Your questions answered by Smithsonian Geologist Liz Cottrell in season two of "The Dr. Is In."

Smithsonian Voices

Smithsonian Volcano Expert Answers Questions on Topics Ranging From Yellowstone’s ‘Big One’ to Skunk Pee

Geologist Liz Cottrell answers your questions in the second season of the National Museum of Natural History’s YouTube series, ‘The Dr. Is In’

Commercial crew astronauts Bob Behnken (left) and Doug Hurley (right) stand in front of a SpaceX Dragon mock-up at the Johnson Space Center.

Smithsonian Voices

The Storied History Behind Saturday’s Planned SpaceX Launch

Smithsonian curator Jennifer Levasseur examines NASA’s relationship with spacecraft contractors

A young koala recovers at the wildlife park hospital.

Planet Positive

The Great Koala Rescue Operation

Raging bushfires. Devastated wildlife. And the compassionate souls who went to the rescue

A scanning electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Covid-19

Why Immunity to the Novel Coronavirus Is So Complicated

Some immune responses may be enough to make a person impervious to reinfection, but scientists don’t yet know how the human body reacts to this new virus

Paratype of Florida's rare blue calamintha bee (male)

Blue Bee Feared to Be Extinct Is Found in Florida

First discovered in 2011, the rare species reappeared recently after nearly a decade of eluding scientists’ watch

The Asian Giant Hornet, Vespa mandarinia, can grow up to two inches long and is a species not native to North America. The National Insect Collection, co-curated by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), houses one of the first specimens collected in North America

Smithsonian Voices

Here’s Why the Invasive Asian Giant Hornet’s Identification Is Actually a Scientific Success Story

Notorious ‘Murder’ hornet finds home in Smithsonian collections

The Covid-19 pandemic has skyrocketed the demand for new strains of mice to help scientists understand the progression of the disease, test existing drugs, find new therapeutic targets and develop vaccines.

Covid-19

Building a Mouse Squad Against COVID-19

A Maine laboratory is on the verge of supplying a much-needed animal for SARS-CoV-2 research

“Footprints give us information about anatomy and group dynamics that you just can’t get from bones,” says the Smithsonian's Briana Pobiner.

Ancient Toes and Soles of Fossilized Footprints Now 3-D Digitized for the Ages

New research suggests that for the prehistoric foragers that walked this path, labor was divided between men and women

Could 2020 be America's Year of the Bidet?

Covid-19

The Bottom Line About Bidets

Amid toilet paper shortages, many Americans are making the switch—but does all the fuss about bidets really hold water?

Mount St. Helens in 2018

Smithsonian Voices

Forty Years After Mount St. Helens, Scientists Make Tiny Eruptions to Study Volcanoes

Meet the Smithsonian scientist who makes and studies tiny volcanic eruptions

New fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls with writing visible.

Text Found on Supposedly Blank Dead Sea Scroll Fragments

Invisible to the naked eye, researchers revealed lines of ancient script in new photographs

In a normal year, about 40,000 people travel to Kearney between March and April to join popular crane festivals. But on March 13, Rowe Sanctuary shut down due to the spread of COVID-19, canceling its tours and closing all trails.

Covid-19

How COVID-19 Is Disrupting Crucial Conservation Efforts

Researchers behind habitat restoration and wildlife protection groups are struggling to continue work amid the pandemic

How can the right kind of farming protect our soils and our climate? Find out in Carbon Cowboys. © 2020, carbon nation.

Smithsonian Voices

Saving Our Planet Starts With the Soil

A new documentary ‘carbon cowboys’ by Peter Byck brings to light a host of farmers promoting soil health as a great business plan

Smithsonian researchers studied 67 forest plots in a section of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They found that hemlock woolly adelgid had decimated hemlock populations.

Decades of Tree Data Reveal Forests Under Attack

Smithsonian researchers with ForestGEO found that invasive species are linked to roughly one in four tree deaths in a section of the Blue Ridge Mountains

People who run businesses and other organizations want to know whether the spaces they manage and use are safe on a daily basis.

Covid-19

How Accurate Are Tests to Detect Coronavirus on Surfaces?

Labs and companies are already distributing some, but they vary drastically in price and potential performance

Sampling wastewater could give scientists a new way to track the spread of the new coronavirus.

Covid-19

How Wastewater Could Help Track the Spread of the New Coronavirus

The virus that causes COVID-19 is unlikely to remain active in sewage, but its genetic material can still help researchers identify at-risk communities

A new study from scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Center analyzed about 35,000 bone and shell fragments from the Maya city of Ceibal.

Bones Tell the Tale of a Maya Settlement

A new study tracks how the ancient civilization used animals for food, ritual purposes and even as curiosities

A vial of remdesivir, an antiviral that has broad-spectrum activity, meaning it works against more than one type of virus. Remdesivir has been authorized for emergency use in the COVID-19 pandemic; it also was used to fight Ebola when there were few treatments available.

Covid-19

Remdesivir Works Against Many Viruses. Why Aren’t There More Drugs Like It?

Antivirals that work against a large number of diverse viruses would help us prepare for new diseases, but creating them is a big biological challenge

This week's selections include Enemy of All Mankind, Who Ate the First Oyster? and Daughter of the Boycott.

Books of the Month

A Notorious 17th-Century Pirate, the Many Lives of the Louvre and Other New Books to Read

The seventh installment in our weekly series spotlights titles that may have been lost in the news amid the COVID-19 crisis

Herrerasaurus skeleton replica at a special exhibition of the Naturmuseum Senckenberg

The Rise of Meat-Eating Dinosaurs Is More Complicated Than We Thought

Paleontologists are searching for how carnivorous dinosaurs went from pipsqueaks to titans

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