http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from NOAA have discovered a potent and highly-debilitating toxin in the endangered Hawaiian monk seal, a first-of-its-kind chemical finding that is now prompting investigations of other marine mammals in the state. http://phys.org/news226750029.html Biology Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:20:02 EST news226750029 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers detonated explosives at the Birds Point levee near Wyatt, Missouri, at 10:02 p.m. on May 2, 2011. Water from the intentional breach flooded a 130,000-acre stretch of land. Two more breaches were detonated on May 3 and 5. This image from the Advanced Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft shows the resultant flooding of farmland west of the Mississippi 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of the levee breach. On the image, vegetation is displayed in red, bare fields in gray and water in blue. The image covers an area of 30.7 by 39 miles (49.5 by 63 kilometers), and is located near 36.5 degrees north latitude, 89.4 degrees west longitude. http://phys.org/news224431359.html Space & Earth Thu, 12 May 2011 15:02:57 EST news224431359 An international team of researchers led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has deciphered the genome of a tropical marine organism known to produce substances potentially useful against human diseases. http://phys.org/news224179703.html Biology Mon, 09 May 2011 17:09:07 EST news224179703 Emergency plans to counteract global warming by artificially shading the Earth from incoming sunlight might lower the planet's temperature a few degrees, but such "geoengineering" solutions would do little to stop the acidification of the world oceans that threatens coral reefs and other marine life, report the authors of a new study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The culprit is atmospheric carbon dioxide, which even in a cooler globe will continue to be absorbed by seawater, creating acidic conditions. http://phys.org/news164378973.html Biology Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:20:16 EST news164378973 Coral reefs throughout the Caribbean have been comprehensively 'flattened' over the last 40 years, according to a disturbing new study by the University of East Anglia (UEA). http://phys.org/news163822471.html Space & Earth Wed, 10 Jun 2009 03:15:08 EST news163822471 There's little doubt that coral reefs the world over face threats on many fronts: pollution, diseases, destructive fishing practices and warming oceans. But reefs appear to be more resistant to one potential menace - seaweed - than previously thought, according to new research by a team of marine scientists from the United States and Australia. http://phys.org/news163071159.html Space & Earth Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:33:19 EST news163071159 An explosion of knowledge has been made in the last few years about the basic biology of corals, researchers say in a new report, helping to explain why coral reefs around the world are collapsing and what it will take for them to survive a gauntlet of climate change and ocean acidification. http://phys.org/news162739523.html Space & Earth Thu, 28 May 2009 14:26:03 EST news162739523 (PhysOrg.com) -- Experts say that more than half of the world's coral reefs could disappear in the next 50 years, in large part because of higher ocean temperatures caused by climate change. But now Stanford University scientists have found evidence that some coral reefs are adapting and may actually survive global warming. http://phys.org/news162033865.html Biology Wed, 20 May 2009 10:29:54 EST news162033865 (PhysOrg.com) -- Groundbreaking Victoria University research shows that ocean acidification may have no negative effect on tropical corals and local sea anemones - in fact it may improve photosynthesis. http://phys.org/news161877580.html Biology Mon, 18 May 2009 15:00:20 EST news161877580 Coral reefs could disappear entirely from the Coral Triangle region of the Pacific Ocean by the end of the century, threatening the food supply and livelihoods for about 100 million people, according to a new study from World Wildlife Fund. http://phys.org/news161413022.html Space & Earth Wed, 13 May 2009 05:57:27 EST news161413022 An international team of scientists has proposed a set of basic rules to help save the world's imperiled coral reefs from ultimate destruction. http://phys.org/news161256177.html Space & Earth Mon, 11 May 2009 10:23:32 EST news161256177 With its pleasure boats dipping on the horizon and clustered tourist restaurants, the Indonesian island of Nusa Lembongan looks little like the edge of a great wilderness. http://phys.org/news161180140.html Space & Earth Sun, 10 May 2009 13:28:05 EST news161180140 The lesson from Australia's Great Barrier Reef is that we have to protect its biodiversity - because biodiversity in turn protects us. http://phys.org/news160924011.html Space & Earth Thu, 07 May 2009 14:07:38 EST news160924011 Sharks, barracuda and other large predatory fishes disappear on Caribbean coral reefs as human populations rise, endangering the region's marine food web and ultimately its reefs and fisheries, according to a sweeping study by researcher Chris Stallings of The Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory. http://phys.org/news160804763.html Biology Wed, 06 May 2009 05:00:03 EST news160804763 April 27, 2009 - A new study appearing in Restoration Ecology describes a novel technique for reattaching large sponges that have been dislodged from coral reefs. The findings could be generally applied to the restoration of other large sponge species removed by human activities or storm events. http://phys.org/news160061112.html Biology Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:25:44 EST news160061112 (PhysOrg.com) -- Fossilised corals from tropical Tahiti show that the behaviour of ice sheets is much more volatile and dynamic than previously thought, a team led by Oxford University scientists has found. http://phys.org/news159794635.