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Categories: Geoscience: Oceanography, Offbeat: Space

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A classic movie was once promoted with the punchline: 'In space, no one can hear you scream'. Physicists have now demonstrated, to the contrary, that in certain situations sound can be transmitted strongly across a vacuum region!

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New research indicates that mitigating both local land and sea-based human impacts, especially in terms of pollutants and over-fishing, provides coral reef ecosystems with the best opportunity to persist under climate change. Along some highly populated areas on the shorelines of Hawai'i, wastewater pollution and urban runoff combine with fishing pressures to put immense stress on coral reefs.

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A telecommunications fiber optic cable deployed offshore of Oliktok Point, Alaska recorded ambient seismic noise that can be used to finely track the formation and retreat of sea ice in the area, researchers report.

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Scientists have identified large-scale climate patterns that could be used to predict the co-occurrence of extreme heat and ozone days in China months before they occur. Like predictions for hurricane and wildfire seasons, the forecasts could help the government prepare resources and implement policies to mitigate the severity of the season.

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Concentrations of potentially harmful chemical compounds in dust collected from air filtration systems on the International Space Station (ISS) exceed those found in floor dust from many American homes, a new study reveals.

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Extreme events in Antarctica such as ocean heatwaves and ice loss will almost certainly become more common and more severe, researchers say.

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A new study examined nitrogen fixation among diazotrophs--microorganisms that can convert nitrogen into usable form for other plants and animals -- living among sargassum. Sargassum, a brown macroalgae in the seaweed family, floats on the surface of the open ocean and provides habitat for a colorful array of marine life such as small fish, brine shrimp and other microorganisms. Previous studies have overlooked diazotrophs associated with sargassum, which could mean a historical underestimation of nitrogen fixation in the Atlantic nitrogen budget. The study found that nitrogen fixation in sargassum communities was significant.

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A subpolar species associated with Atlantic water expanded far into the Arctic Ocean during the Last Interglacial, analysis of microfossil content of sediment cores reveals. This implies that summers in the Arctic were ice free during this period.

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The Gulf Stream system plays an important role in climate. The weakening of this system that has been observed over the last two decades is therefore a cause for concern and much debate. The question is whether the measurable changes are already due to human-induced climate change -- model simulations predict such an influence with high probability for the future. A new study concludes that the currently observed weakening can be interpreted, at least in part, as a natural fluctuation following some extremely cold winters in the Labrador Sea in the 1990s.

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An international drilling expedition off the Norwegian coast confirms the theory that methane emissions from hydrothermal vents were responsible for global warming about 55 million years ago. The study shows that the vents were active in very shallow water depth or even above sea level, which would have allowed much larger amounts of methane to enter the atmosphere.

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New research has revealed the importance of mineral forms of iron in regulating the cycling of this bio-essential nutrient in the ocean. The findings pave the way for new work on the relationship between the iron and carbon cycles and how changing ocean oxygen levels may interact.

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As global climate change causes weather extremes ranging from heat waves and droughts to heavy rains and flooding, the large amounts of freshwater pouring into nearshore ecosystems are altering habitats. A team of biologists studied the impacts of low salinity and how it alters sea urchins' ability to grip and move within their habitat.

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A new image of the galaxy cluster known as 'El Gordo' is revealing distant and dusty objects never seen before, and providing a bounty of fresh science. The infrared image displays a variety of unusual, distorted background galaxies that were only hinted at in previous Hubble Space Telescope images.

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A chemical process used in the browning of food to give it its distinct smell and taste is probably happening deep in the oceans, where it helped create the conditions necessary for life. Known as the Maillard reaction after the French scientist who discovered it, the process converts small molecules of organic carbon into bigger molecules known as polymers. In the kitchen, it is used to create flavors and aromas out of sugars. But a research team argues that on the sea floor, the process has had a more fundamental effect, where it has helped to raise oxygen and reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, to create the conditions for complex life forms to emerge and thrive on Earth.

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Human-caused climate change has also caused extreme ocean temperatures and conditions with detrimental impacts on marine ecosystems and ocean-related ecology.  A new study explores ocean temperature data along California's Coast, finding that certain environmental conditions and the state of the ocean led to an enhanced risk for marine heatwaves and cold spells, conditions that scientists and environmental managers will need to monitor to preserve and protect vital ecosystems critical to the California ocean economy, known as the Blue Economy.

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A newly published study describes the response to sea level rise by the silver rice rat, an endangered species only found in the Florida Keys.

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A patch of ocean in the North Atlantic is stubbornly cooling while much of the planet warms. This anomaly -- dubbed the 'cold blob' -- has been linked to changes in ocean circulation, but a new study found changes in large-scale atmospheric patterns may play an equally important role, according to an international research team.

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A new study uses nearly a century of data to show that the average heights of winter waves along the California coast have increased as climate change has heated up the planet.

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Earth is rapidly warming and scientists are developing a variety of approaches to reduce the effects of climate change. An astronomer has proposed a novel approach -- a solar shield to reduce the amount of sunlight hitting Earth, combined with a tethered, captured asteroid as a counterweight. Engineering studies using this approach could start now to create a workable design that could mitigate climate change within decades.

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Scientists have trained a machine learning model in outer space, on board a satellite. This achievement could revolutionize the capabilities of remote-sensing satellites by enabling real-time monitoring and decision making for a range of applications.