How Do Crabs See Food on the Ocean Floor? UV Vision
Gastroptychus spinifer is capable of seeing UV light, researchers discovered. Image via NOAA Bioluminescence Team A few years ago, when Tamara Frank, Sönke Johnsen and Thomas Cronin, a team of marine...
View ArticleBiologists Pinpoint Bacteria That Increase Digestive Intake of Fat
Scientists are learning that bacteria play a crucial role in our digestion of food, including our intake of fats. Image via Wikimedia Commons/National Institutes of Health You may have read this...
View Article14 Fun Facts About Hagfish
Pacific hagfish (Eptatretus stoutii) in a hole at 150 meters depth at the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary in California. (via Linda Snook of NOAA/CBNMS / Flickr) Hagfish are widely considered...
View ArticleWhen Attacked, Corals Send Out Chemical Signals to Recruit Bodyguard Fish
New research reveals that corals send out chemical signals to recruit the help of Goby fish in removing toxic seaweed. Image courtesy of Danielle Dixson Corals are constantly under attack. Sea stars...
View ArticleThe Ten Best Ocean Stories of 2012
2012 was a big year for squid science. Photo Credit: © Brian Skerry, www.brianskerry.com Despite covering 70 percent of the earth’s surface, the ocean doesn’t often make it into the news. But when it...
View ArticleDetermined Fish Climb Waterfalls With Special Sucker Mouths
The Nopoli rock-climbing goby. Photo: Takashi Maie Species evolve extreme adaptations to contend with the rigors of their environment. Microbes thrive in Yellowstone’s boiling springs; kangaroo rats...
View ArticleVIDEO: See a Thought Move Through a Living Fish’s Brain
You may have never seen a zebrafish in person. But take a look at the zebrafish in the short video above and you’ll get to see something previously unknown to science: a visual representation of a...
View ArticleSalmon Swim Home Using Earth’s Magnetic Field as a GPS
Sockeye salmon rely on a magnetic map to navigate home after years spent at sea. Credit: Putman et al., Current Biology Scientists have long known that various marine animals use the earth’s magnetic...
View ArticleCan Birds Survive Climate Change?
The Indian Peafowl may need help adapting to climate change. Photo by Sergiu Bacioiu In the coming years, the birds of Asia’s Eastern Himalaya and Lower Mekong Basin, considered biodiversity hotspots...
View ArticleIs It Love? Why Some Ocean Animals (Sort Of) Mate For Life
Two waved albatrosses, the only tropical albatross species, courting one another on the Galapagos Islands.Photo by Flickr User James Preston We often hear stories of animal love—tales of rare monogamy...
View ArticleFlushing Your Anti-Anxiety Pills Down the Toilet Could Affect the Behavior of...
A study shows that wild perch are less fearful, eat faster and are more anti-social when exposed to a common pharmaceutical pollutant. Image via Bent Christensen It’s obvious that anti-anxiety...
View ArticleStressed Corals Dim Then Glow Brightly Before They Die
Fluorescent proteins all aglow in these corals. Photo by Michael Lesser and Charles Mazel, NOAA Ocean Explorer Anyone who has gone scuba diving or snorkeling in a coral reef will likely never forget...
View ArticleUntangling the Mysterious Genetic Tentacles of the Giant Squid
A model of a giant squid versus sperm whale. Photo taken at the American Museum of Natural History by Mike Goren from New York For centuries, monsters of the deep sea captivated the imagination of the...
View ArticleSea Monkeys, Ferns and Frozen Frogs: Nature’s Very Own Resurrecting Organisms
Tadpole shrimp eggs can remain dormant for years, then burst into life when elusive desert rains arrive. Photo by Flickr user theloushe As Easter draws near, we begin to notice signs of nature’s very...
View Article19th Century Shark Tooth Weapons Reveal A Reef’s Missing Shark Species
Lashed to a spear made in the Gilbert Islands, researchers found a tooth from a dusky shark, a species previously unknown in the area. Image via PLOS ONE/Drew et. al. For decades, a total of 124...
View ArticleDNA Sequencing Reveals that Coelacanths Weren’t the Missing Link Between Sea...
The rare coealacanth’s genome is slowly evolving—and contrary to prior speculation, it probably isn’t the common ancestor of all land animals. Image via Wikimedia Commons/Amelia Guo On December 23,...
View Article10 Things We’ve Learned About the Earth Since Last Earth Day
Image via NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring Last year, to celebrate the 42nd Earth Day, we took a look at 10 of the most surprising, disheartening, and exciting things we’d learned about...
View ArticleFor Some Species, You Really Are What You Eat
Flamingos depend on plant-derived chemical compounds to color their feathers, legs and beaks. Photo: Flickr user longhorndave Pop quiz: Why are flamingos pink? If you answered that it’s because of...
View ArticleBaby Sand Tiger Sharks Devour Their Siblings While Still in the Womb
How many unborn brothers and sisters did this sand tiger shark devour to be here today? Photo by Amada44 Baby animals may seem irresistibly adorable, but in reality many of them are calculating...
View ArticleWarming, Rising Acidity and Pollution: Top Threats to the Ocean
Ruddy turnstones sit on an abandoned pier on the coast of Hawaii. Photo by LCDR Eric T. Johnson, NOAA Corps Ocean plants produce some 50% of the planet’s oxygen. Seawater absorbs a quarter of the...
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