Bees are part of the biodiversity on which we all depend for our survival, but some of their activity has been unexplainable—until now. Discover how small observations led to big breakthroughs revealing the secrets behind puzzling honey bee behavior.
Cornell University biology professor Thomas D. Seeley provides an up-close account of how he and his colleagues solved mysteries about honey bee nature. In deciphering their communicative movements, Seeley reveals insights into these remarkably intelligent insects.His research illuminates how worker bees function as scouts to choose a home site for their colony, furnish their home with beeswax combs, and stock it with brood and food while keeping tens of thousands of colony inhabitants warm and defended from intruders. This Smithsonian Associates lecture takes place on Zoom on June 18 at 6:45 pm. $20 for Smithsonian Associates members, $25 for nonmembers. Register at https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/abuzz-about-bees
Seeley’s latest book is Piping Hot Bees and Boisterous Buzz-Runners: 20 Mysteries of Honey Bee Behavior Solved
Silk—prized for its lightness, luminosity, and beauty—is also one of the strongest biological materials ever known. More than a century ago, it was used to make the first bulletproof vest, and yet science has barely begun to tap its potential. The technologies it has inspired—including sutures, pharmaceuticals, and replacement body parts—continue to be developed in laboratories around the world and are now beginning to offer a sustainable alternative to the plastics choking our planet.
Aarathi Prasad, author of Silk: A WorldHistory, outlines the cultural and biological history of the fabric, including its origins, the ancient silk routes, and the biologists who learned the secrets of silk-producing animals. From the moths of China, Indonesia, and India to the spiders of South America and Madagascar and the mollusks of the Mediterranean, Prasad offers a mix of biography and science that brings to life the vast, winding history of silk and looks to its future as a powerful resource.
Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) are one of the most abundant groups of insects—one in every ten animals on the planet is a butterfly or moth. What are the secrets of their extraordinary success?
In a lively Smithsonian Associates Zoom presentation accompanied by stunning images, Emmy Award–winning wildlife documentary filmmaker Steve Nicholls presents some of the latest scientific discoveries as he explores the world of butterflies and moths to find out why they’ve been so successful. Along the way, discover the world’s deadliest caterpillars, a moth with a tongue over a foot long, a caterpillar that looks exactly like a venomous snake, and a butterfly that shares its world with polar bears at one extreme and penguins at the other.
Learn about moths whose wing scales have better sound-absorbing qualities than anything we can construct to hide from the sonar of hunting bats. Others have long tail streamers with sound-reflecting surfaces at their tips to give bats a false target. Yet others scream at bats to jam their sonar completely. It seems there’s no end to the tricks that evolution has come up with as it turned the Lepidoptera into one of the most successful of all insect groups.
In today’s world, it is easy to become consumed by anxiety and despair when contemplating the future of our planet. With climate change seemingly spiraling out of control, it’s become common to forewarn younger generations that the Earth is on the brink of destruction.
Author Hannah Ritchie challenges this prevailing narrative in her new book, Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet. She argues that a more optimistic outlook emerges when we step back and consider the progress that humanity has achieved throughout history. Her mission is not to conduct groundbreaking studies or make scientific breakthroughs, but to synthesize and convey the wealth of existing scientific knowledge and data.
Drawing from the latest research and offering practical guidance, Ritchie illustrates that with a little optimism and proactive lifestyle changes, we can be the first generation to pave the way for a sustainable world. She discusses critical topics including air pollution and breathing clean air; deforestation and seeing the world for the trees; biodiversity loss and protecting the world’s wildlife; overfishing and pillaging the oceans; and others.
Like the Smithsonian’s Earth Optimism Initiative, which was created to shine a light on the people who are developing sustainable solutions that preserve nature as well as our own well-being, Ritchie advocates that with active change, it may not be the end of the world, but the beginning of a better future. Ritchie is the deputy editor and lead researcher of the online scientific publication Our World in Data. $20 for Smithsonian Associates members $25 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org
Discover the wild side of Puerto Rico, a Caribbean destination that you don’t need a passport to visit. In a lively online Smithsonian Associates program on March 6, naturalist Matt Felperin shares his experience birding on the island—which despite being about the size of Connecticut, boasts a surprising diversity of habitats, climate, and culture. It’s also home to El Yunque, the United States’ only tropical rainforest in the national forest system. $25 for Smithsonian Associates members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org
Felperin surveys the variety of endemic bird species that you can’t see anywhere else, as well as other fascinating flora and fauna such as the iconic coqui frog. Along the way, he also touches on the culture and the architecture of Old San Juan. After Felperin’s tempting travelogue, you’ll be ready to pack your bags and begin your own Puerto Rican adventure. ¡Vámonos!
