers the past decade appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Researchers from the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Florida have announced the discovery of a bone fragment, approximately 13,000 years old, in Florida with an incised image of a mammoth or mastodon.

The post Bone fragment is only Ice Age artwork from America to show a “proboscidean” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Using 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional CT scans, Natural History Museum anthropologists found that the brain and major organs were removed and rolls of linen filled out the abdominal cavity. This mummification method is evidence of superior embalming, indicating a person of higher status.

The post Video: A mummy ‘grows’ with CT scans and 3D digital technology appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A small-eel like fish newly discovered in a cave in the Republic of Palau in the western Pacific represents an extremely primitive "living fossil."

The post Video: Newly discovered eel a “living fossil” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Two studies appearing in the Aug. 25 issue of the journal Nature provide new insights into a cosmic accident that has been streaming X-rays toward Earth since late March. NASA's Swift satellite first alerted astronomers to intense and unusual high-energy flares from the new source in the constellation Draco.

The post Swift satellite alerts astronomers to cosmic accident in constellation Draco appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

What Google is attempting for books, the University of California, Berkeley, plans to do for the world's vertebrate specimens: store them in "the cloud."

The post New “cloud-based” storage initiative to make vertebrate research collections available worldwide appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Two scientists at the Smithsonian Institution have been honored with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for their innovative research and scientific leadership. It is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.

The post President Barack Obama recognizes outstanding scientists at the Smithsonian appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new study by a team of scientists from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, the National University of Singapore and the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts have unlocked the secret to mate binding in orb web spiders, and revealed just how it calms the cannibalistic female spider.

The post Suitor’s gentle massage soothes aggressive, cannibalistic female spiders, researchers find appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In a new study researchers from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics used DNA from coyote scat (feces) to trace the route that led some of the animals to colonize in Northern Virginia.

The post New genetic evidence confirms coyote migration route to Virginia and hybridization with wolves appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In honor of Halloween, Michael Miller, keeper in the National Zoological Park's Invertebrate Exhibit, shares a few of his favorite "strange-but-true" spider facts.

The post 8 strange but true spider facts appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

New research on tiny spiders has revealed that their brains are so large that they fill their body cavities and overflow into their legs, say a team of scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.

The post Brains of tiny spiders fill their body cavities and legs, Smithsonian researchers discover appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

"X-Ray Vision: Fish Inside Out," is a new exhibition of striking x-rays that reveal the complex bone structure of fishes in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

The post New exhibition looks at fishes from the “Inside Out” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Today, Marra is helping launch an Animal Mortality Monitoring Program in Africa intended to serve as an early warning system for emerging infectious diseases that can pass from animal populations into the human population.

The post Uganda park rangers with cell phones may help stop next world influenza epidemic appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In fact, researchers have learned, the detached male pedipalps transfer more sperm faster after copulation is ended by the female rather than the male.

The post Male spider’s sexual organs work fastest only when a female breaks them off appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute has released the first completely portable bilingual species identification guide for the shore fishes of the tropical Eastern Pacific as a free iPhone application.

The post First fish App from the Smithsonian free on iTunes. “The Smithsonian Guide to the Shore Fishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and University of Costa Rica studying why spiders do not stick to their own sticky webs have discovered that a spider's legs are protected by a covering of branching hairs and by a non-stick chemical coating. Their results are published online in the journal, Naturwissenschaften.

The post Fancy footwork and non-stick leg coating helps spiders not stick to their own webs appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new X-ray study of the remains of an exploded star indicates that the supernova that disrupted the massive star may have turned it inside out in the process.

The post Remains of exploded star indicate supernova turned it inside out appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The crustaceans are much more effective when they fight together than when they fight alone, a process McKeon calls the Multiple Defender Effect. “It is a clear example of synergy, and one that underscores the importance of biodiversity in the ocean.”

The post Preventing home invasions means fighting side-by-side for coral-dwelling crabs and shrimp appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Scientists have discovered an incredible story of fungal fidelity among certain species of ants.

The post Fungal fidelity: some ants have been eating the same meal for 5 million years! appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new video to help aviators identify the cause of bird strikes has been posted on YouTube by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services Airport Wildlife Hazard Program and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

The post Aircraft bird-strike reports can save lives. New video shows how to report, collect and ship evidence appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Accumulations of drifting snow are the most plausible explanation for the presence of a number of puzzling alluvial fan deposits found inside large impact craters on Mars

The post Melting snow likely created fan deposits inside Martian craters, geologists say appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Coral reefs worldwide are being destroyed by changes in ocean temperature and chemistry faster than at any time since the last reef crisis 55 million years ago, thousands of marine scientists warned from the International Coral Reef Symposium in Cairns, Australia.

The post Coral reef emergency: 2,600 scientists call for worldwide rescue appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The scientists made the spiders exercise by irritating them with a small paint brush and causing them to move around until they became exhausted. Spiders from the group with palps removed were able to travel 300 percent further than spiders with their palps intact.

