The tiny organisms known as plankton are masters of adaptation. They have developed clever ways to cope with the ever-changing conditions of the global oceans. While scientists have studied how microbes react to environmental shifts in labs, the real-life adaptations of plankton's lipidomes in the wild are less clear. A recent study took a deep dive into this topic, ...
Oysters are the unsung heroes of coastal and marine ecosystems. They clean water, create homes for other sea creatures, and protect shorelines. But how do you keep oyster populations healthy while also allowing people to harvest them? That's the tricky balance that five U. S. Gulf of Mexico states are trying to figure out. Each state-Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Al...
Marmara is what we call the sea that connects Europe and Asia. It has become really polluted with plastics, specifically tiny pieces known as microplastics. Microplastics are a growing concern for marine life. Researchers have delved into this dirty issue, analyzing the pollution in the Gulf of Bandarma, which is part of Marmara. Marine life, such as mussels, oysters...
Asteroids are a constant presence in our solar system, but one in particular has scientists on edge. Bennu, a 500-metre-wide space rock, has a slim chance of colliding with Earth in 2182, but what if it does? Scientists in South Korea have used powerful computers to simulate this scenario. Let's break it down. First off, if Bennu hit Earth, it would cause a massive ...
Ever wondered what lies deep beneath the Mediterranean Sea? Hidden under 30 meters of water, there's a world of deep-water oyster reefs. These reefs, shaped by the gryphaeid Neopycnodonte cochlear, are not as well-known as their shallower counterparts but are just as important. Scientists have been studying these underwater havens to understand the benthic assemblage...
Meet the yeast, Aureobasidium pullulans, a tiny creature from the vast open ocean. This yeast has a unique ability: it can switch between growing as single cells and forming long, thread-like filaments. Scientists have been trying to understand what causes this change in shape. A recent study found that the amount of food, or substrate, available in the ocean water ...