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Categories: Biology: Marine, Environmental: Water
Published Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats has long been in flux
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source It has been long assumed that Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats was formed as its ancient namesake lake dried up 13,000 years ago. But new research has gutted that narrative, determining these crusts did not form until several thousand years after Lake Bonneville disappeared, which could have important implications for managing this feature that has been shrinking for decades to the dismay of the racing community and others who revere the saline pan 100 miles west of Salt Lake City. Relying on radiocarbon analysis of pollen found in salt cores, the study concludes the salt began accumulating between 5,400 and 3,500 years ago, demonstrating how this geological feature is not a permanent fixture on the landscape.
Published New detection method aims to warn of landslide tsunamis
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have devised a way to remotely detect large landslides within minutes of occurrence and to quickly determine whether they are close to open water and present a tsunami hazard.
Published New cloud model could help with climate research
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source When clouds meet clear skies, cloud droplets evaporate as they mix with dry air. A new study has succeeded in capturing what happens in a model. Ultimately, this could lead to more accurate climate modeling in the future.
Published Why are fish getting smaller as waters warm? It's not their gills
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A collaborative team of scientists recently found that there is no physiological evidence supporting a leading theory -- which involves the surface area of fish gills -- as to why many fish species are 'shrinking' as waters grow warmer due to climate change. Known as the Gill Oxygen Limitation (GOL) theory, it has been proposed as the universal mechanism explaining fish size and has been used in some predictions of future global fisheries yields. However, the researchers conducted a series of long-term experiments on brook trout and found that, though increased temperatures do lead to significantly decreased body size, gill surface area did not explain the change.
Published Cleaning or desalinating water quickly: Looking deep into smallest pores
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Membranes of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VaCNT) can be used to clean or desalinate water at high flow rate and low pressure. Recently, researchers carried out steroid hormone adsorption experiments to study the interplay of forces in the small pores. They found that VaCNT of specific pore geometry and pore surface structure are suited for use as highly selective membranes.
Published Citizen science to mitigate the environmental crisis in the marine environment
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Citizen science can help to improve conservation and management strategies for Mediterranean marine ecosystems, and to mitigate the impact of the environmental crisis.
Published An awkward family reunion: Sea monsters are our cousins
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The sea lamprey, a 500-million-year-old animal with a sharp-toothed suction cup for a mouth, is the thing of nightmares. A new study discovered that the hindbrain -- the part of the brain controlling vital functions like blood pressure and heart rate -- of both sea lampreys and humans is built using an extraordinarily similar molecular and genetic toolkit.
Published Mercury levels in tuna remain nearly unchanged since 1971
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Tuna is one of the most popular seafoods worldwide. But this protein-rich fish can build up high levels of methylmercury from feeding on contaminated prey, like smaller fish or crustaceans. Despite efforts to reduce mercury emissions into the environment, researchers report that levels in tuna appear to be unchanged since 1971. They warn that more aggressive emission reduction targets are needed to start nudging down tuna mercury levels.
Published An environmentally friendly way to turn seafood waste into value-added products
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Reduce, reuse, recycle, and repurpose: These are all ways we can live more sustainably. One tricky aspect of recycling, though, is that sometimes the recycling process is chemically intensive, and this is the case for recycling one of the world's most abundant materials -- chitin. Researchers have tackled this problem and found a way to sustainably recover chitin from seafood waste.
Published Toxic elements found in stranded whales, dolphins over 15 years
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers evaluated the prevalence, concentration and tissue distribution of essential and non-essential trace elements, including heavy metal toxicants in tissue (blubber, kidney, liver, skeletal muscle, skin) and fecal samples collected from 90 whales and dolphins stranded in Georgia and Florida from 2007 to 2021.
Published Baleen whales evolved a unique larynx to communicate but cannot escape human noise
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The iconic baleen whales, such as the blue, gray and humpback whale, depend on sound for communication in the vast marine environment where they live. Now researchers have for the first time found that baleen whales evolved novel structures in their larynx to make their vast array of underwater songs.