Did you know that your morning cup of coffee has the power to protect birds—or to destroy their habitat? In the 1980s, North American scientists noted that migratory songbirds were in trouble: Each year, fewer and fewer of them were found singing on their summer breeding grounds, but what happened to these birds during the winter remained a mystery. It took many trips to Latin America for researchers to discover that lush, shaded coffee farms from Mexico to Peru were the winter homes for many migratory songbirds. But not all coffee farms protected these birds. Smithsonian Associates presents an online program on February 22 at 7 pm with Ruth Bennett. $25 for Smithsonian Associates members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org
Ruth Bennett, a research ecologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Migratory Bird Center, journeys south to the misty coffee farms responsible for migratory songbird survival, exploring why some coffee farmers are actively protecting bird habitats by growing coffee under native shade trees, while others are eliminating their winter habitat by cutting down cloud forest to grow more coffee. She also reports on how the Smithsonian is taking action to reverse the loss of winter habitats by creating a market for coffees certified to be Bird Friendly®.
Pierre du Pont started Longwood Gardens’ native orchid collection in 1923 when he brought in Galearis spectabilis, an orchid that’s native to Pennsylvania. It’s one of several orchids that still grow on the Longwood property. This class not only takes you on a tour of Longwood’s native orchids but also shows you how this simple orchid purchase blossomed into a world-renowned conservation, plant breeding, and collections project.
This studio arts program is a Zoom Meeting to allow for patron and instructor interaction online.
All Studio Arts programs require an online ticket for each participant so that the instructor can provide individual attention to every student registered for the online program.
This program will be recorded. Please see our FAQ for recording terms and conditions.
Please refer to the “Materials for this program” section for any applicable supply list information and/or special documents for this program.
Although architecture itself originated from a need for shelter from nature, modern humans retain the desire to live with nature around or near them—even in urban settings. Since the development of plate glass in the 17th century and mechanized heating and cooling in the late-19th and 20th, the relationship between architecture and nature has continually evolved to the point that architecture is now including or mimicking natural processes of decay and self-replication.
Over the course of the last century, the work of two architectural giants, Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, responded to nature in very different ways through their philosophies and approaches, influencing the work of other architects as well as builders and clients. Today’s architecture draws on the legacies of these groundbreakers, especially by integrating structures with the site, incorporating natural materials, or maximizing visual access to surrounding nature and the seasons.
Frank Lloyd Wright is often associated with a Prairie School of architecture characterized by horizontal lines and abstract geometries that purportedly harmonized with the Midwestern landscape and advanced an American style of design.
Jennifer Gray, vice president and director of the Taliesin Institute at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, takes a closer look at this familiar story and explores how the myth of the prairie related to broad questions about colonization, immigration, and national identity that pervaded social and architectural discourse at the turn of the 20th century. This January 21 Zoom presentation is sponsored by Smithsonian Associates in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Edith Farnsworth House. Designed and built between 1946 and 1951, the Edith Farnsworth House was as a weekend retreat for prominent Chicago nephrologist, musician, and poet, Dr. Edith Farnsworth, as a place to relax, entertain, and enjoy nature. It is recognized as an iconic masterpiece of the International Style of architecture and has National Historic Landmark status. The architect was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and this was his first and most significant domestic project in America. Located 58 miles southwest of Chicago, the glass and steel house is set within a natural landscape on a 62-acre parcel located along the Fox River. Learn more here. $20 for Smithsonian Associates members, $25 for nonmembers. Two additional sessions in February and March, on Mies van der Rohe and Beyond Sustainability, may be found at this link as well.
A view from across reflecting pool of the Avery Coonley House by Frank Lloyd Wright, 1906–09 (Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University)
Just getting into birding and trying to figure out how to capture the feathered creatures with your camera? Learn the basics of bird photography for species identification as well as artistic expression from naturalist Matt Felperin. This Smithsonian Associates program will be held on Zoom on January 9 at 7 pm Eastern.
Topics of discussion include equipment, basic settings, composition, light, and positioning. View beautiful photos of various species of birds and learn the stories and strategies behind each image. $25 Smithsonian Associates members, $30 nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org Photo below copyright Matt Felperin.
Journey with Smithsonian Associates to high volcanoes, ancient temperate rainforests, glaciers, and big rivers in these geographically and topographically interrelated national parks. Among the most unique public lands in the country, these parks harbor a dazzling array of habitats and recreational opportunities.
Naturalist Keith Tomlinson discusses the region’s geologic evolution, biological diversity and unique hydrology from glaciers to the sea. His tour highlights ways to access and enjoy these extraordinary natural treasures and covers conservation priorities in all three parks.
Chris Williams, Interpretive Park Ranger with the National Park Service working in Olympic and North Cascades National Park, will join the program as a guest speaker. This program is presented on Zoom on January 4 from 7 – 8:30 pm Eastern. $25 for Smithsonian Associates members, $30 for nonmembers. Register at https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/national-parks-washington-state
