Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

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A Glowing Review: Meet the Museum Scientist Who Studies the Evolution of Bioluminescence in Corals

Deepwater coral specialist Andrea Quattrini’s new paper pins the origin of bioluminescence in corals to more than 500 million years ago

Two red, orange, and white starfish with intricate patterns sit side by side against a black background

Meet the Smithsonian Scientist Who Has Spent Decades Exploring Ocean Depths

The National Museum of Natural History rotunda is lit up with green garlands hanging from the balconies, with the elephant standing the the middle of the image.

Deck the Halls With Nature Crafts and More Natural History Programs This December

A giant eye sits in a clear, glass container next to a smaller octopus and squid in glass containers on either side of the eye.

I Spy… A Giant Squid Eye

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Smithsonian Expedition Yields a New Species of Deep-Sea Coral

A large research vessel with a cell tower on top sails across a dark blue stretch of ocean that expands towards a paler blue sky along the horizon.

Smithsonian Scientists Unearth Signs of an Ancient Climate Calamity Buried Beneath the Seafloor

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To Understand How Animals See in the Abyss, Scientists Peer Through the Eyes of an Alien Amphipod

A diver uses a camera to study a barnacle-covered submarine resting on the seafloor

How Shipwrecks Shape the Seafloor

Close-up of a black and yellow hornet preserved on a pin

What Mummified Shrews and Giant Hornets Reveal About Biodiversity

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Say Hello to the Scientist Using DNA to Track Plankton Diversity

Composite photo of seven different colorful and partially transparent deep-sea animals on black background

Massive Yet Misunderstood, What Is the Ocean's Midwater?

This jellyfish, Scolionema suvaense, was raised in the National Museum of Natural History’s Invertebrate Zoology “AquaRoom.” Here, the species is sinking through food with its tentacles spread wide. (Allen Collins, Smithsonian)

Live Jellyfish Make a Splash in Marine Education

The cyanobacteria species that produces gatorbulin-1, tentatively identified as Lyngbya confervoides, forms these reddish-green, hair-like structures which are a collection of connected single cells rather than a true multicellular organism. (Raphael Ritson-Williams)

Scientists Find Blue-Green Algae Chemical with Cancer Fighting Potential

Scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History sequenced the genomes of 363 bird species in 2020. (Brian Schmidt, Smithsonian)

10 Popular Scientific Discoveries from 2020

The Pacific bigfin squid (Magnapinna pacifica) in the Smithsonian collections that Mike Vecchione and Richard E. Young used to describe the deepest-known species of squid. (Richard E. Young)

Get to Know the Scientist Discovering Deep-Sea Squids

Giant squids can grow to over 40 feet long. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History has a giant squid specimen on display in the Sant Ocean Hall and several others in its collections. (John Steiner, Smithsonian)

How Scientists Learn What Lives in the Deep Ocean

Karen Osborn, invertebrate zoologist and curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, uses photography to help people connect with the hard-to-see marine animals she studies, like this deep-sea jellyfish (Voragonema pedunculata). (Karen Osborn, Smithsonian)

Why Science Needs Art

Onboard science leads Drs. Chris Mah and Chris Kelley and NOAA Educational Partnership Program Intern Nikola Rodriguez discuss and take a closer look at deepwater habitats explored with remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer on Horizon Guyot. (Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2017 Laulima O Ka Moana)

Can Technology Bring the Deep-Sea to You?

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The Murder Mystery Linking a Bird Specimen at the National Museum of Natural History to the Mysterious Death of an Arctic Explorer

Meet the Scientist Decoding Human History in South America Through Giant Ground Sloth Fossils

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