Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

Gray smoke billows from fires on a mountainside, as seen from above.

Firefighting Planes Are Dumping Ocean Water on the Los Angeles Fires—Why Using Saltwater Is Typically a Last Resort

In Los Angeles, "Super Scooper" planes are dumping ocean water on the raging wildfires. But using seawater has downsides

A clear blue river winds through a reedy wetland, reflecting the clouds overhead. A wooden boardwalk with rails overlooks the river on the right.

Hot, Fresh & Flooded: These Wetlands Spew Out the Most Methane

Head and shoulders photo of Denise Breitburg, a woman with glasses and shoulder-length gray hair, with forested mountains in the background.

Wait, the Ocean Is Losing Oxygen? Q&A With Denise Breitburg

Uzay Sezen, wearing a red hard hat, kneels in a forest with a crossbow on his left and a sample of green leaves in front of him

How Crossbows Can Tell Us Which Genes Trees Are Turning On…and Off

A swarm of yellow fish and silver fish with yellow tailfins swim around a coral reef

Adult Fish Aren't Truly 'Protected' in Many Marine Protected Areas

Pools of water flood a green marsh, under a misty sky

How Much Can Wetlands Fight Climate Change? A New Carbon Atlas Has The Answers.

Black monkey perches in a tree staring directly at camera

Eight Weird and Wondrous Discoveries From 2023

Underwater photo of a pink and gold coral reef in bright blue water, with small blue and yellow fish. A blurry reflection of the reef appears in the water at the top of the photo.

New Study Reveals Large Holes In America’s Ocean Protection. Here’s How We Can Fix Them.

Corals as far as the eye can see, with dark blue fishes swimming above

U.S. Needs to Diversify Marine Protected Areas to Reap Full Benefits

Orange scalefin anthias fish swarm in front of a fire coral in the Red Sea's Ras Mohammed Marine Park, Egypt. (Credit: Alex Mustard, Ocean Image Bank).

Reef Robots. Predicting Marine Life Like Weather. Meet the Ocean of 2030.

North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) at Florida's Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. (Credit: Keenan Adams, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

River Otters Take Party Pooping To A New Level

Lontra canadensis, the North American river otter. (Credit: Matthew Fryer)

The Secret Lives of River Otters (And Their Parasites)

Spathoglottis petri, one of Palau's native orchids. (Photo: Benjamin Crain/SERC)

The Secret Orchids of Palau

Cownose rays are migratory animals that come into the Chesapeake in summer and swim to Florida for the winter. (Credit: Jay Fleming/SERC)

For The First Time, Biologists Track Cownose Rays To Florida And Back

A Chinese mitten crab found in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, in 2007. Chinese mitten crabs are most recognizable by their brown, spiny shells and furry “mittened” claws. (Credit: SERC)

Wanted: The Hunt for Chinese Mitten Crabs Is Back On

Male Bocon toadfish of Panama attract mates by singing in a series of “grunts” and “boops.” (Credit: Study authors)

The Ugly Fish That Sings Its Own Song

SERC marine biologist Brianna Tracy holds a plate with marine life pulled from a dock in San Francisco. (Credit: Kristen Minogue/SERC)

Citizen Science: Help Spot Invaders With Your Smart Phone

SERC interns Michelle Edwards (left) and Claire Mueller (right) get ready to release a tagged bull shark. (Credit: Jay Fleming/Smithsonian)

Intern Logs: Tagging Sharks in the Sunshine State

The awesomely beautiful tallgrass prairie in the Flint Hills of Kansas. The Flint Hills contains the majority of the remaining tallgrass prairie in the United States, thanks to its rocky soil that prevented farmers from plowing it under to farm the fertile soils. (Credit: Kim La Pierre)

Confessions of a Real Life Scientist: Grasslands of the World

Katrina Lohan analyzes parasite DNA in SERC’s Ecological Genomics Core. The results help detect parasites infecting oysters or lurking the ballast water of large ships. (Credit: Kristen Minogue/SERC)

Confessions of a Real Life Scientist: The Thrill of Learning

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Firefighting Planes Are Dumping Ocean Water on the Los Angeles Fires—Why Using Saltwater Is Typically a Last Resort

Hot, Fresh & Flooded: These Wetlands Spew Out the Most Methane

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