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Smithsonian Institution

Since its founding in 1846, the Smithsonian Institution has been committed to inspiring generations through knowledge and discovery. The Smithsonian is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex, consisting of 21 museums, eight research centers, numerous education and cultural centers, and the National Zoological Park.

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Planting trees on deforested lands in Panama. Jorge Aleman/Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Paying people to replant tropical forests − and letting them harvest the timber − can pay off for climate, justice and environment

It might seem counterintuitive to suggest timber harvesting when the goal is to restore forests, but that gives landholders the economic incentive to protect and manage forests over time.
Indigenous Coast Salish women wove woolly dogs’ fur into blankets. Artist's reconstruction by Karen Carr

Mutton, an Indigenous woolly dog, died in 1859 − new analysis confirms precolonial lineage of this extinct breed, once kept for their wool

Dogs have lived with Indigenous Americans since before they came to the continent together 10,000 years ago. A new analysis reveals the lineage of one 1800s ‘woolly dog’ from the Pacific Northwest.
Ilustração mostra carcaça de preguiça gigante enquanto um dos ocupantes do Abrigo de Santa Elina trabalha na fabricação de joias com seus ossos. Júlia D’Oliveira

Joias de ossos de preguiça gigante encontradas no Brasil entram no debate da ocupação humana das Américas

Novas evidências arqueológicas reforçam a hipótese de que a ocupação de humanos modernos nas Américas ocorreu muito antes do que se pensava
Researchers discovered five new species of black corals, including this Hexapathes bikofskii growing out of a nautilus shell more than 2,500 feet (760 meters) below the surface. Jeremy Horowitz

Scientists discover five new species of black corals living thousands of feet below the ocean surface near the Great Barrier Reef

Black corals provide critical habitat for many creatures that live in the dark, often barren, deep sea, and researchers are learning more about these rare corals with every dive.
Eelgrasses covered with small snails, which keep the leaves clean by feeding on algae that live on them. Jonathan Lefcheck

Restoring seagrasses can bring coastal bays back to life

Healthy seagrasses form underwater meadows teeming with fish and shellfish. A successful large-scale restoration project in Virginia could become a model for reseeding damaged seagrass beds worldwide.
Footprints, preserved in solidified ash, hint at human behavior from as long as 19,000 years ago. Cynthia Liutkus-Pierce

Prehistoric human footprints reveal a rare snapshot of ancient human group behavior

The footprints of over 20 different prehistoric people, pressed into volcanic ash thousands of years ago in Tanzania, show possible evidence for sexual division of labor in this ancient community.
Mary E. Harper (left) and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (right), whose two photos in ‘Atlanta Offering’ are unusual. Unidentified Artist, 1895, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, & Rare Book Library, Emory University

The hidden story of two African-American women looking out from the pages of a 19th-century book

A 19th-century volume contained a mystery for two historians who combined their knowledge to tell the story of the women and their contributions to American democracy.
A different perspective on fracking: wells in the Jonah Field, Wyoming. Ecoflight

Without full disclosure of accidents and chemicals used, fracking risks remain unknown

The rise of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has ushered in an era of intense drilling that has been called the great shale gas rush. Fracking allows oil and natural gas to be extracted from horizontal…
Coral reefs face a major species extinction crisis. AAP

Freezing the Great Barrier Reef: an investment in our future

The Great Barrier Reef is worth billions to Australia’s economy and is one of the world’s most significant natural features. We have a responsibility to protect it, and our other reefs, from the warming…

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