Natural History Museum

While fieldwork was postponed, scientists made discoveries studying fossil footprints, ancient apes, monkeys and hominins.

Ten New Things We Learned About Human Origins in 2020

Smithsonian’s archaeologist Ella Beaudoin and paleoanthropologist Briana Pobiner reveal some of the year’s best findings in human origins studies

The original photos from late 1800s by famous snowflake photographer Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley, are stored in the Smithsonian Archives. His pictures were instrumental in helping scientists examine snow’s crystalline properties.

Why Scientists Find Snowflakes Cool

Mineralogists study snowflakes to learn more about how water in its solid phase behaves

Tens of millions of years of bird evolution guided some of the most important elements of human-powered flight.N

How We Lifted Flight From Bird Evolution

The path to flight in modern birds was full of forks, twists and dead ends

Sequencing entire genomes from ancient tissues helps researchers reveal the evolutionary and domestication histories of species.

How Ancient DNA Unearths Corn's A-Maize-ing History

New study shows how extracting whole genomes from ancient material opens the door for new research questions and breathes new life into old samples

A small hike in the water temperature triggers corals to dispel the algae, causing them to bleach and turn a ghostly shade of white.

Some Corals Can Survive Through Relentless Heat Waves, Surprising Scientists

The organisms can recover during a heat wave instead of afterwards, and scientists call it a 'game changer' for conservation of the species

The spectacled tyrant (Hymenops perspicillatus) inhabits harsh, dry deserts, which new research suggests tend to produce new species at a higher rate than lush, biodiverse places like the Amazon.

Earth's Harshest Ecosystems May Birth New Species Fastest

A genetic study of nearly 1,300 different birds suggests places with fewer species spit out new ones more frequently than biodiversity hotspots

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Rare Iridescent Snake Discovered in Vietnam

The discovery could help scientists piece together new information about snake evolution.

The books Smithsonian experts recommend this year are, in a word, relevant.

Smithsonian Scholars Pick Their Favorite Books of 2020

This wide-ranging list offers much-needed context for the issues at the forefront of the national conversation

The planets in our solar system all orbit the Sun in one shared plane.

Why Do the Planets All Orbit the Sun in the Same Plane?

You've got questions. We've got experts

The Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems working group combines expertise from paleontologists and ecologists to improve our understanding of ancient and modern ecosystems

A New Study Shows How Evolution Was Driven by How Different Species Interacted

Competition for resources, symbiosis or predation shapes the evolution and survival of species

The Smithsonian’s Division of Birds provided about 40% of the tissue samples for the new bird genomes in a landmark study.

Landmark Study Relies on Bird DNA Collected Over Three Decades at the Smithsonian

A new study in Nature published the genomes—the complete DNA sequences—of 363 species of birds, opening the door for hundreds of new studies

This mummified steppe bison was donated to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in the 1970s. Right now, museum audiences can see it online during a virtual tour.

How Bison Mummies Help Scientists to Ruminate on Ancient Climate

Bison mummies hold valuable information for researchers who want to understand how biodiversity evolved and responded to climate change.

From leaf-engineering to complex social circles, there’s more to bats than flying and echolocation.

Five Reasons to Love Bats

Make Halloween the reason to learn to love and conserve these misunderstood mammals

Why does smaller size, like that of the anteater, benefit species in different environments, wondered one Smithsonian reader.

Why Are South American Animals Smaller Than Those on Other Continents?

You've got questions. We've got experts

An overview of the Olorgesailie basin landscape, where the archeological site exists that contains stone weapons and tools

To Adapt to a Changing Environment 400,000 Years Ago, Early Humans Developed New Tools and Behaviors

When the East African Rift Valley transformed dramatically, new weapons arose and trade expanded

Bennu is shaped like a three-dimensional diamond and seemingly smooth from far away. OSIRIS-REx is in the foreground of this artist’s replication. The spacecraft will gather a sample from Bennu next week.

What an Asteroid Could Tell Us About Ancient Earth

Knowing those rocks’ origins will help scientists learn more about the composition of objects in the solar system and asteroid belt

The Pacific bigfin squid Magnapinna pacifica in the Smithsonian collections that Mike Vecchione and Richard E. Young used to describe the deepest-known species of squid.

The Wonderfully Weird World of Deep-Sea Squids

For this month's "Meet a SI-entist," the Smithsonian's curator of cephalopods says these are the "intelligent invertebrates"

These six video webinars presented by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History explore the life cycle of modern outbreaks.

Six Videos From the Natural History Museum That Put the Pandemic in Context

Explore the life cycle of modern outbreaks, from infection to immunity and vaccines to combat them

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Alexander von Humboldt: The Man History Forgot

Rediscover the 19th-century naturalist who traveled on four continents, wrote 2,500 letters, 36 books and hugely influenced early America

When Alexander von Humboldt (right) traveled to England in 1790, he met a young chemist named James Smithson, the founder of the Smithsonian. Humboldt's influence still resonates throughout the massive museum and research complex.

How the Revolutionary Thinker Alexander von Humboldt Helped to Create the Smithsonian

The 19th-century polymath continues to influence the Institution’s research; a major Smithsonian exhibition explains how and why

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