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The Smithsonian is one of the world’s foremost research centers in science, the arts, and the humanities. In addition to research pursued by the museums, our research centers specialize in areas of inquiry spanning the globe and the farthest reaches of the universe.

Shell deposits
Bonnie Newsom
Close-up a shell midden or deposit of oysters on the Damariscotta River in Maine

Close-up a shell midden or deposit of oysters on the Damariscotta River in Maine. Sites like this contain massive quantities of oysters harvested some 2,200–1,300 years ago and were key to forming the foundation for this study.

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Bonnie Newsom
Shell midden or deposit of oysters on the Damariscotta River in Maine

Shell midden or deposit of oysters on the Damariscotta River in Maine. Sites like this contain massive quantities of oysters harvested some 2,200–1,300 years ago and were key to forming the foundation for this study.

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Mound of shells with overgrown vegetation
Victor Thompson
Crystal River site in Florida with shell mound

Crystal River site in Florida is a massive shell mound, dominated by oysters showing the profile and dense accumulation of shell and other material.

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Archival photo of earth mound
Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
West Berkeley Shell Mound in California exposed during excavation

West Berkeley Shell Mound in California exposed during excavation. This massive site dates from 6,000 years ago through about 1,100 years ago and is composed of oysters and other materials and also contains evidence for ceremonialism and ritual.

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Farthest Galaxy Timeline

Timeline displays the earliest galaxy candidates and the history of the universe. Harikane et al., NASA, EST and P. Oesch/Yale

Scientists Have Spotted the Most Distant Galaxy Ever
Shining Only About 300 Million Years After the Big Bang, It May Be Home to the Oldest Stars in the Universe or a Supermassive Black Hole
04.07.2022
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Thesan Simulation

Still image from a Thesan simulation showing the universe 251 million years after the Big Bang. The orange halos represent the burst of radiation, or light, outpouring from early galaxies. Credit: Thesan Collaboration

Astronomers Reveal Remarkable Simulations of the Early Universe From the Dark Ages Through First Light
New High-Resolution Simulations Show 1 Million Galaxies Forming Some 13 Billion Years Ago
03.24.2022
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Volcano by the sea with wispy clouds floating around it

Credit: Daniel Rasmussen, Smithsonian. Photo taken under Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Research and Monitoring Special Use Permit #74500-16-009.

Study Finds That Water Determines Magma Depth, A Key to Accurate Models of Volcanic Activity, Eruption
03.10.2022
Natural History Museum Research News
Two volcanoes, one with a stream of smoke coming out of the top, seen above a plume of clouds
Daniel Rasmussen, NMNH. Photo taken under Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Research and Monitoring Special Use Permit #74500-15-011.
Shishaldin Volcano and Isanotski Volcano

Shishaldin Volcano (left) and Isanotski Volcano (right) in 2015. Shishaldin emits a plume of volcanic gas that is carried by the wind.

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Volcano overlooking green landscape and small bodies of water on a hazy day
Daniel Rasmussen, NMNH. Photo taken under Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Research and Monitoring Special Use Permit #74500-15-011.
Fisher Caldera and the Shishaldin Volcano

A view over Fisher Caldera in the foreground, looking out to Shishaldin Volcano, at a distance in 2015. The gray and gloomy tone of the photo is characteristic of the weather in the Aleutians.

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Woman walks on side of volcano overlooking a body of water
Anna Barth, University of California, Berkeley. Photo taken under Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Research and Monitoring Special Use Permit #74500-16-009.
Geophysicist Diana Roman on the Cleveland Volcano

Geophysicist Diana Roman of the Carnegie Institution for Science on the flank of Cleveland Volcano in 2016. Tana Volcano, composed of several peaks in this image, is in the background.

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Two people dig for volcanic ash in a ditch using a shovel
Anna Barth, University of California, Berkeley. Photo taken under Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Research and Monitoring Special Use Permit #74500-16-009.
Dan Rasmussen and Terry Plank collect samples of volcanic ash

Dan Rasmussen, Peter Buck Fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and Terry Plank, volcanologist

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Man kneels to collect volcanic ash on a scenic overlook of a volcano
Diana Roman, Carnegie Institution for Science. Photo taken under Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Research and Monitoring Special Use Permit #74500-15-011
Dan Rasmussen collects volcanic ash

Dan Rasmussen, Peter Buck Fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, collects volcanic ash samples from Neptune Ridge, a volcanic feature on Fisher Caldera in 2015.

