microbial life interactions going on in the deepest ocean crust ever explored!
The first study to ever explore biological activity in the deepest layer of ocean crust has found bacteria with a remarkable range of capabilities, including eating hydrocarbons and natural gas, and “fixing” or storing carbon.
Continue reading… “Busy Microbial World Discovered in Deepest Ocean Crust Ever Explored”
Detection of targets in bubbly waters are key goals of shallow-water sonar.
Scientists at the University of Southampton have developed a new kind of underwater sonar device that can detect objects through bubble clouds that would effectively blind standard sonar.
Continue reading… “New Device Detects Objects Through Bubble Clouds”
SPF50… into the ocean you will go!
Whales exhibit skin damage consistent with acute sunburn in humans, and it seems to be getting worse over time, reveals research published this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Continue reading… “Sunburnt Whales!!!”
Imagine going fishing and catching this!
The giant dragonflies of ancient Earth with wingspans of up to 70 centimeters (28 inches) are generally attributed to higher oxygen atmospheric levels in the atmosphere in the past. New experiments in raising modern insects in various oxygen-enriched atmospheres have confirmed that dragonflies grow bigger with more oxygen, or hyperoxia.
Continue reading… ““How to” Raise Giant Insects!”
Giant plankton-eating fishes roamed the prehistoric seas for over 100 million years before they were wiped out in the same event that killed off the dinosaurs, new fossil evidence has shown.
Continue reading… “Giant Plankton-Eating Fishes Roamed Prehistoric Seas, Fossil Evidence Shows”
A panel of governmental, academic and non-profit scientists speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) unveiled research suggesting that diseases found in dolphins are similar to human diseases and can provide clues into how human health might be affected by exposure to contaminated coastal water or seafood.
Continue reading… “Dolphins’ Health Shed Light on Human and Ocean Health”
Only some bats and toothed whales rely on sophisticated echolocation, in which they emit sonar pulses and process returning echoes, to detect and track down small prey. Now, two new studies in the January 26th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, show that bats’ and whales’ remarkable ability and the high-frequency hearing it depends on are shared at a much deeper level than anyone would have anticipated — all the way down to the molecular level.
Continue reading… “In Bats and Whales, Convergence in Echolocation Ability Runs Deep”
Deep within the Kairei Indian hydrothermal vent field, two-and-one-half miles below the central Indian Ocean, scientists have discovered a gastropod mollusk, whose armor could improve load-bearing and protective materials in everything from aircraft hulls to sports equipment.
Continue reading… “Unusual Snail Shell Could Be a Model for Better Armor”
A study by the University of Exeter provides the first evidence that coral reefs can recover from the devastating effects of climate change. Published Jan. 11, 2010 in the journal PLoS ONE, the research shows for the first time that coral reefs located in marine reserves can recover from the impacts of global warming.
Continue reading… “Coral Can Recover from Climate Change Damage, New Research Suggests”
Scientists once thought that life could originate only within a solar system’s “habitable zone,” where a planet would be neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water to exist on its surface. But according to planetary scientist Francis Nimmo, evidence from recent NASA missions suggests that conditions necessary for life may exist on the icy satellites of Saturn and Jupiter.
Continue reading… “Icy Moons of Saturn and Jupiter May Have Conditions Needed for Life”
Scientists once thought of tool use as a defining feature of humans. That’s until examples of tool use came in from other primates, along with birds and an array of other mammals. Now, a report in the December 14th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, adds an octopus to the growing list of tool users. (Video)
Continue reading… “Coconut-Carrying Octopus Surprises Scientists”
Census of Marine Life scientists have inventoried an astonishing abundance, diversity and distribution of deep sea species that have never known sunlight — creatures that somehow manage a living in a frigid black world down to 5,000 meters (~3 miles) below the ocean waves.
