Description: The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama was founded in 1923 as the Barro Colorado Island Laboratory to study tropical biology. In 1946, it was placed under Smithsonian aegis as the Canal Zone Biological Area. Although still based in Panama, today its researchers study biodiversity and human culture throughout the tropics. History of the Smithsonian Tropical
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_9794,size=300,left][edan-image:id=siris_sic_8415,size=300,left]Physical anthropologist T. Dale Stewart was known as the "Head" Curator of the Department of Anthropology, not only because he was in charge, but also because of his special expertise in skulls. His interest in heads also extended to his hobby of portrait painting. Stewart, whose
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="385" caption="A Young Pulsar Shows its Hand, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory"][/caption] On Friday, April 3, the Chandra X-ray Observatory released a new image (with 10 times more data) of supernova B1509 which is now available on the Smithsonian Flickr Commons photostream. Chandra orbits the earth every 2.5 days capturing images