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.

Thesan Simulation — Still image from a Thesan simulation showing the universe 251 million years after the Big Bang. The orange halos represent the burst of radiation, or light, outpouring from early galaxies. Credit: Thesan Collaboration

Astronomers Reveal Remarkable Simulations of the Early Universe From the Dark Ages Through First Light

New High-Resolution Simulations Show 1 Million Galaxies Forming Some 13 Billion Years Ago

03.24.2022

Astrophysical Observatory Research News

Volcano by the sea with wispy clouds floating around it — Credit: Daniel Rasmussen, Smithsonian. Photo taken under Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Research and Monitoring Special Use Permit #74500-16-009.

Study Finds That Water Determines Magma Depth, A Key to Accurate Models of Volcanic Activity, Eruption

03.10.2022

Natural History Museum Research News

Lone tree stands in a barren field of grassy hills — The category of losers that are not useful to humans features mostly plants that cannot survive in human-dominated environments or have suffered under direct or indirect pressures from human activities. An example of a loser not useful to humans is *Araucaria muelleri*, a New Caledonian endemic conifer threatened by habitat loss, forest fires and nickel-mining activities. Credit: Copyright Joey Santore, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

Smithsonian Study Finds More ‘Losers’ Than ‘Winners’ Among Plants in the Age of Humans

Researchers Categorized More Than 80,000 Plant Species as Winners or Losers According to Their Ability To Survive as Humans Shape the Future

03.10.2022

Natural History Museum Research News

Person wearing wet gear stands in a body of water while counting oysters against a pier — Chela Zabin, a marine ecologist with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, counts oysters and *Fucus* rockweed in the intertidal zone in San Francisco Bay. (Credit: Jeff Blumenthal/SERC)

Study Finds “Portfolio Approach” Can Help Protect Restorations From Extreme Climate Events

Adding Diversity to Restoration Projects Can Buffer Them Against Hurricanes, Droughts and Other Climate Extremes

02.15.2022

Environmental Research Center Research News

Scientists Explain Mysterious Finger-like Features in Solar Flares

Astronomers Have Presented New Explanation for Mysterious Downward-Moving Dark Voids Seen in Some Solar Flares

01.27.2022

Astrophysical Observatory Research News

Illustration of bubble in space — Artist's illustration of the Local Bubble with star formation occurring on the bubble's surface. Scientists have now shown how a chain of events beginning 14 million years ago with a set of powerful supernovae led to the creation of the vast bubble, responsible for the formation of all young stars within 500 light-years of the sun and Earth. Credit: Leah Hustak (STScI

1,000 Light-Year-Wide Bubble Surrounding Earth Is Source of All Young Stars Nearby

For the First Time, Astronomers Have Retraced the History of Earth’s Galactic Neighborhood, Showing Exactly How the Young Stars Nearest to Its Solar System Formed

01.12.2022

Astrophysical Observatory Research News

Illustration of the sun — Artist’s conception of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

Spacecraft Enters the Sun’s Corona for the First Time in History

Instrument Made by Scientists and Engineers at the Center for Astrophysics Has Helped Verify That—for the First Time in History—a Spacecraft Has Entered the Corona of the Sun

12.14.2021

Astrophysical Observatory Research News

Person on a boat stands behind a close-up of trash — Anika Albrecht of Ocean Voyages Institute, on a 2020 expedition collecting plastic in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, where she served as Chief Mate. (Photo courtesy of Ocean Voyages Institute 2020 Gyre Expedition)

Ocean Plastic Is Creating New Communities of Life on the High Seas

Coastal Organisms Thrive on Floating Plastic Debris in the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”

12.02.2021

Environmental Research Center Research News

Illustration of a star in space — Artist's depiction of a new type of binary star: a pre-extremely low mass (ELM) white dwarf. Pictured in blue, the star is losing mass to a white dwarf companion and transitioning to an ELM white dwarf. Credit: M.Weiss/Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian/

Astronomers Observe a New Type of Binary Star Long Predicted To Exist

Researchers Predicted the New Class of Star’s Existence for 50 Years but Until Now Had Never Observed It in Space

12.01.2021

Astrophysical Observatory Research News

Whale surfacing the water — Credit: John Durban

World’s Largest Whales Eat More Than Previously Thought, Amplifying Their Role as Global Ecosystem Engineers

Recovery of Baleen Whales to Pre-Whaling Levels Could Restore Lost Ocean Function and May Help Curb Climate Change

