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.

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

The post The Encyclopedia of Life is a global effort to document all 1.8 million named species of animals, plants and other life forms on Earth appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Current plans to protect the Chesapeake Bay include planting trees along hundreds of miles of streams that empty into the Bay. This study provides realistic limits for how much these buffers might further reduce nitrate pollution, and it helps identify where buffer restoration can offer the greatest additional nitrate removal.

The post Study backs restoring green buffers along streams to reduce Chesapeake Bay pollution appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Nearly 60 million years ago rainforests prospered at temperatures that were 3-5 degrees higher and at atmospheric carbon dioxide levels 2.5 times today’s levels.

The post Plant diversity in tropical forests increased during ancient global warming event appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Recently a team of scientists working at the Smithsonian’s Tropical Research Institute in Panama, decided to try and learn for the first time just which body parts the gliding ant C. atratus uses to steer as they glide.

The post Gliding ants steer with hind legs as they fly backwards, scientists learn 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.

Smithsonian plant physiologist Bert Drake has studied one wetland's response to climate change for more than two decades. He gives a tour of the field experiment and explains some of the findings.

The post On the Chesapeake Bay, Smithsonian plant physiologist Bert Drake has been studying one wetland’s response to climate change for more than two decades. appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Community ecologist Sunshine Van Bael explains her work in Panama with leafcutting ants appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Can a tendency to get distracted lead to a career in science? It did for paleoecologist Conrad Labandeira. Working on his family's farm, he would find himself falling into a study of insect life in the fields. "If you go after what interests you," he says, "the rest will always fall into place."

The post Smithsonian paleoecologist Conrad Labandeira talks about how he became a scientist and why he loves his work 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.

Fulcaldea stuessyi is a newly discovered member of the Barnadesioideae, a subfamily of the Compositae, or sunflower family of flowering plants. It was found in northeastern […]

The post Fulcaldea stuessyi is newly discovered member of the Barnadesioideae, a subfamily of the Compositae, or sunflower family of flowering plants, 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.

The post Smithsonian paleobotanist Scott Wing discusses ancient global warming & what it portends for the future appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The move enhances coordination efforts for the 46-plot research network, which partners with more than 75 institutions in 21 countries.

The post Global forest science research center moves from Harvard to the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

They’ve got no roots or veins and grow in hanging pendants or tightly packed mats attached to stones, soil and wood. Called by some “the […]

The post Mosses have strong potential to acclimate to global warming, study indicates appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

How do you diagnose a sick stream? Count its insects, according to Smithsonian biologist Don Weller.

The post Streams damaged by too many hard surfaces in urban areas appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Do you enjoy Tequila? Then you need to raise your glass to the pollinating bats that helped to make it! Here at Smithsonian Science we […]

The post Love tequila? A toast to pollinating bats! appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A 57-acre research plot at a University of Michigan forest preserve northwest of Ann Arbor has been added to a Smithsonian Institution global network used […]

The post University of Michigan forest preserve joins Smithsonian global network appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

This year’s El Niño event is one of the strongest on record and is still ramping up. Large parts of the tropics are turning into […]

The post Major El Nino Perfect opportunity for Global Change Research 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 […]

The post Introduction to the U.S. National Herbarium appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Muted moans of sadness punctuated the pandemonium that engulfed the Smithsonian’s National Zoo over the weekend as throngs of well-wishing visitors flooded through the Zoo’s […]

The post Bon Voyage Bao Bao! Washington loses its precious treasure appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Global forest network cracks the case of tropical biodiversity appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

For many Californians, last year’s wet winter triggered a case of whiplash. After five years of drought, rain from October 2016 to February 2017 broke […]

The post In San Francisco, one wet winter can switch up Bay’s invasive species appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Open Banking Report 2019 clarifies the role of key key-players in a post-September 14th world and assesses how the landscape has shifted within Europe and beyond.

