Research News

Newsroom of the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian is one of the world’s foremost research centers in science, the arts, and the humanities. In addition to research pursued by the museums, our research centers specialize in areas of inquiry spanning the globe and the farthest reaches of the universe.

Exterior of a building with a large glass entrance and metal pole in front.
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
NASM - July 2025 Gallery Opening, Mall Entrance
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A bat with large black wings extended skims surface of water catching small frog in its mouth.

A fringe-lipped bat, Trachops cirrhosus, approaches a Fitzinger's robber frog, Craugastor fitzingeri, in Panama. This species of bat eavesdrops on the mating calls that male frogs produce to attract females, and uses these frog calls to detect, assess and localize its prey. Young bats do not share the same responses to frog mating calls that adults do; juveniles must acquire the ability to discriminate which frog calls signify palatable and poisonous prey. Photo credit: ©MerlinTuttle.org

Palatable Versus Poisonous: Eavesdropping Bats Must Learn To Identify Which Prey Is Safe To Eat
Data Collected on Juvenile and Adult Fringe-Lipped Bats Reveal the First Clues Into the Development of Eavesdropping Behavior in Predators
04.30.2025
Tropical Research Institute Research News
A man and a woman wearing short sleeve shirts and outdoors attire stand in field of tall green gas holding large stick with soil
Sairah Malkin, Horn Point Laboratory
Researchers Holding Soil Core

Genevieve Noyce (left) and Pat Megonigal, two wetland scientists at the Smithsonian, hold up a soil core as part of an experiment.

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A watery field of green grass with white poles for a science exeriment.
Genevieve Noyce, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
SMARTX experiment

The SMARTX experiment, where scientists are raising temperatures on a wetland to mimic a hotter world, during a flood.

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Man wearing glasses and a short sleeve shirt crouches down a field of tall green grass.
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Researcher Jaehyun Lee Collects Samples

Jaehyun Lee collects a porewater sample in the SMARTX experiment, at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Maryland.

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Man wearing glasses ans short sleeve shirt crouches down for a photo in a field of tall green grass.

Jaehyun Lee collects a porewater sample in the SMARTX experiment, at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Maryland. Credit: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Hotter Temps Trigger Wetlands To Emit More Methane as Microbes Struggle To Keep Up
Scientists Dial Up Heat and Carbon Dioxide in Futuristic Experiment
04.23.2025
Environmental Research Center Research News
Graphic of a blue circle with a yellow sunburst inside.
Bezos Earth Fund Gives $2 Million Grant To Launch Groundbreaking Amphibian Conservation Project Across Latin America
04.02.2025
Tropical Research Institute National Zoo & SCBI Research News
A brown and black bird with a long, thin beak flies in a clear blue sky.

Scientists used small solar tags to identify where long-billed curlews migrate, revealing hidden populations of North America’s largest shorebird. Andy Boyce, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Discovery of Hidden Groups Within Migratory Shorebird Could Aid Conservation
Tracking Data Revealed Three Groups of Long-Billed Curlew, Each With Unique Migration Patterns and Conservation Needs
04.02.2025
National Zoo & SCBI Research News
Picture of outdoor landscaping with small, spiky shrubs in shades of green and one tall plant with long thin flowers.
John Kress
NMNH Heliconia - Planted Heliconia

Heliconias planted as ornamentals in a garden in Panama.

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Dried specimen with ten alternating thin leaves.
Smithsonian
NMNH Heliconia - Heliconia atratensis specimen

Heliconia atratensis

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Plant with magenta pink leaves shaped like large almonds.
John Kress
NMNH Heliconia - Heliconia reticulata

Heliconia reticulata

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A plant in conical shape with bright red leaves.

Heliconia bella in Panama. This species was discovered and named by John Kress, an emeritus curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and one of the authors of the new study. Photo credit: John Kress.

Nearly Half of Popular Tropical Plant Group Related to Birds-of-Paradise and Bananas Are Threatened With Extinction
Dried Plant Specimens and Data Collected Over Decades of Field Work Allowed Scientists To Efficiently Assess Extinction Risks
03.07.2025
Natural History Museum Research News
Dried leaf specimen with thin, small leafs.
Smithsonian
NMNH Heliconia - Heliconia donstonea specimen

Heliconia donstonea

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Plant with long, thin, bright red leaves in a needle shape.
John Kress
NMNH Heliconia - Heliconia atratensis

Heliconia atratensis, an endangered species in Colombia.

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Dried leaf specimen of large green teardrop leaf.
Smithsonian
NMNH Heliconia - Heliconia oleosa specimen

Heliconia oleosa

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Plant in a conical shape with vibrant red leaves
John Kress
NMNH Heliconia - Heliconia bella

Heliconia bella in Panama. 

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Man in button down and a black cap stands in the forest holding a leaf sample.
John Kress
NMNH Heliconia - John Kress

John Kress, now an emeritus curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and one of the authors of the new study, discovering a new species of Heliconia in Venezuela.

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A grid of black photos with fuzzy orange orbs of light.

This gallery contains 74 images of different star systems with cometary belts (known as “exocomets”) taken with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter (ALMA) radio telescope facilities. The stars in this study range in ages from very young to middle-aged like our Sun. This new study shows how comets play a role in the formation of stars and planetary systems. Credit: Luca Matra.

Astronomers Reveal Largest Collection of Comets Outside Earth’s Solar System Ever Found
For the First Time, Astronomers Have Imaged Dozens of Belts Around Nearby Stars Where Comets and Tiny Pebbles Within Them Are Orbiting
02.11.2025
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Rocky, gray asteroid in outer space.
NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
NMNH - Bennu, Asteroid

A mosaic image of the asteroid Bennu as observed by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft Dec. 2, 2018.

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Black capsule sits in desert.
NASA/Keegan Barber
NMNH - Bennu, Sample capsule

The sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is seen shortly after touching down in the desert, Sept. 24, 2023, at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range.

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Microscopic close-up of gray textured area with red scaling.
Rob Wardell, Tim Gooding and Tim McCoy, Smithsonian.
NMNH - Bennu, 5

Magnesium sodium phosphate. Phosphorus is shown as light red. Today, it lacks a crystalline structure, so it is not technically a mineral. In fact, phosphates like these are not known from Earth.

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Ring of light in outer space.
NASA
NMNH - Bennu, Saturns E Ring with Enceladus, Image by NASA

Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus within Saturn’s E ring as observed by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.

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Microscopic close-up of particles.
Rob Wardell, Tim Gooding and Tim McCoy, Smithsonian.
NMNH - Bennu, 4

A calcite (calcium carbonate) crystal 5 micrometers in size.

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Image of surface of planet with rays light projecting out against black space.
NMNH - Bennu, D - Encleadus Plumes, Image by NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Enceladus’ surface jets emitting plumes while backlit by the sun, as observed by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.

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