Astronomers witness black hole outburst in Spiral Galaxy M83
An extraordinary outburst produced by a black hole in a nearby galaxy has provided direct evidence for a population of old, volatile stellar black holes.
Science Spotlight
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New image of the star-forming region 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula Nebula
To celebrate its 22nd anniversary in orbit, the Hubble Space Telescope has released a dramatic new image of the star-forming region 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula Nebula because its glowing filaments resemble spider...
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National Zoo gorillas participate in heart disease study
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Meet Smithsonian archaeologist Stephen Loring and learn how he came work at the Smithsonian’s Arctic Studies Center
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Not on a plane, but how did blind snakes ever get to the Pacific’s Caroline Islands?
Two new species of blind snakes found living on small, low-lying atolls in the Caroline Islands, are an unexpected discovery that is quite difficult to explain,
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Shuttle “Discovery” transferred to Smithsonian by NASA
NASA transferred the space shuttle Discovery to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum during a ceremony on Thursday, April 19, at the museum’s Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. The keynote address was...
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For a dentist, the narwhal’s smile is a mystery of evolution
Incredibly, the narwhale’s only visible tooth is outside of its mouth. Its tusk, in fact, is a giant canine tooth—that can grow as long as 9 feet!
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New ‘Bumblebee’ gecko discovered in Papua New Guinea
Biologists from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, the Papua New Guinea National Museum, and the U.S. Geological Survey have discovered a new species of gecko, adorned like a bumblebee with black-and-gold bands and rows of skin nodules that enhance its camouflage on the tropical forest floor.
