VIDEO: 3-D scanning at the Smithsonian
What can you do to bring some of the Smithsonian’s 137 million objects to life? Put them in 3-D! This is a full-time job for two of the Smithsonian’s very own “laser cowboys,” Vince Rossi...
Science Spotlight
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Poison dart frog toxins best suited for deterring biting arthropods, research reveals
Among vertebrates few animals rival poison dart frogs for their vibrant electric blue, yellow, red and orange skin colors. Some experts have long believed these pigments serve as a visual warning for hungry birds, snakes...
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Going for the gut: DNA from beetle stomachs reveals complex network
Going for the gut will soon become standard protocol for scientists working to unravel the complex living web of interactions between plants and animals on Earth a recent groundbreaking Smithsonian study predicts. In the study...
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Common tropical bat uses echolocation with precision previously considered impossible, new experiments reveal
Using echolocation alone the bats found, identified and captured insects perched motionless and silent on the leaves of plants.
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Insect mimic of ginko-like leaf discovered 165 million years after its extinction
Exquisitely preserved in fossil sediments dating from the Middle Jurassic, the insect, newly named Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia, was discovered in 165 million-year-old deposits, as was the ginko-like tree, Yimaia capituliformis, the mimicked plant.
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Female “spidernaut” settles into new home at Smithsonian’s Insect Zoo
The new Sant Director of the National Museum of Natural History, Kirk Johnson, had only been on the job for 26 days when he got an urgent message about a special mission: retrieve the world’s...
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Female spiders produce mating plugs to prevent unwanted sex from males
They observed that no plugs were ever formed during mating trials, but instead, females exposed to many males produced the amorphous plugs during the egg-laying process.
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Speaking of skinks: short limbed, long tailed & prehistoric
Smithsonian herpetologist George Zug answers a few questions about skinks….
