Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

A giant eye sits in a clear, glass container next to a smaller octopus and squid in glass containers on either side of the eye.

I Spy… A Giant Squid Eye

Gaze into the enormous eye of a giant squid behind the scenes in the museum’s Invertebrate Zoology collection.

A colorful worm is lit up against a black background

How 3D Worms Provide a Peek Into Historic Smithsonian Collection

A large, brown tooth sits on top of a colorful map of the California coast

Summer Summary: A Mysterious Fossil Tooth, Metallic Planet and Marine Hitchhikers

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Smithsonian Expedition Yields a New Species of Deep-Sea Coral

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Starstruck: A Suite of Strange Sea Stars Discovered in the Smithsonian’s Collection

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Museum Collections Provide Some Muscle for Mussel Conservation

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2022 in Review: The Year’s Top Discoveries by Museum Researchers

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To Understand How Animals See in the Abyss, Scientists Peer Through the Eyes of an Alien Amphipod

A small, tan fox with large, pointed pink ears blends into its sand-colored enclosure at the Smithsonian National Zoo.

Five Wild Ways Animals Beat the Summer Heat

A pink and yellow worm is covered in several tangled strands of string-like gills.

Meet the Scientist Who Studies How Polychaete Worms Wriggle Through the Ocean

The inside of a lumpy white and brown seashell is smooth and pink.

The Story Behind the Seashells By the Seashore

Several grey, white and orange king penguins perch on top of their eggs, which are snuggly sheltered under a flap of their flabby skin between their feet.

Get To Know the Natural World’s Most Devoted Dads

Pages and jars of preserved plant specimens cover a counter in the foreground while cabinets full of pages of preserved plants line the background.

Iconic Photos Give Rare Glimpse of Smithsonian's Storage Rooms

An orange-colored fly, as seen from above and below

Get to Know the Scientist Studying How Parasitic Flies Stomach Bat Blood

Pink Hyperiid

Say Hello to the Scientist Using DNA to Track Plankton Diversity

Composite image of ten different species of zooplankton on black background.

An Ode to Zooplankton, the Hidden Heroes of the Sea

15 antique, scientific jars filled with preserved parasites on black background.

What Five Hollywood Horror Sensations Have in Common With Real Parasites

Composite photo of seven different colorful and partially transparent deep-sea animals on black background

Massive Yet Misunderstood, What Is the Ocean's Midwater?

Smooth pearls in the shape of orbs and ovals are usually created by bivalves, like mussels, in pearl farms. As with all gems, the less blemishes they have, the more valuable they are. (Chip Clark, Smithsonian)

The True Story Behind How Pearls Are Made

Chris Meyer, a marine invertebrate zoologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, dives around French Polynesia with equipment used to track coral reef health. (Jenny Adler)

Meet the Reef Expert Collecting Environmental Time Capsules

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I Spy… A Giant Squid Eye

Meet the Smithsonian Scientist Untangling the Branches of Hawaii’s Evolutionary Tree

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