Science / Video
Researchers are able to track Venus flytrap plants that were stolen from protected areas
Scientists filmed octopuses near Indonesia using coconut shells as a tool, a first for invertebrates
Smithsonian staff writer Abigail Tucker came across imperiled zebras, dusty savannahs and perilous roads while researching the Tanzanian lions. Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Truth-About-Lions.html
Duke University scientists used vibrations from a loudspeaker to understand how water beads and rolls off lotus leaves
Baby Talk From a Rhesus Macaque
Watch how a mother rhesus makes funny faces to her infant child to grab its attention
The Eastern Pacific Black Ghost Shark
The ghost shark’s tentaclum on its head is used to facilitate copulation with a female
Removed From its Setting, the Hope Diamond Stands Alone
The naked stone is on exhibit at the Natural History museum through next spring
The Shorebirds of Delaware Bay
Staff writer Abigail Tucker recounts the scene of a beach littered with horseshoe crabs and a sky filled with red knots. Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Return-of-the-Sandpiper.html
Jellyfish are Stirring Up the Ocean
Researchers in Palau are studying how the movement of jellyfish through the open water helps with ocean mixing
Watch a slow-motion video of a tentacled snake lie in wait and scare its prey into escaping right into its mouth
Ambushed by a Prehistoric Spider
Using a CT scanner, scientists have created a 3-D model of Cryptomartus hindi
A wheat seed burrowing into the ground. Under dry, daytime conditions, the two “awns” that project from the seed bend away from each other. Under humid, nighttime conditions, they straighten. …
Astrophysicist Stephen Murray explains how X-ray energies can be used to understand dark matter and its place in the universe
An infected ant’s bright red abdomen looks like a berry
Watch St. Augustine in Alaska erupt and create lightning
Marine biologist Nancy Knowlton discusses a research trip to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, in Panama, where she and her collaborators collected data on coral reef populations. Reef sustainability is …
Bonnie, the subject of a recently published paper, is the Smithsonian National Zoo’s famous whistling orangutan
A scuffle between silverback and male blackback gorilla reveals much about the social structures of the species
Spark!Lab Ignites the Imagination
Interpretive exhibits coordinator Steven Madewells demonstrates a few experiments at Spark!Lab, an interactive exhibit at the National Museum of American History. Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/theres-nothing-like-a-sparklab-to-ignite-the-imagination-1-180949007/
After mapping the movement of stars for years, astronomers believe they have found a black hole at the center of the Milky Way
The Smithsonian National Zoos Snore & Roar program gives visitors a behind the scenes look (Video and Reporting by Megan Gambino and Ryan Reese). Read more at http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2008/09/sleep-over-party-at-the-zoo/
Nancy Knowlton talks about the dangers facing our oceans’ coral reefs
The Siberian jay screeches at predators when they are near, but uses a different call for each deadly intruder
Counting Down for the Liftoff to the Moon
Photographer David Burnett focused his camera on the many tourists who flocked to Florida in 1969 to watch the launch of Apollo 11 (Produced by Molly Roberts; Photographs by David …
Elephants Keeping Their Ears to the Ground
Male elephants use both audible sounds and seismic frequencies to locate a female elephant, according to recent research
Bobbing to the Backstreet Boys
Snowball the cockatoo bobs his head and lifts his leg to the beats of the Backstreet Boys’ “Everbody”
Hear audio of mouse lemurs and pied babblers (Note: Lemur calls have been slowed down to one-tenth their speed so that scientists can analyze their differences.)
Watch Masai Mara hyenas in their natural habitat
Take an animated tour of the future Giant Magellan Telescope
A blue-throated side-blotched lizard defending his territory against an orange-throated side-blotched lizard
The researchers place a white “X” on one side of Happy’s head. When Happy sees the “X” in the mirror, she repeatedly touches the mark with her trunk
A dying caterpillar’s unusual reaction to a predatory bug.
Page 9 of 11