Individual white paper containing all the latest updates to the Open Banking Global State of Play. Research conducted by The Paypers and Innopay

The positional change of nitro­gen-7 of the RNA constituent guanosine to the bridgehead position-5 leads to the base-modified nucleoside 5-aza-7-de­aza­guanosine. Contrary to guanosine, this mol­ecule cannot form Hoogsteen base pairs and the Watson–Crick proton donor site N3—H becomes a proton-acceptor site. This causes changes in nucleobase recognition in nucleic acids and has been used to construct stable `all-purine' DNA and DNA with silver-mediated base pairs. The present work reports the single-crystal X-ray structure of 7-iodo-5-aza-7-de­aza­guanosine, C10H12IN5O5 (1). The iodinated nucleoside shows an anti conformation at the glycosylic bond and an N conformation (O4'-endo) for the ribose moiety, with an anti­periplanar orientation of the 5'-hy­droxy group. Crystal packing is controlled by inter­actions between nucleobase and sugar moieties. The 7-iodo substituent forms a contact to oxygen-2' of the ribose moiety. Self-pairing of the nucleobases does not take place. A Hirshfeld surface analysis of 1 highlights the contacts of the nucleobase and sugar moiety (O—H⋯O and N—H⋯O). The concept of pK-value differences to evaluate base-pair stability was applied to purine–purine base pairing and stable base pairs were predicted for the construction of `all-purine' RNA. Furthermore, the 7-iodo substituent of 1 was functionalized with benzo­furan to detect motional constraints by fluorescence spectroscopy.

Announcement cards and envelopes by designer Marc Friedland which are used by presenters at the Oscars to announce winners are on display at the food and decor preview Feb. 4, 2015 of this years Governors Ball, the post-Oscar celebration which follows the 87th Oscars ceremony on Feb. 22 in Hollywood.; Credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

Ready for your 2015 Oscars party? We've got printable Oscars ballots and the bingo cards you need to prove your superiority over your movie-loving friends during your Academy Awards viewing party. Here are the party printables you'll need to play along with Sunday's show, with TV coverage kicking off at 4 p.m. Pacific. (Get caught up on KPCC's 2015 Oscars coverage right here to have more fun and help make your picks!)

Printable official Oscars ballot

• Download, print, and play at home. Listen to "The Frame's" preview of the Academy Awards, see what "FilmWeek's" critics have to say about who will win, then make your own decisions on Sunday. Our crystal ball Oscars predictor/awards tracker can also help the prognostication efforts with a rundown of nominee buzz, awards already won, official trailers, photos and more.
• You can also play along with friends online on the official Academy Awards site or with the New York Times. (If you want to see KPCC's Mike Roe's picks and play against him in either online game, go here for the official site and here for the New York Times.)

2015 Oscars ballot

Printable Oscars bingo cards

• Download, print and play at home. Use our custom generator to create as many cards as you need for your party.
• How to play: Mark off each block when you hear these words or see these things happen during the Oscars telecast on Sunday. When you get five blocks in a row (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) stand up and shout "OSCAR!!" Alternate rules: Play as a drinking game and for every block, take a sip. Finished a row? Finish your scotch.

Interactive Oscars bingo cards 

• WNYC pays tribute to the annual exercise in entertainment award show parody with a portable, computerized bingo. Play on your phone, iPad, computer or print a card. Refresh for new combinations.

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

Quaternion methods for obtaining solutions to the problem of finding global rotations that optimally align pairs of corresponding lists of 3D spatial and/or orientation data are critically studied. The existence of multiple literatures and historical contexts is pointed out, and the algebraic solutions of the quaternion approach to the classic 3D spatial problem are emphasized. The treatment is extended to novel quaternion-based solutions to the alignment problems for 4D translation and orientation data.

A Landau theory for the wurtzite-based heterovalent ternary semiconductor ZnSnN2 is developed and a first-order reconstructive phase transition is proposed as the cause of observed crystal structure disorder. The model infers that the phase transition is paraelectric to antiferroelectric.

(The Paypers) Consumer expectations for convenience have increased significantly across a variety of markets, and quick-service restaurants (QSRs) are no...

(The Paypers) The European Banking...

(The Paypers) HID Global, an identity solutions company, has completed the acquisition of the...