A team of researchers with members from France, Germany and Israel has found that proteins that make up axial filaments are responsible for the means by which sea sponges develop glass skeletons. In their paper published ...
Life may seem precarious for the sea sponge known as Venus' flower basket. Tiny, hair-like appendages made essentially of glass are all that hold the creatures to their seafloor homes. But fear not for these creatures of ...
Materials Science
Apr 6, 2015
0
1055
One of science's strongest dogmas is that complex life on Earth could only evolve when oxygen levels in the atmosphere rose to close to modern levels. But now studies of a small sea sponge fished out of a Danish fjord shows ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 17, 2014
24
0
Marine heat waves caused by the warming climate are capable of sparking rapid changes in sea sponges with scientists describing the pace of change as "evolution at super speed."
Evolution
Jul 5, 2023
0
57
Massive sponge gardens thrive on top of seamounts in the Central Arctic Ocean, one of the most oligotrophic seas on Earth. They appear to feed on the remnants of an extinct fauna. Microorganisms support the sponges in exploiting ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 8, 2022
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50
Climate change and biodiversity loss are laying bare our dependence on the natural world for everything from the food we eat to the air we breathe.
Plants & Animals
Dec 24, 2020
2
247
You might think that deep-sea sponges would be about as active as the one sitting in your kitchen sink. But when it comes to motion at the bottom of the ocean, there is more than meets the eye. Time-lapse photography taken ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 21, 2020
0
122
Sea sponges known as Venus' flower baskets remain fixed to the sea floor with nothing more than an array of thin, hair-like anchors made essentially of glass. It's an important job, and new research suggests that it's the ...
Materials Science
Jun 22, 2017
0
121
Exceptionally well-preserved fossil communities are always exciting, but some are more interesting than others. Fossils from particularly important times or environments can tell palaeontologists much more than those from ...
Archaeology
Feb 10, 2017
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516
Judging by their name alone, orange puffball sea sponges might seem unlikely paragons of structural strength. But maintaining their shape at the bottom of the churning ocean is critical to the creatures' survival, and new ...
Engineering
Jan 4, 2017
0
18
