Novel design developed by Brazilian researchers couples light waves and mechanical waves at higher intensity levels. One of its potential applications is in telecommunications as an optical modulator, because the device can sense and excite mechanical vibration, it could be used as an optical switch, turning on or off a laser beam that passes through it far more efficiently than the modulating technologies used today in optical telecommunications networks.

Glassfrogs may be somewhat see-through, but they have still managed to a hide an important secret--they are dedicated mothers and fathers that invest time in brooding their eggs. Smithsonian scientists documented previously unknown parental-care behavior using detailed observations of 40 species of glassfrogs in Central and South America. Their discovery rewrites assumptions about how caregiving evolved in this family of translucent, tree-dwelling frogs.

Anolis porcatus, a species native to Cuba, has been identified in several areas near the Port of Santos on the São Paulo coast, in Brazil. Its introduction into this area may threaten the survival of local lizard populations. A DNA study suggests these lizards could have come from Florida, where they're also exotic, rather than directly from Cuba.

Dead zones affect dozens of coral reefs around the world and threaten hundreds more according to a new study by Smithsonian scientists published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Watching a massive coral reef die-off on the Caribbean coast of Panama, they suspected it was caused by a dead zone -- a low-oxygen area that snuffs out marine life -- rather than by ocean warming or acidification.