“Places of Invention,” a planned 3,500-square-foot exhibition at the National Museum of American History scheduled to open in 2014, will feature a selection of “hot spots” of invention and innovation—places where a critical mass of inventive people, networks, institutions, funding and other resources come together and creativity flourishes.

The post Lemelson Center receives $2.6 million grant for informal science education appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

For safety’s sake, the four eight-week-old cubs born to  National Zoo lioness Shera were given a swim test on Oct. 26  in the moat of […]

The post For safety’s sake, Zoo’s lion cubs take first swim appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

National Zoo lion keeper Rebecca Stites, at right in photo, was joined by Georgie Henley, at left in photo, and Skandar Keynes, actors in the […]

The post Zoo lion cub named “Aslan” by actors Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

But a new census of all dinosaur skeletons unearthed over a large area of Eastern Montana shows that Tyrannosaurus was too numerous to have subsisted solely on the dinosaurs it tracked and killed with its scythe-like teeth.

The post Tyrannosaurus rex more hyena than lion appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Meet Sahelanthropus tchadensis. This newly unveiled bust by artist John Gurche is now on view in the the Hall of Human Origins at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

The post Artist’s recreation of 7- to 6-million-year-old early human unveiled in Hall of Human Origins appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Astronomers have just discovered an amazing pair of white dwarfs whirling around each other once every 39 minutes. This is the shortest-period pair of white dwarfs now known. Moreover, in a few million years they will collide and merge to create a single star.

The post Two dying stars to be reborn as one…in a few million years appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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.

The post Varied diet has allowed gray whales to survive millions of years, study reveals appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory discovered the first pair of supermassive black holes in a spiral galaxy similar to the Milky Way. Approximately 160 million light years from Earth, the pair is the nearest known such phenomenon.

The post Newly discovered supermassive black holes are just 160 million light years from Earth appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

An excavation at a site in South Africa has unearthed the 190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus–revealing significant clues about the evolution of complex reproductive behavior in early dinosaurs.

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The fastest wind ever discovered blowing off a disk around a stellar-mass black hole has been observed by a team of astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

The post Chandra X-ray Observatory clocks stellar wind at 20 million mph appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Jeholopsyche liaoningensis is a new genus and species of flying insect from northeastern China, recently revealed in two new fossil specimens.

The post Meet the 125-million-year-old pollinator “Jeholopsyche liaoningensis” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

An international team of scientists has discovered an ‘ordinary’ black hole in the galaxy Centaurus A. This is the first time that a normal-size black hole has been detected away from the immediate vicinity of our own Galaxy.

The post “Ordinary” black hole discovered in a galaxy 12-million-light-years away appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The National Museum of Natural History will construct a new dinosaur exhibition hall made possible by a $35 million donation from David H. Koch, executive vice president of Koch Industries and philanthropist.

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Scientists have discovered several specimens of tiny insects covered with pollen grains in two pieces of amber, revealing the first record of pollen transport and social behavior in this group of animals.

The post First ever record of insect pollination captured in 100 million-year-old amber 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.

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.

Found in well preserved shale deposits the fossils are so detailed that scientists were able to determine they represent two previously unknown species.

The post Discovery of new prehistoric mosquitoes reveal these blood-suckers have changed little in 46 million years appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Domestic cats in the United States kill some 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion mammals each year, most of them native mammals like shrews, chipmunks […]

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Covered in venomous spines the exotic and strikingly banded Indo-Pacific lionfish would be a painful mouthful to any creature that may try to catch and […]

The post Biologist Andrew Sellers turns lionfish invasion into research opportunity appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Unique among Earth’s creatures, turtles are the only animals to form a shell on the outside of their bodies through a fusion of modified ribs, […]

The post Discovery: Turtle shells appeared 40 million years earlier than previously believed appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum announced that it will receive a $6 million donation from the Thomas W. Haas Foundation to establish an […]

The post Air and Space Museum receives $6 million donation for Public Observatory Program appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Sometime during the Middle Eocene a prehistoric mosquito slurped down a final blood meal then died and sank to the bottom of a pond in […]

The post Blood molecules preserved for millions of years in abdomen of fossil mosquito appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

How soon after the Big Bang could water have existed? Not right away, because water molecules contain oxygen and oxygen had to be formed in […]