11.03.2021

Natural History Museum Research News

Finger pointing at a bug on foliage — **Credit:** Jorge Alemán, STRI

Orchid Bees Show Remarkable Resistance to Major Climate Events

Longest Continuous Study of Euglossines in the Tropics Found Relatively Stable Populations of These Wild Bees Over Four Decades

10.27.2021

Tropical Research Institute Research News

Planet illustration — Astronomers have found evidence for a possible planet candidate in the M51 ("Whirlpool") galaxy, representing what could be the first planet detected outside of the Milky Way. Chandra detected the temporary dimming of X-rays from a system where a massive star is in orbit around a neutron star or black hole (shown in the artist's illustration). This dimming is interpreted as being a planet that passed in front of an X-ray source around the neutron star or black hole. Credit: NASA/CXC/M. Weiss

Chandra Sees Evidence of Possible Planet in Another Galaxy

10.25.2021

Astrophysical Observatory Research News

Crab encased in amber — *Cretapsara athanata*: The first crab in amber from the dinosaur era is spectacularly preserved, including delicate tissues like antennae, mouthparts lined with fine hairs, large compound eyes, and even its gills. **Credit:** Lida Xing (China University of Geosciences, Beijing)

Unique Dinosaur-Era Fossil Bridges a Gap in the Evolution of Crabs

The Oldest and Most Complete Fossil Crab Ever Discovered Suggests These Animals Ventured Onto Land at Least 25 to 50 Million Years Earlier than Previously Thought

10.21.2021

Tropical Research Institute Research News

Illustration of Milky Way — Astronomers have discovered a giant, spherical cavity within the Milky Way galaxy; its location is depicted on the right. A zoomed-in view of the cavity (left) shows the Perseus and Taurus molecular clouds in red and blue, respectively. Though the clouds appear to touch in this 2D view, new 3D images of the clouds show they lie at very different distances on the surface of the cavity shown in green. This image was produced in glue using WorldWide Telescope’s Milky Way data-driven cartoon (produced by Robert Hurt). Credit: Alyssa Goodman/Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.

Gigantic Cavity in Space Sheds New Light on How Stars Form

Astronomers Discover a Humongous Cavity in Space While Mapping Interstellar Dust; the Sphere-shaped Phenomenon May Explain How Supernovae Lead to Star Formation

09.22.2021

Astrophysical Observatory Research News

Drawing of planet and stars — In this artist’s conception, planets form from the gas and dust in the protoplanetary disk surrounding a young star. The gas is made up of many different molecules, including hydrogen cyanide and more complex nitriles—linked to the development of life on Earth. The soup of molecules in a particular location in the disk shapes the future of the planet forming there and determines whether or not that planet could support life as people know it. Credit: M.Weiss/Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Planets Form in Organic Soups With Different Ingredients

Series of New Images Reveals That Planets Form in Organic Soups—and No Two Soups Are Alike

09.15.2021

Astrophysical Observatory Research News

Coral underwater — Scientists from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and partners are the first to use frozen coral sperm to bolster coral genes of the same species that would otherwise remain apart as they are geographically isolated, with the aim of giving coral like this endangered Elkhorn coral (*Acropora palmata*) a boost against warming oceans.

Credit: Roshan Patel, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Smithsonian and Partners Pioneer Method To Boost Endangered Coral Populations Separated by Vast Distances

Assisted Gene Flow Using Cryopreservation Is a Critical Step Toward Buffering Coral Reefs Against Warming Oceans

09.09.2021

Research News

Map of planet — Model of the crustal thickness of Mercury. Credit: Smithsonian Institution.

Study Reveals Evidence Mercury’s Mantle Goes With the Flow

New Paper Published by Smithsonian Scientist Tom Watters

08.30.2021

Air and Space Museum Research News

Bright interstellar object in dark sky — Detected in 2019, the Borisov comet was the first interstellar comet known to have passed through our solar system. Credit: NASA, ESA and D. Jewitt (UCLA).

Interstellar Comets Like Borisov May Not Be All That Rare

Astronomers Calculate That the Oort Cloud May Be Home to More Visiting Objects Than Objects That Belong to Earth’s Solar System

08.23.2021

Astrophysical Observatory Research News

Bat on a tree — Mother-pup pair of *Saccopteryx bilineata* in the day-roost. The pup is attached to its mothers’ belly. **Photo credit:** Michael Stifter

Long-Term Monitoring of the Bat Species Saccopteryx bilineata in Their Natural Setting Revealed That Pups Display Babbling Behavior Strikingly Similar to That of Human Infants

08.19.2021

Tropical Research Institute Research News