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:26:16 EST news159794635 The Wildlife Conservation Society announced today a study showing that some coral reefs off East Africa are unusually resilient to climate change due to improved fisheries management and a combination of geophysical factors. WCS announced the results of the study at the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), which is meeting this week in Phuket, Thailand. http://phys.org/news159705106.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:32:14 EST news159705106 (PhysOrg.com) -- Marine scientists say they are astonished at the spectacular recovery of certain coral reefs in Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park from a devastating coral bleaching event in 2006. http://phys.org/news159558717.html Space & Earth Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:53:39 EST news159558717 Once thought to be only the realm of the blue-ringed octopus, researchers have now shown that all octopuses and cuttlefish, and some squid are venomous. The work indicates that they all share a common, ancient venomous ancestor and highlights new avenues for drug discovery. http://phys.org/news159014369.html Biology Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:40:03 EST news159014369 A new study by researchers from UC Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) sheds light on how threats to the world's endangered coral reef ecosystems can be more effectively managed. http://phys.org/news158245052.html Space & Earth Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:59:04 EST news158245052 Crisis is the mother of invention, if one believes the bright sparks behind the gizmos, contraptions, novelties and potions at the international inventions exhibition in the Swiss city of Geneva. http://phys.org/news158049975.html Technology Sat, 04 Apr 2009 07:47:07 EST news158049975 Children of baby boomers aren't the only ones who have taken to setting up home far from where their parents live. A new study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences documents how larval dispersal connects marine fish populations in a network of marine protected areas - information that is critical for fisheries managers. http://phys.org/news157201631.html Biology Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:07:52 EST news157201631 (PhysOrg.com) -- Deep-sea corals from about 400 meters off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands are much older than once believed and some may be the oldest living marine organisms known to man. http://phys.org/news157052167.html Biology Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:36:37 EST news157052167 By combining data from 48 studies of coral reefs from around the Caribbean, researchers have found that fish densities that have been stable for decades have given way to significant declines since 1995. The study appears online on March 19th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. http://phys.org/news156688876.html Biology Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:41:44 EST news156688876 When coral colonies meet one another on the reef, they have two options: merge into a single colony or reject each other and aggressively compete for space. Now, a report in the March 19th Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, has found a gene that may help to decide that fate. http://phys.org/news156687548.html Biology Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:19:43 EST news156687548 Climate change concerns like melting icecaps, increased desertification, loss of coral reefs and the extinction of species like polar bears can seem a distant concern in our everyday lives. Little attention, however, has been paid to the likelihood of increased bills, through tax and insurance charges, that will be incurred as the UK climate changes. http://phys.org/news155981283.html Space & Earth Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:08:35 EST news155981283 Rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the resulting effects on ocean water are making it increasingly difficult for coral reefs to grow, say scientists. A study to be published online March 13, 2009 in Geophysical Research Letters by researchers at the Carnegie Institution and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem warns that if carbon dioxide reaches double pre-industrial levels, coral reefs can be expected to not just stop growing, but also to begin dissolving all over the world. http://phys.org/news155848204.html Space & Earth Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:11:04 EST news155848204 The evolutionary tendency of corals to alter their skeletal structure makes it difficult to assign them to different species. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology have used genetic markers to examine coral groupings and investigate how these markers relate to alterations in shape, in the process discovering that our inaccurate picture of coral species is compromising our ability to conserve coral reefs. http://phys.org/news154684953.html Biology Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:03:10 EST news154684953 Trees do it. Bees do it. Even environmentally stressed fish do it. But Prof. Yossi Loya from Tel Aviv University's Department of Zoology is the first in the world to discover that Japanese sea corals engage in "sex switching" too. http://phys.org/news154282905.html Biology Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:21:59 EST news154282905 A unique study by a scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has provided fresh evidence of fishing's impact on marine ecosystems. Scripps Oceanography graduate student researcher Loren McClenachan accessed archival photographs spanning more than five decades to analyze and calculate a drastic decline of so-called "trophy fish" caught around coral reefs surrounding Key West, Florida. http://phys.org/news154106707.html Biology Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:25:36 EST news154106707