On Aug. 10, 1846, U.S. President James K. Polk signed the legislation that established the Smithsonian Institution as a trust administered by a Board of Regents and a Secretary of the Smithsonian. Joseph Henry, the first secretary of the Smithsonian (1846-1878), strove to develop the Smithsonian into the nation’s first major research institute for science. [...] [...more]
Ecologists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center measure the growth rate of sedge grass in a brackish Chesapeake Bay marsh. Fed a diet rich in CO2 and nitrogen, conditions that mimic the rise of atmospheric CO2 and pollution from farming and wastewater, the sedge has been grown and monitored in test chambers by Smithsonian scientist [...] [...more]
This is the first report of this invasive species in this area, and may indicate a recent range expansion of the snakehead population. [...more]
The small-whorled pogonia is a plain, endangered orchid that inhabits the hollows of Virginia, and survives only in collaboration with a particular type of fungus and a particular type of tree. Scientists want to save the orchid, but first they have to find it. Listen to a radio broadcast by WAMU correspondent Sabri [...] [...more]
The expanded and remodeled Mathias Laboratory, named in honor of U.S. Senator Charles "Mac" Mathias Jr. (1922-2010) (R-Md.) will have a low environmental impact on all fronts, from where it gets its power to where it gets its materials. [...more]
These opportunistic plants quickly fill-in the gap taking advantage of the increased light coming through the tree canopy and the fresh soil at the fallen tree’s turned-up roots. [...more]
Candy Feller, senior ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md., will lead an effort to track more than 100 miles of Florida mangrove forests that are encroaching on salt marshes to the north. [...more]
A new bacterial genome sequence could help researchers solve a mystery as to how microorganisms produce a highly toxic form of mercury. [...more]
Scientists from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center have found that fledgling catbirds living in the suburbs are extremely vulnerable. Almost 80 percent are killed by predators before they reach adulthood. Nearly half of the deaths are connected to domestic cats. The team studied catbird nests in 3 suburban neighborhoods in Maryland: Spring Park, Opal Daniels Park, and Bethesda. Learn more about this 2011 study by clicking here. (Catbird photo by Gerhard Hofmann)
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