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Man kneels next to a volcano while collecting ash samples
Anna Barth, University of California, Berkeley. Photo taken under Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Research and Monitoring Special Use Permit #74500-16-009
Dan Rasmussen collects volcanic ash samples

Dan Rasmussen, Peter Buck Fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, collects volcanic ash samples from the rim of the summit caldera on Akutan Volcano in 2016.

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Lone tree stands in a barren field of grassy hills

The category of losers that are not useful to humans features mostly plants that cannot survive in human-dominated environments or have suffered under direct or indirect pressures from human activities. An example of a loser not useful to humans is Araucaria muelleri, a New Caledonian endemic conifer threatened by habitat loss, forest fires and nickel-mining activities. Credit: Copyright Joey Santore, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

Smithsonian Study Finds More ‘Losers’ Than ‘Winners’ Among Plants in the Age of Humans
Researchers Categorized More Than 80,000 Plant Species as Winners or Losers According to Their Ability To Survive as Humans Shape the Future
03.10.2022
Natural History Museum Research News
Louis Hadjioannou (CC BY-SA)
Halophila stipulacea

Winning plant species that are not useful to humans are often considered invasive and able to exploit the conditions associated with intense human impact on the environment. Halophila stipulacea is a good example of this category.

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Single flower on a dark leaf
Copyright Martin Reith, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Magnolia ekmanii

Losers that are useful to humans tend to be over-exploited wild species that may be medicinal, ornamental or used for timber.

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Ginkgo leaves on a branch
Smithsonian Institution by permission from G.A. Cooper
Ginkgo Biloba

Winners useful to humans include species that are widespread and provide wood, medicine, food and ornamental value.

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Person wearing wet gear stands in a body of water while counting oysters against a pier

Chela Zabin, a marine ecologist with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, counts oysters and Fucus rockweed in the intertidal zone in San Francisco Bay. (Credit: Jeff Blumenthal/SERC)

Study Finds “Portfolio Approach” Can Help Protect Restorations From Extreme Climate Events
Adding Diversity to Restoration Projects Can Buffer Them Against Hurricanes, Droughts and Other Climate Extremes
02.15.2022
Environmental Research Center Research News
Solar flare

Still image of several supra-arcade downflows, also described as “dark, finger-like features,” occurring in a solar flare. The downflows appear directly above the bright flare arcade. This solar flare occurred June 18, 2015. Image credit: NASA SDO

Scientists Explain Mysterious Finger-like Features in Solar Flares
Astronomers Have Presented New Explanation for Mysterious Downward-Moving Dark Voids Seen in Some Solar Flares
01.27.2022
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Illustration of bubble in space

Artist's illustration of the Local Bubble with star formation occurring on the bubble's surface. Scientists have now shown how a chain of events beginning 14 million years ago with a set of powerful supernovae led to the creation of the vast bubble, responsible for the formation of all young stars within 500 light-years of the sun and Earth. Credit: Leah Hustak (STScI

1,000 Light-Year-Wide Bubble Surrounding Earth Is Source of All Young Stars Nearby
For the First Time, Astronomers Have Retraced the History of Earth’s Galactic Neighborhood, Showing Exactly How the Young Stars Nearest to Its Solar System Formed
01.12.2022
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Illustration of the sun

Artist’s conception of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

Spacecraft Enters the Sun’s Corona for the First Time in History
Instrument Made by Scientists and Engineers at the Center for Astrophysics Has Helped Verify That—for the First Time in History—a Spacecraft Has Entered the Corona of the Sun
12.14.2021
Astrophysical Observatory Research News
Person wearing protective gear in lab leans over science experiment
Luz Quiñones/Smithsonian
Plastics research: Linsey Haram

Marine biologist Linsey Haram working in a lab at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center during the pandemic, analyzing sponges, hydroids and bryozoans on plastic debris

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Researcher stands on a boat
Smithsonian Institution
Plastics research: Linsey Haram

Linsey Haram, a marine biologist who studies organisms on ocean plastic, on an expedition to British Columbia.

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Close up of debris
The Ocean Cleanup
Plastics research: Floating debris

Floating debris with a mix of coastal organisms (the yellow podded hydroids Aglaophenia pluma) and open-ocean organisms (Planes crab and Lepas gooseneck barnacles) collected in 2018 by The Ocean Cleanup in collaboration with Smithsonian Institution. 

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