National Museum of Natural History

“Critical Distance” Will Open Sept. 29

Males in Polygamous Breeding Groups With One or Two Other Male Woodpeckers Sire Significantly More Chicks Over Their Lifetimes

New Exhibitions To Debut Through the Fall

Study Points to a History of Indigenous Sustainable Use of the Western Amazon Stretching Back 5,000 Years

Ancient Zircons From the Jack Hills of Western Australia Hone Date of an Event That Was Crucial To Making the Planet Hospitable to Life

Study of Himalayan Songbirds in Museum Collections Is First Step Toward Using Feathers To Predict the Effects of Climate Change for Birds in Extreme Environments

Sixth Annual Festival Will Be Held Online as Free Monthly Screening Series

Genetic Research Using Smithsonian Collections Reveals the Evolutionary Path of Six Toxic Butterfly Species

Never-Before-Seen Behavior Culminates in a Synchronized Zap of Eels’ Prey, Raising New Questions About How They Communicate

Three 2,000-Year-Old Cobs in Honduras Show That People Brought Corn Varieties Back to Mesoamerica, Possibly Sparking Productivity and Shaping Civilization

Approximately 40% of Genome Samples Sourced From Smithsonian Collections, Amassed Over Decades From Around the Globe

New Drill Core Shows a Boom-Bust Landscape in the East African Rift Valley at a Defining Moment in Human Evolution, Technology and Culture