Stationary marine organisms that don't ply the ocean, but spend their lives rooted in one spot, have evolved impressive ways to capture prey. The sea anemone Nematostella, for instance, burrows into salt marsh sediments and ...
Ecology
Jan 8, 2022
0
133
For generations, scientists have relied on a handful of organisms to study the fundamentals of biology. The usual suspects—fruit flies, zebrafish, and mice, among others—all have short lifespans, small body size, can ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 22, 2021
1
83
We know that sharks are voracious eaters, but what do we know about the source of its microbiome? To date, not much. But a recent study from the University of Chicago and the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) fills a gap ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 8, 2021
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8
Since artificial intelligence pioneer Marvin Minsky patented the principle of confocal microscopy in 1957, it has become the workhorse standard in life science laboratories worldwide, due to its superior contrast over traditional ...
Biotechnology
Nov 24, 2021
0
302
For two people to communicate in a loud, crowded room, they need to be standing side by side. The same is often true for neurons in the brain. But the same way a cell phone allows two people to communicate clearly across ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 29, 2021
0
169
What's a hungry marine microbe to do when the pickings are slim? It must capture nutrients—nitrogen, phosphorus, or iron—to survive, yet in vast expanses of the ocean, nutrients are extremely scarce. And the stakes are ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 19, 2021
1
88
It's cold in the depths of the world's oceans; most of the seafloor is at a chilly 4°C. Not so the seafloor of Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California. Here, tectonic plates drift apart and heat from Earth's interior can ...
Environment
Jun 22, 2021
0
41
Many animals have evolved camouflage tactics for self-defense, but some butterflies and moths have taken it even further: They've developed transparent wings, making them almost invisible to predators.
Plants & Animals
Jun 10, 2021
0
528
Plastics are everywhere. From cell phones to pens and cars to medical devices, the modern world is full of plastic— and plastic waste. New research from scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) Ecosystems Center ...
Environment
Jun 4, 2021
1
154
Nitrogen is an element basic for life—plants need it, animals need it, it's in our DNA—but when there's too much nitrogen in the environment, things can go haywire. On Cape Cod, excess nitrogen in estuaries and salt marshes ...
Environment
Apr 12, 2021
0
261