The post Weight of genitals reduces physical endurance in male orb web spiders, researchers find appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new study has unveiled how the tiny hummingbird adapts to flying in heavy rain.

The post Video shows how hummingbirds adjust flight in heavy rain appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

They observed that no plugs were ever formed during mating trials, but instead, females exposed to many males produced the amorphous plugs during the egg-laying process.

The post Female spiders produce mating plugs to prevent unwanted sex from males appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The new Sant Director of the National Museum of Natural History, Kirk Johnson, had only been on the job for 26 days when he got […]

The post Female “spidernaut” settles into new home at Smithsonian’s Insect Zoo appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Clearly visible connecting the dark-purple cephalopods was the white “terminal organ” or penis of the male, extending out through the male’s funnel.

The post First detailed sex video of deep-sea squid resolves long-standing mysteries as to how these animals mate appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Astronomers have identified a new structure in the Milky Way: a long tendril of dust and gas that they are calling a "bone."

The post First “bone” of the Milky Way identified appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Using echolocation alone the bats found, identified and captured insects perched motionless and silent on the leaves of plants.

The post Common tropical bat uses echolocation with precision previously considered impossible, new experiments reveal appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Forget the deep forest, “today the highest densities of deer in the state of Virginia are in suburbia,” says William McShea, ecologist and research scientist at the Smithsonian’s Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va.

The post Browsing suburbia: Virginia’s parceled-up farms and forests are ideal refuge for white-tailed deer appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Even dying stars could host planets with life – and if such life exists, we might be able to detect it within the next decade. […]

The post New evidence of extraterrestrial life may come from dying stars appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The inventions of Alexander Graham Bell—most famously the telephone but also methods of recording sound—have allowed people to hear each other’s voices for more than […]

The post “Hear My Voice”: Smithsonian identifies 130-year-old recording as Alexander Graham Bell’s voice appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Douglas Owsley, the division head for physical anthropology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, presented today a forensic analysis of 17th-century human remains […]

The post Forensic analysis of 17th-century human remains at Jamestown, Va., reveals evidence of survival cannibalism appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Smithsonian is delighted to be included in this year’s Aspen Ideas Festival (June 26 – July 2 in Aspen, Colo.) which will gather some of […]

The post Three Smithsonian scientists to participate in Aspen Ideas Festival appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Fond of a range of marine and freshwater vegetation such as turtle grass and eelgrass, the Florida manatee spends most of its waking hours grazing […]

The post Algae bloom toxins may make Florida’s manatees and sea turtles susceptible to deadly accidents appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Microbes that live in rice paddies, northern peat bogs and other previously unexpected environments are among the bacteria that can generate highly toxic methylmercury, researchers […]

The post Toxic methylmercury-producing microbes more widespread than realized appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The largest fully preserved great ape collection in the world is about to make its online debut.

The post Unlocking secrets–technology allows scientists to peer inside great apes appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Almost 14 billion years ago, the universe we inhabit burst into existence in an extraordinary event that initiated the Big Bang. In the first fleeting […]

The post Astronomers observe first direct evidence of Cosmic Inflation appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Sometimes you need to look in unusual places to tell species apart. Some mammal species are easily distinguished by differences in their fur or skeletons, […]

The post Penis spines help scientists identify bat species appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A newly-discovered species of ant supports a controversial theory of species formation. The ant, known to live only under a single eucalyptus tree on the […]

The post Deadbeat ant species branched off as parasite inside its own colony appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Wetlands Wetlands are one of the habitats to benefit most from conservation. The North American Wetlands Conservation Act has enabled strategic conservation projects covering a […]

The post The State of the Birds: Four critical habitats (videos) appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

When some of the world’s largest mammals come your way, most animals steer clear. Not the genet. The small cat-like carnivore was captured on film […]

The post Maybe it’s safer riding a rhino. Genet expert poses new ideas on the mammal’s hitchhiking behavior appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Imagine sitting down at your favorite restaurant when something under the table begins painfully pinching and snipping at your toes. This is basically how T. […]

The post Diversity of resident crabs is key to coral survival appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

1. Some male spiders just want to be eaten Black widows are known for cannibalizing their mates, but this doesn’t actually happen all the time. […]

The post Eight strange but true spider facts appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Every massive galaxy has a black hole at its center, and the heftier the galaxy, the bigger its black hole. But why are the two […]

The post Dark matter guides growth of supermassive black holes appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Parasites such as nematodes, tapeworms, flukes, ticks and lice are normal in nature and can even be beneficial for animals, including humans, says Anna Phillips, […]

The post What squirms inside a tiny bird? Odd new tapeworm species appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Tucked in the shadow of the towering Skylab exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, there’s an inferno raging. Lucky for all of […]

The post Video from Solar Dynamics Observatory wows museum visitors appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.