Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

Two small fossil fragments of ancient brittle stars appear green as they rest on Ben Thuy's fingertip.

Scientists Describe Two New Species of Ancient Brittle Star

The newly unearthed fossils reveal an evolutionary path likely shaped by environmental crisis

Fossilized weigeltisaurid skeleton on beige background

The Oldest Airborne Vertebrate Animal Was a Reptile With 'Weird' Wings

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide is causing global warming. This means glaciers in Antarctica are melting. Those same glaciers were originally made when carbon dioxide dropped 34 million years ago. (NASA/Jim Ross)

Drop in Greenhouse Gas Caused Global Cooling 34 Million Years Ago, Study Finds

Zircons are the oldest minerals in the world and come in colors like the rich blue above. Researchers have now used these gemstones to identify when modern plate tectonics began. (Ken Larsen)

New Study on Zircons Finds Plate Tectonics Began 3.6 Billion Years Ago

This fossilized dinosaur head and vertebrae were discovered in 1883 but only recently gained its name, Smitanosaurus agilis. (Smithsonian)

Scientists Give Old Dinosaur a New Name

This is a giant spindle magnetofossil, created by a mysterious creature over 50 million years ago. So far, the iron fossils have only been found during two periods of intense global warming. (Kenneth Livi, Courtney Wagner, and Ioan Lascu)

New Way to Study Magnetic Fossils Could Help Unearth Their Origins

A meteorite in the process of being recovered by volunteers in the Antarctic Search for Meteorites program. The shiny fusion crust on this meteorite suggests it may be an achondrite. (ANSMET)

What Antarctic Meteorites Tell Us About Earth’s Origins

Scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History sequenced the genomes of 363 bird species in 2020. (Brian Schmidt, Smithsonian)

10 Popular Scientific Discoveries from 2020

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

How We Lifted Flight from Bird Evolution

The National Museum of Natural History’s newest curator in the paleobiology department, Dr. Stewart Edie, opens a drawer with mollusk fossils in the museum’s invertebrate paleobiology collection. (Katie Collins, National History Museum, London)

Say Hello to the Smithsonian’s Newest Mollusk Expert

The Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems working group combines expertise from paleontologists and ecologists to improve our understanding of ancient and modern ecosystems. (Mary Parrish, Smithsonian)

Interdisciplinary Study Shows How Species Interactions Affect Evolution

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. (Michelle Pinsdorf, Smithsonian)

Bison Mummies Help Scientists Ruminate on Ancient Climate

Cole had been using fossils in the National Museum of Natural History’s Springer collections for her research long before joining the museum as a curator. (Selina Cole, Smithsonian)

Meet the Scientist Using Fossils to Predict Future Extinctions

As the ocean continues to warm, scientists look to the past for answers on how to manage today’s environmental problems. (Sophie McCoy/NOAA)

Get to Know the Scientist Reconstructing Past Ocean Temperatures

Kay Behrensmeyer pioneered the field of taphonomy, or the study of how organisms become fossils. (Smithsonian)

Meet the Scientist Studying How Organisms Become Fossils

Museum staff, Laura Donnelly-Smith and Sally Love, try out the new audio description app in the “Hall of Fossils – Deep Time.” (Lucia RM Martino, Smithsonian Institution)

New App Takes Smithsonian Visitors Beyond Visuals

Free post cards were given to service members when they visited the US National Museum (now the National Museum of Natural History) in the 1940s. (Smithsonian Institution Archives, Image # SIA2013-07711)

How WWII Service Members Helped Shape the Smithsonian’s New Fossil Hall

On opening day of the new fossil hall, visitors flocked to the windows of the FossiLab to see fossil preparation in action. (James D. Tiller, Smithsonian Institution)

Smithsonian Puts Backstage Fossil Preparation Center Stage in its New Fossil Hall

Siobhan Starrs joined the “David H. Koch Hall of Fossils – Deep Time” team in 2009. She spent a decade working on the exhibit, which opened on June 8. (Smithsonian Institution)

How Siobhan Starrs’ Harrowing Hike Shaped the New Fossil Hall

The Smithsonian’s new fossil hall includes myriad stories and details – big and small – about Earth’s 4.6-billion-year history. (Smithsonian Institution)

Five Things You Shouldn’t Miss in the New Fossil Hall

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