National Zoo’s giant panda Mei Xiang is not pregnant
Based on current hormone analyses, and not having seen a fetus during the ultrasound exams, Zoo researchers have determined that Mei Xiang experienced a pseudopregnancy.
Science Spotlight
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Smithsonian volcanologist Rick Wunderman talks about volcanos and the recent eruptions in Iceland
Rick Wunderman of the Global Volcanism Program at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History talks about the current volcanic activity in Iceland.
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New Acquisition: Clay vessels by Native American potter Jeri Redcorn added to Smithsonian collections
The Caddo people of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma have maintained many of their traditional ways and actively work to preserve their unique tribal cultural today. One example is the pottery of Jeri Redcorn.
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The science of panda cubs at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
When animal care staff at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo need to know when to breed their pandas or when to expect a cub they turn to the Endocrine (Hormones) Research Lab at the Zoo’s Front Royal, Va. facility.
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Shipping industry sends help as project in Panama tackles amphibian crisis
The rescue pods will be part of the project’s Amphibian Rescue Center at Summit Municipal Park, which will also include a lab with a quarantine facility.
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Technology developed for X-ray astronomy is being adapted to study cancer cells
Eric Silver of SAO is pursuing innovative and interdisciplinary uses of his technique for chemical imaging at the cellular level.
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Amazon farmers who vanished centuries ago were remarkably innovative
This new research has revealed that in areas considered unsuitable for farming today, “pre-Columbian farmers constructed thousands of raised fields in the seasonally flooded coastal savannas of the Guianas.
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Women in Science: Working with giant pandas at the National Zoo
National Zoo Veternarian Suzan Murray and Biologist Laurie Thompson demonstrate how they get the Zoo’s female giant panda Mei Xiang to cooperate for veterinary examinations.
