These freeze-drying algae can awaken from cryostasis, and could help spaceflights go farther
Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys contain some of Earth's coldest and driest deserts. The environment there is so extreme that the Dry Valleys have been used as Mars analogs to test prototype equipment for future Mars exploration......»»
Team develops gene editing strategy for macroalgae Neopyropia
Neopyropia is an important economic macroalga and is one of the main macroalgae cultivation species in China, Japan, South Korea and other countries. As a critical juncture in the evolution of photosynthetic organisms, red algae to which Neopyropia b.....»»
China hits 9 US firms with property freeze over weapons sales to Taiwan
China hits 9 US firms with property freeze over weapons sales to Taiwan.....»»
Paying attention to errors can improve fused remote monitoring of lakes, researchers say
Lakes can tip the scales from healthy to potential environmental hazard quickly when they become eutrophic. In this state, an abundance of nutrients accelerates algae growth, which then crowd the water's surface and block light from reaching organism.....»»
Evidence of “snowball Earth” found in ancient rocks
An outcrop in Scotland has material from when the Earth went into a deep freeze. Enlarge / Artist's conception of the state of the Earth during its global glaciations. (credit: NASA) Earth has gone through many geologic.....»»
Lakes drying up leave Greeks in despair
Lake Koronia, one of largest in Greece, is shrinking after a prolonged drought and a summer of record-breaking temperatures, leaving behind cracked earth, dead fish and a persistent stench......»»
Plankton mark seasons in the sea, just like leaves and flowers on land
Britain's seas are rich in wildlife, but many of its species can only be seen with a microscope. These are the plankton—tiny algae and animals found throughout the ocean that are the foundation of the entire marine food web......»»
Starlink relents to Brazil, agrees to block Elon Musk’s X platform
Starlink complies with order to block X but vows to keep fighting asset freeze. Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | NurPhoto) Starlink said it is complying with Brazil's order to block Elon Musk's X platform, backtracking fr.....»»
Wildfires Are Contaminating Water Supplies
Wildfires don’t just destroy forest—they can increase sediment in rivers and reservoirs, spark algae blooms, and pollute watercourses with dangerous chemicals, leaving water providers to grapple with long-term consequences......»»
One of the most adventurous human spaceflights since Apollo may launch tonight
Liftoff is set for 3:38 am ET in Florida. Enlarge / The crew of Polaris Dawn, from L to R: Scott "Kidd" Poteet, Anna Menon, Sarah Gillis, and Jared Isaacman. (credit: Polaris Program/John Kraus) SpaceX is set to launch.....»»
"Amazon" algae shed light on what happens to populations when females switch to asexual reproduction
Researchers at Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen and Kobe University discovered populations of female brown algae that reproduce from unfertilized gametes and thrive without males. In a study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, they use.....»»
Largest protein yet discovered builds algal toxins
While seeking to unravel how marine algae create their chemically complex toxins, scientists at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography have discovered the largest protein yet identified in biology......»»
How bacteria attach their cloaks of invisibility to immune defenses
Bacteria have different strategies for protecting themselves. Some bacterial pathogens surround themselves with a shell made of many sugar chains that lie close together, also known as capsular polymers. This protects the bacteria from drying out and.....»»
Fossil algae show a lake once existed on Lesotho"s Mafadi summit, but it vanished about 150 years ago
Lesotho is a small, land-locked, mountainous country located in the middle of South Africa. Its Eastern Lesotho Highlands are often referred to as the region's "water tower" because they receive some of the highest rainfall amounts in southern Africa.....»»
Warming has more impact than cooling on Greenland"s "firn," physics-based model reveals
Scientists have known from ice core research that it's easier to melt an ice sheet than to freeze it up again. Now, they know at least part of the reason why, and it has to do with ice's "sponginess," according to a new study published July 24 in The.....»»
Crown-of-thorns starfish larvae feast on toxic cyanobacteria, study finds
Researchers have uncovered an under-the-sea phenomenon where coral-destroying crown-of-thorns starfish larvae have been feasting on blue-green algae bacteria known as "sea sawdust.".....»»
3D genome extracted from "freeze-dried" woolly mammoth
About 52,000 years ago, the skinned hide of a Siberian woolly mammoth was exposed to conditions so frigid that it spontaneously freeze-dried, locking its DNA fragments into place......»»
Algae instead of corals: A reef island adapts to changing environmental influences
Although it is surrounded by stressed coral reefs, an island in the Indonesian Spermonde Archipelago has not shrunk but continued to grow. Reef islands hence react dynamically to environmental changes that disturb their reef systems, according to a n.....»»
To help with climate change, carbon capture will have to evolve
The technologies are useful tools but have yet to move us away from fossil fuels. Enlarge / Bioreactors that host algae would be one option for carbon sequestration—as long as the carbon is stored somehow. (credit: Getty Images.....»»
Photosynthesis powers our world, but what fuels this fundamental process?
It's hard to overstate the importance of photosynthesis, the biochemical pathway by which plants, algae, and certain bacteria convert the sun's energy into the organic material that feeds the entire living biosphere. But there are still aspects of th.....»»
Not so simple: Mosses and ferns offer new hope for crop protection
Mosses, liverworts, ferns and algae may offer an exciting new research frontier in the global challenge of protecting crops from the threat of disease......»»