Archive | New Acquisitions

NEW ACQUISITION: Remains of William Taylor White (1837-1852) donated to Smithsonian with his coffin and clothing

NEW ACQUISITION: Remains of William Taylor White (1837-1852) donated to Smithsonian with his coffin and clothing

White, who was a student at Columbian College from Accomack County, Va., died of pneumonia and complications from a mitral heart defect. When his coffin was unearthed, his identity was a deep mystery. [...more]

New Acquisitions, anthropology Comments (2)

NEW ACQUISITION: From the Bay of Bengal, a dinoflagellate makes its way to the Smithsonian

NEW ACQUISITION: From the Bay of Bengal, a dinoflagellate makes its way to the Smithsonian

It’s not an exaggeration to say Hedrick was ecstatic when she peered into her inverted phase contrast microscope and found "Amphisolenia quadrispina" floating in her sample. “For 20 years I’ve been hoping to see something like this,” she says. [...more]

New Acquisitions, zoology Comments (0)

Meteorite that fell in Lorton, Va., identified by Smithsonian scientists

Meteorite that fell in Lorton, Va., identified by Smithsonian scientists

A meteorite that crashed through the roof of a Lorton, Va., doctors’ office on Monday, Jan. 18, 2010 was recently identified by scientists in the Division of Mineral Sciences at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Local newspapers reported that thousands of people from southern New Jersey to southwestern Virginia witnessed the meteorite streak [...] [...more]

New Acquisitions Comments (0)

New acquisition: A circular slide rule called an “omnimetre,” invented in 1891

New acquisition: A circular slide rule called an “omnimetre,” invented in 1891

As its name suggests, the omnimetre was designed to carry out numerous operations of arithmetic and trigonometry, says Peggy Kidwell, curator of mathematics at the Smithsonian. “It has scales for multiplication, division and common logarithms, as well as squares, cubes, and fifth powers of numbers.” In his own words, Sexton called his circular invention a “quite useful and inexpensive slide rule.” [...more]

New Acquisitions Comments (2)

New to the collections: Four chameleon forest dragons hatch at Smithsonian’s National Zoo

New to the collections: Four chameleon forest dragons hatch at Smithsonian’s National Zoo

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Reptile Discovery Center welcomed into its collection four chameleon forest dragons (Gonyocephalus chamaeleontinus), also known as chameleon anglehead lizards, as hatchlings on Nov. 11. [...more]

New Acquisitions Comments (0)

New Acquisition: Corrective instruments from the Hubble Space Telescope

New Acquisition: Corrective instruments from the Hubble Space Telescope

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum recently obtained two monumental instruments on loan from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. [...more]

New Acquisitions, astrophysics Comments (0)

New Acquisition: FluMist “live” vaccine enters Smithsonian collections

New Acquisition: FluMist “live” vaccine enters Smithsonian collections

FluMist is not only the first intranasal administered influenza vaccine in the United States, it’s also the first live virus influenza vaccine approved in the United States. [...more]

New Acquisitions Comments (0)

New Acquisition: Robo-car enters Smithsonian collection

New Acquisition: Robo-car enters Smithsonian collection

Stanley is one of the first autonomous robotic vehicles to enter the Smithsonian collection. This blue 2005 Volkswagen Toureg is equipped with custom drive-by-wire system, a sensor rack and a computing system that enables Stanley to navigate without a human in the driver’s seat. [...more]

New Acquisitions Comments (2)

Meet our Scientists—Videos!

Caught on camera!

This short video of an ocelot was taken by Smithsonian scientists during a recent camera-trap survey of these animals in the Peruvian Amazon. [...more]

(Courtesy of Joseph Kolowski)

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