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Natural History Museum

Curasub commissioner/owner Adriaan Schrier and lead DROP scientist Carole Baldwin aboard the custom-built submersible.

How a Team of Submersible-Bound Scientists Redefined Reef Ecosystems

In tropical Curaçao, Smithsonian researchers are constantly confronting the unknown

These black- and red-colored pigments reveal that humans were using pigments, potentially to communicate status or identity, by around 300,000 years ago.

New Research

Colored Pigments and Complex Tools Suggest Humans Were Trading 100,000 Years Earlier Than Previously Believed

Transformations in climate and landscape may have spurred these key technological innovations

At the time of capture, the Smithsonian's coelacanth specimen weighed about 160 pounds and measured a little less than five and a half feet long.

How the Smithsonian’s Coelacanth Lost Its Brain and Got It Back Again

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the discovery of a fish believed to have gone the way of the dinosaurs 70 million years ago

Eriauchenius milajaneae is one of the 18 new species of pelican spiders from Madagascar described by the scientists. This species was named after Wood’s daughter, and is known only from one remote mountain in southeast Madagascar.

Madagascar’s Ancient ‘Pelican Spiders’ Are As Striking As They Are Strange

New research offers an in-depth look at the island’s fascinating spider scene

Until now, no one had been able to show at a microscopic level that the turkey vulture’s larger olfactory bulbs conferred advantage in the smell department.

Turkey Vultures Have a Keen Sense of Smell and Now We Know Why

Inside the brains of this olfactory king of the roost is a powerful cellular mechanism for detecting carrion from hundreds of feet away

Large animal skeletons at the Finnish Natural History Museum.

The Hidden Biases That Shape Natural History Museums

Here’s why museum visitors rarely see lady animals, penis bones or cats floating in formaldehyde

This year's crop of Smithsonian winter shows is as disparate as it is delightful.

This Holiday Season, Make Merry in a Museum

From heavenly light shows to diabolical dollhouses, the Smithsonian’s winter exhibitions offer something for everyone

For the first time, scientists have created near-perfect cubic zirconia replicas of the diamond in its previous forms. From left to right: the original brought from India, King Louis XIV’s “French Blue” and the Hope Diamond.

Now There Are Near-Perfect Copies of the Hope Diamond

Scientists created cubic zirconia replicas of the historic gem’s previous forms—the original brought from India and the famous “French Blue”

Thirteen Books That Informed and Delighted Smithsonian Scholars This Year

With a mission to increase and diffuse knowledge, Smithsonian thought leaders are voracious readers

Thought leaders gathered at the National Museum of Natural History to discuss the past, present and future of the flu.

The Next Pandemic

When the Next Pandemic Hits, Will We Be Prepared?

The question isn’t whether a pandemic will strike—it’s how it will play out.

The herbarium of Washington, D.C.'s Natural History Museum teems with pressed specimens of thousands of distinct plants.

How Artificial Intelligence Could Revolutionize Archival Museum Research

A new study shows off a computer program’s specimen-sorting prowess

The Russian Orthodox Church in Igiugig

Trending Today

In Emotional Homecoming, Smithsonian Repatriates 24 Sets of Human Remains

Collected by an anthropologist in 1931, the National Museum of Natural History returned the bones to the village of Igiugig

African Lionesses by Lakshitha Karunarathna, 2017 Grand Prize

These Breathtaking Images Are the Cat’s Meow in Nature Photography

Sixty incredible outdoor scenes are now on view at the National Museum of Natural History

Memorial to a species, Brent Stirton, South Africa, Grand title winner 2017

Art Meets Science

Tragedy and Beauty of Nature on Display in This Year’s Best Wildlife Photos

The 16 award-winning images range from whimsical birds to the tragic aftermath of a poaching raid

Adams worked with artist Emma Segal to create illustrations that represent the new energy terms. The English translation of the words on this image is: Solar Panels, a flat piece resembling a window/mirror placed on top of a building to collect electricity from the sun to power the house.

Inventing a Vocabulary to Help Inuit People Talk About Climate Change

One team is working with Inuvialuit elders to come up with a renewable energy terminology—and maybe revive a dying language

Having shown that it’s possible to identify whale species from baleen, Solazzo says, “Now we have a new tool to study those collections.”

The Innovative Spirit fy17

These Ancient Whale Baleen Artifacts Can Now Tell New Stories

How an innovative protein analysis technique helped solve a decades-old mystery

Two tree frogs share an intimate moment. The eye-popping yellow of the male only emerges in mating season.

The Color-Changing Marvel of Tree Frogs Looking for Love

A new study sheds light on the wild world of “dynamically dichromatic” amphibians

The replica (left) and original were first displayed together at the 2012 clan conference in Sitka, Alaska.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

This Replica of a Tlingit Killer Whale Hat Is Spurring Dialogue About Digitization

Collaboration between museums and indigenous groups provides educational opportunities, archival documentation—and ethical dilemmas

A member of the Myrmoteras genus of trap-jaw ants, with mandibles deployed.

Prying Apart the Mighty Bite of a Malaysian Trap-Jaw Ant

Its mandibles strike in a fraction of a blink of an eye, but how does it do it?

Ampelopsis brevipedunculata, or porcelainberry originated in China, Korea, Japan and Russia, but is a vigorous invasive in the United States.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Scientists Are Using This Collection of Wood Samples to Combat Illegal Logging

Archie F. Wilson loved wood enough to amass the country’s premiere private collection. Now scientists are using it as a weapon against illegal logging

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