To celebrate a cool Halloween creature--bats--we teamed up with the Smithsonian’s Kristofer Helgen, curator of mammals at the National Museum of Natural History. Here, he answers three commonly asked questions about these winged mammals.

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New research by astrophysicist David Kipping has revealed that in some special cases, a star can be weighed directly. Such a star must have a planet orbiting it with a moon orbiting the planet.

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In recent research on Santa Rosa Island off the coast of Southern California, isotope readings of carbon and nitrogen found in the bones of Chumash Indians and domestic dogs excavated from archaeological sites show that both humans and dogs have nearly identical signatures of stable isotopes.

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The National Zoo has received a breeding pair of Asian small-clawed otters at Asia Trail for the first time. Mac, a three-year-old male from the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, Wash., and Smidge, a five-year-old female from the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, arrived in April and are now in their exhibit.

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Gray whales survived many cycles of global cooling and warming over the past few million years, likely by exploiting a more varied diet than they do today, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, and Smithsonian Institution paleontologists.

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This image of lawyer Clarence S. Darrow (center) talking with group of men in Dayton, Tenn., in July 1925 is one of 10 photographs from […]

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A team of scientists have found that because of this, high summer temperatures have been a strong influence in determining bill size in some birds, particularly species of sparrows that favor salt marshes.

The post It’s no sweat for salt marsh sparrows to beat the heat if they have a larger bill appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

New observations by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, show there are significantly fewer near-Earth asteroids in the mid-size range than previously thought.

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Adding wings to a robotic bug helped it run faster and better, but was it enough to achieve takeoff?

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In a laboratory at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md., scientist João Canning Clode and colleagues tested the cold-water tolerances of a number of invasive green porcelain crabs.

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A recent decline in Ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla), a ground-nesting migratory songbird, in forests in the northern Midwest United States is being linked by scientists to a seemingly unlikely culprit: earthworms.

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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.

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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.

Just a few towering white fir, sugar pine and incense cedars per acre at Yosemite National Park are disproportionately responsible for photosynthesis, converting carbon dioxide into plant tissue and sequestering that carbon in the forest, sometimes for centuries,

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Their research revealed that the types of waterbirds that inhabit urban estuaries are influenced not only by urban development, but also by a far more natural process―rain.

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Imagine a gas giant planet spanning three times more sky than the Moon looming over the molten landscape of a lava world. This alien vista exists in the newly discovered two-planet system of Kepler-36.

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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 rising spike in West Nile virus is taking health officials across the country by surprise as this year more than 2,600 people in 45 states and the District of Columbia, have been stricken with severe symptoms of this mosquito-transmitted disease.

The post As robins disperse, West Nile mosquitoes switch diet to humans: Q&A with Smithsonian ornithologist Peter Marra appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

This image of a wild giant panda was taken by a trail camera in a remote forest in central China. As few as 1,600 giant […]

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Spiral galaxies are some of the most beautiful and photogenic residents of the universe. Our own Milky Way is a spiral. Our solar system and […]

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When it comes to brain size, Homo sapiens generally get the most credit. But to find the baby mammals with the proportionally largest brains on […]

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There is little doubt that human activity is affecting planet Earth, but just how much? And is it all negative? Rick Potts is the director […]

The post Smithsonian anthropologist Rick Potts answers questions about the Anthropocene appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

This composite image of a galaxy illustrates how the intense gravity of a super massive black hole can be tapped to generate immense power. The image […]

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Astronomers are constantly on the hunt for ever-colder star-like bodies, and two years ago a new class of objects was discovered by researchers using NASA’s […]

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Roses, carnations and lilies are today among the most popular flowers people use to express sympathy and condolence. The simple act of sending flowers to […]

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An 880-pound asteroid moving at 38,000 miles per hour hit the moon last September with a blast equivalent to 15 tons of TNT. While errant […]

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Carla Dove is an Ornithologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. In this Feb. 12 Webcast join her in analyzing the remains of […]

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On April 15 the National Museum of Natural History took delivery of a nearly complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. Called the Nation’s T. rex, it will be the centerpiece of […]

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Life in the universe might be even rarer than we thought. Recently, astronomers looking for potentially habitable worlds have targeted red dwarf stars because they […]

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The report card is in for the state of the birds in the USA. So how did we do? Certainly not an A+ or even […]

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Millions of people across the United States will sit down Nov. 27 to a traditional Thanksgiving meal, including turkey, potatoes, squash, corn and cranberries. These […]

The post Where did your favorite Thanksgiving Day food originate? Anthropology has the answer appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Have you ever had a pet that seemed just a little bit crazy or odd? Can you be sure that it was in control of […]

The post Crazy eyes and mind control – the power of parasites appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A few images of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko just sent back by the European spaceship Rosetta appear to be a snowboarder’s dream: pristine slopes covered in powder. […]

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The majestic feathers of the greater bird of paradise (Paradisaea apoda) have inspired people for thousands of years. Like many birds on the isolated island […]

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A new DNA study of ancient corn kernels and cobs from archaeological sites across North America has settled a long debate as to exactly where […]

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Surplus mustard gas canisters and unexploded bombs dumped in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii after WWII, have become, scientists say, a potential reef that is […]

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If you were dumped into the middle of a desert, your first instinct would be to look for water—it is, after all, the stuff of […]

The post In Western China’s deserts an ancient competition for water resumes appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

New research by a team of archaeologists has revealed a curious connection between our traditional Thanksgiving dinner and the taste buds of prehistoric mammoths and […]

The post Study reveals ancient link between mammoth dung and pumpkin pie appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Many animals change sex at some point in their lives, often after reaching a certain size. Snails called slipper limpets begin life as males, and […]

The post The Power of Touch: Sex-changing snails switch sooner when together appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A social media celebrity was born last week when the bright lights and camera of NOAA’s remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer zoomed in on a […]

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New high-speed videos of 14 species of tiny Mecysmaucheniid “trap-jaw” spiders have revealed that some species can snap their mouth parts shut at incredibly fast […]

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As the Zika virus is rapidly taking hold around the world, health officials are racing to find its cause and prevent further spread of the […]

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In August astronomers announced that the nearby star Proxima Centauri hosts an Earth-sized planet (called Proxima b) in its habitable zone. At first glance, Proxima […]

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Crustaceans that thrive in the vastness of the open ocean have no place to hide from their predators. Consequently, many creatures that live at depths […]

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Food is scarce in the deep, dark regions of the ocean where barbeled dragonfishes and their relatives dwell. Known as the Stomiidae, some of these […]

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The search for extraterrestrial intelligence has looked for many different signs of alien life, from radio broadcasts to laser flashes, without success. However, newly published […]

The post Could Fast Radio Bursts Be Powering Alien Probes? appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Four years after conservationists relocated 570 desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) in California from a threatened habitat to a new nearby location, the tortoises outwardly appeared […]

The post Smithsonian Study shows relocated desert tortoises reproduce at lower rate appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Hundreds of experiments have shown biodiversity fosters healthier, more productive ecosystems. But many experts doubted whether these experiments would hold up in the real world. […]

The post In the wild, biodiversity’s power surpasses what experiments predict appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

With its homely featherless head, undertaker’s charcoal coloring and association with death and decay, the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) tops few lists as a favorite […]

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Flying through the air? Check. Surviving snake bites? Check. One of the most adorable creatures on earth? Absolutely! Do you think you know everything about […]

The post This Squirrel Appreciation Day we have a few surprising squirrely facts for you appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.