Watch Hurricane Isaac Grow and Slam Into Louisiana
A range of satellites are set to watch Isaac, giving a step-by-step look into the storm's evolution
August 29, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Frantic Search Ensues for Planet-Sized Dunce Cap as World’s Oceans Take Home Report Card
The "ocean health index" was just released, and overall the world got a giant "D"
August 16, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Where Has the Heat Been Most Oppresive This Summer?
This year is shaping up to be among the warmest on record—not only in the United States but worldwide. Here are a few of the hottest hotspots
August 16, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Shark Week Proves We Are Fascinated by Sharks, So Why Do We Kill So Many of Them?
Around the world, these animals command a strange sort of fascination in their human admirers—an urge to see, learn and encounter, but also to kill
August 14, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Mining Company to Start Digging up the Ocean Floor
A Canadian mining company has been granted a 20-year license to mine minerals from 1600 meters below the ocean waves in the Bismarck Sea, off the Coast of Papua New Guinea
August 09, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
The Shark Attacks That Were the Inspiration for Jaws
One rogue shark. Five victims. A mysterious threat. And the era of the killer great white was born
August 07, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
Shark Teeth Have Built-in Toothpaste
Sharks may have the healthiest teeth in the animal kingdom.
July 27, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Why the Idea of Killing Sharks to Make Waters Safer Is Absurd
The recent fatal shark attack off Western Australia has ignited a debate there over whether the fish should continue to be protected
July 24, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Oil Spill Finally Confirmed as a Culprit in Dolphin Deaths
At last, a new report spells out that the oil spill, along with a couple other coincidental but unfortunate circumstances, initiated the grissly dolphin deaths.
July 20, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
How Common Was Cannibalism?
While eating one another is understandable if stranded on a snowy mountain or desolate wasteland, evidence exists that some societies tucked into the practice even if not faced with life-or-death situations, just for the fun of it.
July 18, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Climate Skepticism Could Wipe Out Whole Towns in Australia
Stubborn climate skeptic hold-outs now face more than just the rest of the world's scorn: Their towns might not be on the map in a few years.
July 12, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Synthetic Bacteria Could Turn Ocean Garbage into One Big Island
Entrepreneurial students from University College London are striving to create tropical paradises made from ocean garbage. The aim of the project is to collect tiny pieces of plastic trash floating in the ocean, then stick them all together to create islands of artificial habitat.
July 09, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Easter Island Drug Makes Mice Happier, Smarter
Out of Polynesia emerges a drug that may have potential for preventing cognitive decline associated with old age. ScienceDaily describes a study just published in the journal Neuroscience: Rapamycin, a bacterial product first isolated from soil on Easter Island, enhanced learning and memory in young mice and improved these faculties in old mice, the study [...]
July 03, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
300 Years of Rowing on the Thames
There must be something in the water at Eton, where rowing rules as the sport of choice
July 2012 |
By Joshua Hammer
Mining an Oyster Midden
The Damariscotta River was an epicenter of oyster shucking between 2,200 and 1,000 years ago
June 28, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
Respect: Sharks are Older than Trees
Fun fact of the day: Sharks are older than trees. The earliest species that we could classify as “tree,” the now-extinct Archaeopteris, lived around 350 million years ago, in forests where the Sahara desert is now. But Sharks? They laugh at trees. They’ve been around for 400 million years, skirting four global mass extinctions along [...]
June 27, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Cowboy Conservationist Frees Whales with Crossbow
Marine biologist Scott Landry’s tool of choice for freeing whales tangled in stray fishing gear is the gobbler guillotine, a crossbow-like weapon designed in Texas for shooting turkeys.
June 27, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Sea Level Rising Three Times Faster Than Average on Northeast US Coast
A study lead by United States Geological Survey scientist Asbury Sallenger found that over the past 20 years the ocean height has gone up faster along the coast north of Cape Hateras, North Carolina, than to the south. According to Nature, In absolute figures, sea levels on this stretch of coast have climbed by between 2 [...]
June 25, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Does Larry Ellison Know His $600 Million Island Is Sinking?
CNN is reporting that Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle (the people who make Java), is buying 98% of Lanai, Hawaii’s sixth largest island. According to Reuters, ‘It is my understanding that Mr. Ellison has had a long standing interest in Lanai. His passion for nature, particularly the ocean, is well known specifically [...]
June 21, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
50 Years of Longline Fishermen Throwing Out the Endangered Half of Their Catch
Longline fishing uses strings of hooks stretching 30 miles in the Gulf of Mexico, regularly ensnaring around 80 non-target animals, including Atlantic bluefin tuna, blue and white marlin, sailfish and endangered sea turtles. Some studies indicate that longliners throw away more animals than they actually haul in for harvest. In the hopes of encouraging people [...]
June 20, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
