Jackson Landers

Jackson Landers

 

Jackson Landers is an author, science writer and adventurer based out of Charlottesville, Virginia, specializing in wildlife out of place. His most recent book, Eating Aliens, chronicles a year and a half spent hunting and fishing for invasive species and finding out whether we can eat our way out of some ecological disasters.

In the late Bronze Age, ca. 500-450 BCE, bells were made in sets that rang different notes according to size.

A Rare Collection of Bronze Age Chinese Bells Tells a Story of Ancient Innovation

These rarely played ancient bells are newly analyzed with their acoustics remastered and digitized for a new exhibition at the Sackler Gallery

Despite the predicted declines, at least five species of bees would survive in areas that would still be suitable for growing coffee, says the new study.

With Smart Planning, Coffee and Bees Can Survive Climate Change

In a new study, a Smithsonian scientist says coffee-growers have options

On July 8, the Hirshhorn becomes a festival of sound with opportunities to listen to the solar system or use body temperature to compose melodies.

The Hirshhorn Transforms Into a One-Day Soundscape

For one day, the museum will add an interactive soundscape to the works of visual art on display

Compared with the trees, lianas are able to put more energy into the production of leaves and seeds and less towards growing a trunk.

Tarzan's Favorite Mode of Travel, the Liana Vine, Chokes Off a Tree's Ability to Bear Fruit

With lowered fruit production, fewer seeds are dispersed to grow new trees

A female Limosa harlequin frog sports a miniature radio transmitter.

A Pioneering Force of Harlequin Frogs Set Out to Help Save Their Species

Outfitted with tiny transmitters, these frogs are released to face the challenging chytrid fungus that decimated their populations

Meet the Ozark hellbender, an elusive creature that has become only more so as of late.

What the Heck Is a Hellbender—And How Can We Make More of Them?

Why the Saint Louis Zoo decided to invest in this slimy, surprisingly adorable amphibian

Exclusively feeding in the wild on blood from live animals, vampire bats, native to Central and South America, can regurgitate blood in order to feed one another, though they won't do this for just anyone.

What a Vampire Bat Can Teach Us About the Economics of Friendship

A Smithsonian scientist says important lessons about making friends and sharing can be learned from these blood-sucking creatures

Multiple views of the young teen's right humerus arm bone that runs from the shoulder to the elbow show where the tumor left its mark.

Oldest Cancer Case in Central America Discovered

A young teen, who died 700 years ago, likely suffered pain in the right arm as the tumor grew and expanded through the bone

Amanda Lawrence, lead technician, collections program. With a green sea turtle Chelonia mydas

Why These Humans Are Museum Treasures, Too

A portrait photographer captured 24 staffers from the National Museum of Natural History posing with their favorite artifacts from the collections

Scimitar-horned oryx calf

Spring Brings a Wave of Baby Animals to the Zoo

Seven different endangered species born so far at the National Zoo and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

“It's hard to imagine," says Smithsonian scientist Carlos Jaramillo,"that you could have the Caribbean ocean in the west Amazon."

A Vast and Now Vanished Amazon Sea Is Discovered

About 18 million years ago, the Caribbean Sea seasonally flooded inland forests, where enormous crocodiles and turtles roamed

Ujala Baoli, Mandu, Madhya Pradesh. Late 15th/Early 16th century. Location: 22°21’29.87’’ N, 75°23’45.36’’ E.

Photos Capture India's Ancient, Vanishing Stepwells

These intricate architectural marvels are in danger of disappearing

Two large litters of cheetah cubs were born at the National Zoo's Front Royal, Virginia, facility—the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.

Two Litters of Adorable Cheetah Cubs Born in One Week

Smithsonian's cheetah conservation program welcomes the springtime births after careful planning

A rare Eld's deer fawn was born at the National Zoo last fall.

Take a Walk on the Bright Side at the First Smithsonian Earth Optimism Summit

As an antidote to doom and gloom, a conference on Earth Day weekend, takes a look all the good that is being done

Smithsonian researchers found that otters that use tools aren't closely related.

Unlike Dolphins, Sea Otters That Use Tools Are Not Closely Related

Rock-bashing in otters is a very old behavior

Andrew Altieri of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama conducts a survey where more than 90 percent of the coral reef has died due to hypoxia.

Coral Reefs Now Face Deep Water Dead Zones, As If Climate Change Were Not Enough

A Smithsonian scientist says there may be a greater prevalence of undocumented oxygen-starved deep coastal waters

After orbiting the moon, Columbia made a nationwide tour that ended in 1971 when the command module came to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.

Apollo 11 Command Module Makes Another Journey

The command module "Columbia" will visit four U.S. museums, leaving DC for the first time in 46 years.

Thanks to this evolutionary novelty, a flexible joint in the skull of dragonfishes, the creatures are able to swallow prey that is almost as big as they are.

This Hinged Skull Helps Dragonfish Eat Prey Bigger Than Its Head

Scientists have discovered the world's only group of fish that has this unbelievable ability

Panamanian golden frog (Atelopus zeteki)

Here's Why You Should Never Kiss a Toad

A scientist at Smithsonian's Tropical Research Institute helped catalog everything known about toxins in the skins of endangered frogs and toads

From top left: (A and B) The new species Pylopaguropsis mollymullerae in Bonaire; (C and E) the new species in a den with a broad banded moray (D) the new species' coral ledge habitat.

Smithsonian Scientist and a Reef-Diving Grandmother Team Up in Discovery of New Hermit Crab

A new species of hermit crab is named to honor her 7-year-old granddaughter Molly

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