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Categories: Biology: Marine, Engineering: Graphene
Published Why are killer whales harassing and killing porpoises without eating them?



For decades, fish-eating killer whales in the Pacific Northwest have been observed harassing and even killing porpoises without consuming them —- a perplexing behavior that has long intrigued scientists.
Published Whales Around the World Play With Kelp Clumps



A new article has analyzed another understudied behavior in baleen (filter-feeding) whales such as humpback whales in different populations across the northern and southern hemispheres. They appeared to roll around and 'play' with clumps of kelp and seaweed at the water's surface. The research also emphasizes that the behavior was similar in different individuals, regardless of where in the world it occurred.
Published Atlantic walrus more vulnerable than ever to Arctic warming



Past cycles of climate change, along with human exploitation, have led to only small and isolated stocks of Atlantic walrus remaining. The current population is at high risk of the same issues affecting them severely, according to a new study.
Published Theories about the natural world may need to change to reflect human impact


New research has validated at scale, one of the theories that has underpinned ecology for over half a century. In doing so, the findings raise further questions about whether models should be revised to capture human impacts on natural systems.
Published Rivers contain hidden sinks and sources of microplastics



New research represents the first combined analysis of microplastics in water, sediment and air around a major river system. It found significant quantities of microplastics trapped in riverbed sediments, and also found they were being transported through the air and the flow of the river.
Published Ocean acidification makes ecologically important seaweed species fragile



Ocean acidification will likely almost triple by the end of the century -- a drastic environmental change that could impact important marine species like fleshy seaweeds, algae that grow vertically and promote biodiversity in more than a third of the world's coastline. To get a better idea of how seaweeds might fare in a rapidly acidifying ocean, a team of marine scientists subjected a common fleshy seaweed species to the acidification levels expected by the end of the century. They report that increased acidification impacted the seaweed's chemical balance, made both its structure and its tissues weaker, and reduced its overall chances of survival.
Published Efficient fuel-molecule sieving using graphene


A research team has successfully developed a new method that can prevent the crossover of large fuel molecules and suppress the degradation of electrodes in advanced fuel cell technology using methanol or formic acid. The successful sieving of the fuel molecules is achieved via selective proton transfers due to steric hindrance on holey graphene sheets that have chemical functionalization and act as proton-exchange membranes.
Published Understanding the sex life of coral gives hope of clawing it back from the path to extinction



Scientists have mapped the reproductive strategies and life cycle of an endangered coral species, the purple cauliflower soft coral Dendronephthya australis. Lab-grown larvae have been successfully introduced back into the wild.
Published Mussels able to adjust heart rate to cope with marine heatwaves



New research shows that mussels are pretty crafty sea creatures: able to withstand marine heatwaves by adjusting their heart rate and other physiological functions, boding well for their survival in future decades as the world heats up.
Published One-atom-thick ribbons could improve batteries, solar cells and sensors


Researchers created nanoribbons made of phosphorus and tiny amounts of arsenic, which they found were able to conduct electricity at temperatures above -140 degrees Celsius, while retaining the highly useful properties of the phosphorus-only ribbons.
Published Making contact: Researchers wire up individual graphene nanoribbons


Researchers have developed a method of 'wiring up' graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), a class of one-dimensional materials that are of interest in the scaling of microelectronic devices. Using a direct-write scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) based process, the nanometer-scale metal contacts were fabricated on individual GNRs and could control the electronic character of the GNRs. The researchers say that this is the first demonstration of making metal contacts to specific GNRs with certainty and that those contacts induce device functionality needed for transistor function.
Published A newly identified virus emerges from the deep



Marine virologists analyzed sediment from the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth, and identified a new bacteriophage.
Published New Si-based photocatalyst enables efficient solar-driven hydrogen production and biomass refinery


A research team has achieved a significant breakthrough in the development of a hybrid silicon photocatalyst.
Published Researchers discover a new species of larger benthic foraminifer from the Ryukyu Islands



An international group of researchers have discovered a previously unknown species of large foraminifer, shedding new light on the ecological evolution and biodiversity of coral reefs in the Ryukyu Islands.
Published Tiny sea creatures reveal the ancient origins of neurons



A new study sheds new light on the origins of modern brain cells. Researchers find evidence that specialized secretory cells found in placozoans, tiny sea creatures the size of a grain of sand, have many similarities to the neuron, such as the genes required to create a partial synapse. From an evolutionary point of view, early neurons might have started as something like these cells, eventually gaining the ability to create a complete synapse, form axons and dendrites and create ion channels that generate fast electrical signals -- innovations which gave rise to the neuron in more complex animals such as jellyfish. Though the complete story of how the first neuron appeared remains to be told, the study demonstrates that the basic building blocks for our brain cells were forming in the ancestors of placozoans grazing inconspicuously in the shallow seas of Earth around 800 million years ago.
Published Genetically modified bacteria break down plastics in saltwater



Researchers have genetically engineered a marine microorganism to break down plastic in salt water. Specifically, the modified organism can break down polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a plastic used in everything from water bottles to clothing that is a significant contributor to microplastic pollution in oceans.
Published Rivers are rapidly warming, losing oxygen; aquatic life at risk



Rivers are warming and losing oxygen faster than oceans, according to a new article. The study shows that of nearly 800 rivers, warming occurred in 87% and oxygen loss occurred in 70%.
Published Making hydrogen from waste plastic could pay for itself


Researchers have found a way to harvest hydrogen from plastic waste using a low-emissions method that generates graphene as a by-product, which could help offset production costs.
Published Scientists find good places to grow long-spined sea urchins, a starting point to restore 'the lawn mowers of the reefs'


Scientists are trying to raise as many urchins as possible because they eat algae that could otherwise smother reef ecosystems and kill corals. Researchers have identified algae on which larval sea urchins grow into juveniles in a lab setting.
Published Freshwater connectivity can transport environmental DNA through the landscape


A new article uses environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding to analyze fish and zooplankton communities. The study found that the movement of water between freshwater bodies, or freshwater connectivity, can transport eDNA. This highlights the potential of eDNA to provide a comprehensive view of freshwater biodiversity.