How the Smithsonian Uses AI to Catalog 148 Million Specimens

The Smithsonian's Vast Collections

• 🎯 The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History houses over 148 million specimens, with 99% kept in secure, hidden collections.
• 🏛️ These collections span over 1.4 million square feet, equivalent in size to the US Capitol Building, and are crucial for understanding past and present biodiversity.
• 📦 New specimens are acquired through donations, scientific expeditions, and occasionally, private purchases, with notable items like an 8,000 lb crystal and specimens collected by President Roosevelt.

Specimen Preservation and Digitization

• 🧊 Preservation methods vary, including freezing, storing in alcohol, and meticulous fossil preparation, with carnivorous beetles aiding in cleaning specimens.
• 📸 The museum is undertaking an ambitious digitization project, using high-resolution cameras and AI to create digital records of its vast holdings.
• 🤖 AI tools are already assisting in repositioning cameras and transcribing labels, significantly speeding up the digitization process, which is expected to take about a decade.

Identifying and Understanding Species

• ✈️ The Feather Identification Lab analyzes 'snarge' (bird remains from aircraft strikes) to help airports prevent collisions between birds and planes, a global issue costing billions.
• 🧬 The Laboratories of Analytical Biology (LAB) are creating a DNA library of all complex life on Earth, sequencing genomes to understand species and biodiversity.
• 🐟 DNA analysis has revealed that specimens previously thought to be the same species are genetically distinct, highlighting the ongoing discovery of new species within existing collections.

Environmental DNA and Biodiversity Monitoring

• 🌊 Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis, using samples from water or dirt, provides a snapshot of an ecosystem's biodiversity without needing physical specimens.
• 🔬 This eDNA technology is vital for monitoring ecosystems and acting as an early detection system for invasive species, which cost industries billions.
• 🌿 The Earth Biogenome Project aims to map the genome of every species on Earth, a global effort expected to yield transformative benefits for science and civilization, similar to the human genome project.

Protecting Agriculture and Future Research

• 🐝 Insect and botany collections are critical for identifying invasive pests that threaten agriculture, with the 'murder hornet' being a recent example of a significant threat averted through rapid identification.
• 💾 The Smithsonian's collections are an irreplaceable tool for conservation and research, providing knowledge that underpins our understanding of biodiversity.
• 💰 Despite funding challenges and the allure of synthetic biology, preserving these physical collections is essential for future scientific discovery and understanding life on a changing planet.