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Smithsonian's Seven New Fish Species
Smithsonian Scientists Discover Seven New Species of Fish Things are not always what they seem when it comes to fish—something scientists at the Smithsonian... More »
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Nanoparticles may damage plant DNA Last Updated on 2012-04-19 00:00:00 Study Finds Evidence Nanoparticles May Increase Plant DNA Damage Main Image: Showing that increasing exposure to cupric oxide bulk particles (BPs) and nanoparticles (NPs) by radish plants also increases the impact on growth with NPs showing the largest impact. From left to right, the exposure concentrations are 0; 100 parts per million (ppm) BPs; 1,000 ppm BPs; 100 ppm NPs; and 1,000 ppm NPs (showing a severely stunted plant). Credit: H. Wang, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency View hi-resolution image Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) have provided the first evidence that engineered nanoparticles are able to accumulate within plants and damage their DNA. In a recent paper,* the team led by NIST chemist Bryant C. Nelson showed that under... More »
Smithsonian's Seven New Fish Species Last Updated on 2011-02-04 00:00:00 Smithsonian Scientists Discover Seven New Species of Fish Things are not always what they seem when it comes to fish—something scientists at the Smithsonian Institution and the Ocean Science Foundation are finding out. Using modern genetic analysis, combined with traditional examination of morphology, the scientists discovered that what were once thought to be three species of blenny in the genus Starksia are actually 10 distinct species. The team’s findings are published in the scientific journal ZooKeys. Starksia blennies, small (less than 2 inches) fish with elongated bodies, generally native to shallow to moderately deep rock and coral reefs in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans, have been well-studied for more than 100 years. It would have been reasonable to assume that there was little about the group left to discover. Modern DNA... More » 
