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May 24 2012 - 10:54am
These star-shaped grains of sand, collected from southern Japan, look like miniature works of art -- but they were not sculpted by an artist. They are the shells of microscopic organisms called foraminifera, which build intricate shells from the calcium carbonate they collect while drifting through...
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Dec 8 2010 - 12:54pm
Scientists met the robotic glider Scarlet Knight about halfway along its journey of scientific exploration from the United States to Spain, discovering that barnacles were growing on the glider’s body, as this graphic illustrates. As algae began to grow on the glider’s exterior surface, small sea...
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Feb 6 2012 - 6:48pm
The elongated body, characteristic long and narrow snout, and small teeth make the slender snipe eel, Nemichthys scolopaceus, easily identifiable in this X-ray image. in the Division of Fishes at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History use X-ray images, like the one shown, to study the...
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Jul 18 2011 - 12:11pm
Gyotaku is a traditional form of Japanese art that began as a way for fisherman to keep a record of the fish they caught. The fisherman would apply sumi ink to one side of a freshly caught fish, then cover the fish with rice paper and rub to create an exact image of the fish. The ink was non-...
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May 9 2011 - 10:00am
Calligrapher Myoung-Won Kwon's pen name is Mook Jae. He poses here with a work that has an ocean-themed message. Kwon moved to the United States from South Korea in 1986. While he's a master of his craft, he calls calligraphy his hobby. During the day, he and his wife run a store in Gaithersburg,...
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Oct 14 2010 - 4:58pm
The People's Reef, a part of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef, from above. The HCCR was created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring and is on exhibit at Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History from October 16, 2010 to April 24, 2011.
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Dec 17 2009 - 7:00pm
Scientists in the Division of Fishes at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History use X-ray imaging to study the complex bone structure and diversity of fish. This image gallery showcases X-ray images of sharks and their relatives and bony fish; revealing how...
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Jul 11 2011 - 1:59pm
Building the Smithsonian's Sant Ocean Hall--like any major exhibition--was a major undertaking. Over the course of five years, it required hundreds of people with a vast array of skills and backgrounds. Many of these people worked on one aspect of the exhibit, such as the whale model, the...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This X-ray shows the mouth on the underside of a white-rimmed stingray (Himantura signifer). The ray feeds without seeing its prey. Its eyes are on the top of its body, while its mouth is on the bottom. This rarely recorded freshwater species is known from about 10 specimens in museum...
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Sep 19 2011 - 2:29pm
Building the Smithsonian's Sant Ocean Hall--like any major exhibition--was a major undertaking. Over the course of five years, it required hundreds of people with a vast array of skills and backgrounds. Many of these people worked on one aspect of the exhibit, such as the whale model, the...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
With the sun in its beak, a raven figurehead points the way for the Raven Spirit canoe, now on display at the Smithsonian Institution. More about raven spirit can be found in our Raven Spirit featured story.
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Jul 11 2011 - 6:27pm
Building the Smithsonian's Sant Ocean Hall--like any major exhibition--was a major undertaking. Over the course of five years, it required hundreds of people with a vast array of skills and backgrounds. Many of these people worked on one aspect of the exhibit, such as the whale model, the...
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Oct 14 2010 - 5:55pm
The “Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef,” a unique exhibition and thought-provoking fusion of science, conservation, mathematics, and art, is on display in Washington, D.C., at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. By engaging local communities to crochet coral reefs, the exhibition...
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Dec 8 2010 - 1:02pm
This illustration shows how Scarlet Knight, the first unmanned, underwater robot or glider to cross an ocean basin, faced an entire fleet of fishing ships, equipped with nets, threatening the glider’s path across the continental shelf. “Crossing the shelf is like running across the New Jersey...
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Sep 19 2011 - 1:26pm
Watch the Smithsonian's Sant Ocean Hall come to life in this two minute time lapse video.
The Sant Ocean Hall is the National Museum of Natural History's largest exhibit, providing visitors with a unique and breathtaking introduction to the majesty of the ocean. The hall's combination of...
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Sep 21 2011 - 3:23pm
There are different types of beaches and multiple factors that influence the formation of sand. Many beaches may look alike, but they are actually very different from each other. Wave patterns, geology, and other factors shape the composition, size, texture, and color of sand. Grains can be big or...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
The Raven Spirit canoe would eventually travel more than 4,828 kilometers (3,000 miles) from Prince of Wales Island to Washington, D.C. More about raven spirit can be found in our Raven Spirit featured story.
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Feb 7 2012 - 12:32pm
The clearly pictured spines, rays and snout make identifying this longnose butterflyfish, Forcipiger longirostris, straightforward in this X-ray image. Scientists in the Division of Fishes at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History use X-ray images, like the...
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Feb 17 2011 - 1:20pm
This over 2,000-year-old shipwreck in Mazotas, Cyprus, was discovered in 2007. The ship was loaded with wine from Chios, one of the most expensive and sought-after Greek wines in antiquity. The University of Cyprus, in collaboration with the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus and the THETIS...
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Dec 5 2012 - 11:09am
An X-ray image of grooved razorfish, Centriscus scutatus. Razorfish are encased in thin, transparent bony plates attached to their spines, which you can see in the X-ray.
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Aug 25 2011 - 12:45pm
Artist Shih Chieh Huang spent a good part of 2007 exploring specimens of deep-ocean animals found in the collections of the National Museum of Natural History. He was a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow and was investigating the unusual evolutionary adaptations that allow these creatures to live...
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May 14 2013 - 9:19am
An X-ray image of a Monterey skate (Raja montereyensis) reveals a spine that extends like a tail out from the pelvic fin. The skeletons of skates, rays, chimaeras, and sharks are made of cartilage, rather than bone. Scientists in the Division of Fishes at the Smithsonian's National Museum of...
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Oct 27 2009 - 11:27am
At a ceremony on the edge of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., Douglas Chilton and other members of the Native community officially name the canoe Raven Spirit and launch the craft. More about raven spirit can be found in our Raven Spirit photo essay.
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Sep 15 2011 - 12:05pm
Marine debris damages habitat, entangles wildlife, helps transport invasive species, and harms marine animals that mistakenly ingest the trash thinking it is food.
As part of the Smithsonian's Art's and Science program, the museum hosted "DYOB: Design Your Own Bag." The program aimed to...
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