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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 23-Dec-2025 06:11 ET (23-Dec-2025 11:11 GMT/UTC)

Trees grow faster and store more carbon as they age

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Trees put on weight faster and faster as they grow older, according to a new study in the journal Nature. The finding that most trees' growth accelerates as they age suggests that large, old trees may play an unexpectedly dynamic role in removing carbon from the atmosphere.

Journal: Nature
Funder: National Science Foundation, US Geological Survey, Smithsonian

Fungi may determine the future of soil carbon

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Soil contains more carbon than air and plants combined. This means that even a minor change in soil carbon could have major implications for the Earth's atmosphere and climate. New research by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute scientist Benjamin Turner and colleagues at the University of Texas, Austin, and Boston University points to an unexpected driver of soil carbon content: fungi.

Journal: Nature
Funder: University of Texas -- Austin, Smithsonian Institution, National Science Foundation

Tropical forests mitigate extreme weather events

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Tropical forests reduce peak runoff during storms and release stored water during droughts, according to researchers working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Their results lend credence to a controversial phenomenon known as the sponge effect, which is at the center of a debate about how to minimize flood damage and maximize water availability in the tropics.

Journal: Water Resources Research
Funder: HSBC Climate Partnership, Hoch family, SIForestGEO, Panama Canal Authority, National Science Foundation, and others, US Geological Survey, National Environmental Authority of Panama

Rainforest rodents risk their lives to eat

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Hungry rodents that wake up early are much more likely to be eaten by ocelots than rodents getting plenty of food and shut-eye, according to new results from a study at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. The study was published in the journal Animal Behavior, early online edition, Dec., 2013.

Journal: Animal Behaviour
Funder: Frank Levinson and the Celera Foundation, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, National Science Foundation

Young tropical forests contribute little to biodiversity conservation

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Ephemeral secondary forests may contribute little to tree-biodiversity conservation, according to a new report by scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.

Journal: PLOS One
Funder: Smithsonian

Shining the soothing light

Publicase International
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Low-level laser therapy reduces the occurrence of oral mucositis, known as the common canker sore, and improves quality of life in head and neck squamous cell cancer patients.

Journal: Radiotherapy and Oncology
Funder: National Cancer Institute in Brazil

No kissing or singing in the rain

Publicase International
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study done in Brazil and Canada shows for the first time that insects modify their mating behavior in anticipation of storms, an adaptation that may have favored their survival throughout evolution.

Journal: PLOS One

Tropical forests 'fix' themselves

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Tropical forests speed their own recovery, capturing nitrogen and carbon faster after being logged or cleared for agriculture. Researchers working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama think the discovery that trees "turn up" their ability to capture or "fix" nitrogen from the air and release it into the soil as the forest makes a comeback has far-reaching implications for forest restoration projects to mitigate global warming.

Journal: Nature
Funder: Princeton University, NOAA, National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Anchoring ABL for a better fate

Publicase International
Peer-Reviewed Publication

By providing a detailed description of the mechanisms by which ABL, a protein associated with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, undergoes cell death, this new study offers fresh perspectives on how cells carrying the Philadelphia Chromosome escape apoptosis and become immortal.

Journal: Journal of Biological Chemistry

New research shows that temperature influences tropical flowering

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Temperature, rather than cloud cover, may be key to the timing of tropical flowering events according to research at two sites in the Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory Network published online in Nature Climate Change.

Journal: Nature Climate Change