Research News

Newsroom of the Smithsonian

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.

Eel Research: Eels seen hunting

Electric eels gathering and herding prey in preparation to launch a coordinated attack. A team of scientists describe this novel behavior in the Jan.

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river bed with sunken trees and eels seen hunting under the water
Douglas Bastos
Eel Research: Joint predatory attack

Electric eels shocking their prey as a group in a coordinated hunting effort. A team of scientists describe this novel behavior in the Jan.

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Riverbed with sunken trees and eels seen under the water
Douglas Bastos
Eel Research: Joint predatory attack

Electric eels shocking their prey as a group in a coordinated hunting effort. A team of scientists describe this novel behavior in the Jan.

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Eel Research: Joint predatory attack

Electric eels shocking their prey as a group in a coordinated hunting effort. A team of scientists describe this novel behavior in the Jan.

Download (98.86 MB)
Eel swimming in water
L. Sousa
Eel Research: Electrophorus voltai

Underwater photos of Volta’s electric eel (Electrophorus voltai), the species of electric eel recently discovered by researchers to hunt in groups. A team of scientists describe this novel behavior in the Jan.

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Eel underwater
L. Sousa
Eel Research: Electrophorus voltai

Underwater photos of Volta’s electric eel (Electrophorus voltai), the species of electric eel recently discovered by researchers to hunt in groups. A team of scientists describe this novel behavior in the Jan.

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Man wades in shallow river surrounded by lush forest
E. Kauano
Eel Research: C. David de Santana in the field

Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History fish research associate

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Group of eels seen hunting together

Credit: Douglas Bastos

Scientists Discover Electric Eels Hunting in a Group
Never-Before-Seen Behavior Culminates in a Synchronized Zap of Eels’ Prey, Raising New Questions About How They Communicate
01.14.2021
Natural History Museum Research News
Overlapping images of the planet Mercury

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/Smithsonian Institution

Study Reveals That Mercury Is the Not-So-Shrunken Planet
New Paper Is Published by Smithsonian Scientist Tom Watters
01.14.2021
Air and Space Museum Research News
Report cover
Report Highlights Long-Term Benefits of Scientific Collections
12.16.2020
Research News
Three ancient corn cobs on black background with ruler for scale

Credit: Thomas Harper

Ancient DNA Continues To Rewrite Corn’s 9,000-Year Society-Shaping History
Three 2,000-Year-Old Cobs in Honduras Show That People Brought Corn Varieties Back to Mesoamerica, Possibly Sparking Productivity and Shaping Civilization
12.14.2020
Natural History Museum Research News
Three dried corn cobs on black background
Thomas Harper
Ancient Corn DNA: 2,000-year-old cobs

Three roughly 2,000-year-old corn cobs from the El Gigante rock shelter site in Honduras. These corn cobs were genetically analyzed by an international team of scientists.

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Three corn cobs of varying ages set against black background
Thomas Harper
Ancient Corn DNA: Corn of varying ages

An assortment of corn cobs of varying ages found at the El Gigante rock shelter site in Honduras.

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Five ancient corn of varying ages and sizes set against black background
Thomas Harper
Ancient Corn DNA: Assortment of corn

An assortment of corn cobs of varying ages found at the El Gigante rock shelter site in Honduras.

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Three ancient corn cobs on black background
Thomas Harper
Ancient Corn DNA: 2,000-year-old cobs

Three roughly 2,000-year-old corn cobs from the El Gigante rock shelter site in Honduras. These corn cobs were genetically analyzed by an international team of scientists.

Download (577.35 KB)
Scuba diver holds sea urchin underwater

Noelle Lucey collecting urchins in the Pacific Ocean
Credit: Maycol Madrid, STRI

One-Two Punch: Sea Urchins Stuck Belly-up in Low-Oxygen Hot Water
12.09.2020
Tropical Research Institute Research News
Tank filled with water and sea urchins
Credit: Jorge Aleman, STRI
Sea Urchin Study: Echinometra lucunter

Sea urchins (Echinometra lucunter) in the lab at the Smithsonian’s Bocas del Toro Research Station in Panama. Researchers discovered that low oxygen conditions seemed to effect urchin behavior more than higher temperatures or low pH (ocean acidification).

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Water surrounds a cliff of trees
Credit: Jorge Aleman, STRI
Sea Urchin Study: Hospital point

Hospital Point, Bocas del Toro where low pH and low oxygen conditions occur at night on the reef at only 3 meters depth.
 

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Woman seated at round table signs MOU
Asian Art Collaboration | Germany

A representative from the the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz) in Germany signs a Memorandum of Understanding with the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M.

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Chase Robinson signs memorandum of understanding
Asian Art Collaboration

Chase F. Robinson, the Dame Jillian Sackler Director of the Arthur M.

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Two rats snuggling African crested rat (Lophiomys imhausi)

Stephanie Higgins

Researchers Discover Secret Social Lives of Giant Poisonous Rats
11.19.2020
National Zoo & SCBI Research News
Red Northern Cardinal perched on twig in winter

Brian Schmidt, Smithsonian

Scientists Release Genomes of Birds Representing Nearly All Avian Families
Approximately 40% of Genome Samples Sourced From Smithsonian Collections, Amassed Over Decades From Around the Globe
11.11.2020
Natural History Museum Research News
Man in stern of canoe as it goes down a river
Cristina A. Gebhard / Smithsonian
Bird Genome / Boat

More than 150 ornithologists, molecular biologists and computer scientists came together to obtain specimens and analyze more than 17 trillion base pairs of DNA.

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Researcher wading in marsh
Andrew Engilis Jr.
Bird Genome / Wading researcher

More than 150 ornithologists, molecular biologists and computer scientists came together to obtain specimens and analyze more than 17 trillion base pairs of DNA.

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