The post Water may Have Been Abundant in First Billion Years after big bang appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Scientists examining the stomach contents of invasive lionfish caught on the inner barrier reef of Belize have discovered that nearly half of the diet of […]

The post In Belize, Critically endangered wrasse now favorite food of invasive lionfish appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

She was a stunning brown queen; drowned some 46 million years ago in a shallow lake in Montana. Her remains, recently recovered along the Flathead […]

The post New Montana ant species emerge from 46-million-year-old rock appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

New fossils found in Northeastern China have revealed a remarkable evolutionary coincidence: an extinct group of insects known as Kalligrammatid lacewings (Order Neuroptera) share an […]

The post Remarkable butterfly look-alike lived 50 million years before butterflies appeared appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Remember the scene in Moonraker where Robert Kiel, as the steel-toothed character Jaws, bites through a tram cable that sends Roger Moore’s James Bond sprawling? […]

The post Smithsonian Discovery: 46-million-year-old beetle had zinc jaws appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Because there is no polite way to ask a mite to sit still for its portrait, Gary Bauchan often gives his tiny subjects a shot […]

The post Enjoy Face Time with Seven of Earth’s 3-5 Million Mite Species appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

When soil temperatures 8 inches under the ground reach a balmy 64 degrees Fahrenheit, periodical cicadas emerge on the U.S. East Coast. They tend to […]

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The center of the Milky Way galaxy is currently a quiet place where a supermassive black hole slumbers, only occasionally slurping small sips of hydrogen […]

The post The Milky Way’s blowout bash 6 million years ago! appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

“Somber” is the adjective Smithsonian beetle expert Terry Erwin uses to describe the insects he collects on the forest floor in Peru and Ecuador. “They […]

The post Meet the newest New World canopy beetle species. ‘Gazillions’ await discovery. appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Very early on, cockroach moms found out maternal care gave their offspring a better chance at survival. The cockroach parenting method—which includes feeding, guarding and […]

The post Helicopter cockroach moms have protected their young for millions of years 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.

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.

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

Paleoecologist Conrad Labandeira travels to the Karoo Basin of South Africa to find leaf fossils from the Permian-Triassic boundary, the time of the Earth's largest mass extinction. What can bug bites on leaves tell us about our own uncertain times?

The post Video: On the hunt for 251-million-year-old insects in South Africa appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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!

The post Lion cub summer school: Instead of learning their ABCs, the National Zoo’s lion cubs are learning behaviors that will help animal care staff evaluate their health. appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Indo-Pacific lionfish, an invasive species, invade the Atlantic appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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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Lion start vocalizing as soon as they’re born. But when and why do they start to roar? We ask caretakers at Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

The post Why do lions roar? appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

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The Encyclopedia of Life is an unprecedented global effort to document all 1.8 million named species of animals, plants and other forms of life on Earth. For the first time in the history of the planet, scientists, students, and citizens will have multi-media access to all known living species, even those that have just been discovered. The Field Museum of Natural History, Harvard University, Marine Biological Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, and Biodiversity Heritage Library joined together to initiate the project, bringing together species and software experts from across the world. Lean more at www.eol.org

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A 48 million-year-old fossilized leaf has revealed the oldest known evidence of a macabre part of nature – parasites taking control of their hosts to turn them into zombies.

The post Fossil reveals 48-million year history of zombie ants appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Exquisitely preserved in fossil sediments dating from the Middle Jurassic, the insect, newly named Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia, was discovered in 165 million-year-old deposits, as was the ginko-like tree, Yimaia capituliformis, the mimicked plant.

The post Insect mimic of ginko-like leaf discovered 165 million years after its extinction appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Named for Charles Darwin, the only known specimen of a newly discovered beetle, Darwinylus marcosi, died in a sticky battle in a gob of tree […]

The post Beetle and pollen trapped in 105 million-year-old amber reveal fourth major pollination mode in mid-Mesozoic appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Camouflage is a valuable survival strategy—just ask a chameleon. Scientists have just discovered a new form of mimicry camouflage: beetles that hide by chewing beetle-shaped […]

The post For millions of years these tiny beetles have chewed their way out of sight appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

(The Paypers) Menlo Security, a global enterprise cloud security provider, has entered the Australian...