Published Low oxygen in lakes may breathe new life into conservation efforts for water quality
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international team analyzed 656 lakes across five continents to provide empirical evidence supporting a long-held theory regarding low deep-water oxygen concentrations, or anoxia.
Published Gulf corals still suffering more than a decade after Deepwater Horizon oil spill, scientists report
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Deep-water corals in the Gulf of Mexico are still struggling to recover from the devastating Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, scientists report at the Ocean Science Meeting in New Orleans. Comparing images of more than 300 corals over 13 years -- the longest time series of deep-sea corals to date -- reveals that in some areas, coral health continues to decline to this day.
Published Photosynthetic mechanism of purple sulfur bacterium adapted to low-calcium environments
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Purple sulfur bacteria (PSB) convert light energy into chemical energy through photosynthesis. Interestingly, certain species can photosynthesize even in environments with low-calcium levels. Using cryo-electron microscopy, researchers unveiled the structure of light-harvesting complexes and elucidated the mechanism that facilitates photosynthesis under low-calcium conditions.
Published Plastic recycling with a protein anchor
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Polystyrene is a widespread plastic that is essentially not recyclable when mixed with other materials and is not biodegradable. A research team has now introduced a biohybrid catalyst that oxidizes polystyrene microparticles to facilitate their subsequent degradation. The catalyst consists of a specially constructed 'anchor peptide' that adheres to polystyrene surfaces and a cobalt complex that oxidizes polystyrene.
Published Unlocking the energetic secrets of collective animal movement: How group behavior reduces energy costs in fish
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers questioned if coordinated group movements by animals moving through a fluid could reduce the energy cost of locomotion. By combining biomechanics and bioenergetics the researchers found not only a significant amount of energy conservation, but also identified the reduced energy use per tail beat.
Published Even very low levels of pesticide exposure can affect fish for generations
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Fish exposed to some pesticides at extremely low concentrations for a brief period of time can demonstrate lasting behavioral changes, with the impact extending to offspring that were never exposed firsthand, a recent study found.
Published Artificial reefs help preserve coral reefs by shifting divers away from the natural ones, according to new long-term study of one in Eilat
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Divers are essentially tourists who love coral reefs and invest a lot of time and effort to watch them. Unfortunately, divers also cause damage to corals, often unintentionally, through disturbing and resuspending sand, touching them, hitting them with their equipment, and scaring fish away. Artificial reefs have been proposed as a means of diverting diving pressure from the natural reef to alternative sites, thus preserving both dive tourism and the coral reef.
Published Nature's checkup: Surveying biodiversity with environmental DNA sequencing
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A thousand kilometers south of Tokyo, far into the largest ocean on Earth, lies a chain of small, volcanic islands -- the Ogasawara Islands. Nature has been able to develop on its own terms here, far from both humans and the warm Kuroshio current, which acts like a shuttle, moving marine species from Taiwan, over the Ryukyu Islands, and up the Pacific coast of mainland Japan. With upwards of 70 % of trees and many animal species being endemic to the archipelago, the islands have been dubbed 'the Galapagos of the East', as they are valuable as both a biodiversity hotspot and a cradle of scientific discovery.
Published Decline in microbial genetic richness in the western Arctic Ocean
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers analyzed archival samples of bacteria and archaea populations taken from the Beaufort Sea, bordering northwest Canada and Alaska. The samples were collected between 2004 and 2012, a period that included two years -- 2007 and 2012 -- in which the sea ice coverage was historically low. The researchers looked at samples taken from three levels of water: the summer mixed layer, the upper Arctic water below it and the Pacific-origin water at the deepest level. The study examined the microbes' genetic composition using bioinformatics and statistical analysis across the nine-year time span. Using this data, the researchers were able to see how changing environmental conditions were influencing the organisms' structure and function.