Corals

A combination of AI, a wild 1970s plan to build underwater cities, and a designer creating furniture on the seabed around the Bahamas might be the solution to the widespread destruction of coral reefs. It could even save the world from coastal erosion.Industrial designer Tom Dixon and technologist Suhair Khan, founder of AI incubator Open-Ended Design, are collaborating on regenerating the ocean floor. “Coral reefs are endangered by climate change, shipping, development, and construction—but they’re vital,” Khan explains.…

Researchers have identified a single-celled microbe that aids coral survival during ocean-warming events, like bleaching. This study reveals the critical role of specific protists in the coral microbiome in determining a coral’s ability to withstand heat stress. Credit: SciTechDaily.comNew research highlights the role of microorganisms in protecting corals from heat stress.Researchers discovered for the first time a single-celled microbe that can help corals survive ocean-warming events like bleaching. The new study, led…

The coral species Cladocora caespitosa. Credit: Diego K. Kersting Pollutants from burning fossil fuels have been found embedded in corals, for the first time, offering scientists a potential new tool to track the history of pollution, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment,…

Researchers have refined predictions of Antarctic ice sheet melt and its impact on future sea levels, narrowing the forecasted rise to 5-9 cm by 2100. This more accurate estimate is vital for future policy and planning, especially in coastal and low-elevation regions. (Artist’s concept)An international group of researchers, utilizing historical data gathered from various locations in Australia, has presented the most precise estimate so far of the historical melting of the Antarctic ice sheet, providing a more realistic…

This story originally appeared in Hakai and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.Arah Narida leans over a microscope to gaze into a plastic petri dish containing a hood coral. The animal—a pebbled blue-white disk roughly half the size of a pencil eraser—is a marvel. Just three weeks ago, the coral was smaller than a grain of rice. It was also frozen solid. That is, until Narida, a graduate student at National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan, thawed it with the zap of a laser. Now, just beneath the coral’s tentacles,…

Schematic diagrams of ocean-atmosphere interactions under a) normal conditions in the South Pacific; b) positive phase of Pacific Decadal Oscillation when there are reduced equatorial winds and upwelling causing a decline in overall ocean overturning circulation; and c) projected anthropogenic warming effects with significantly reduced tropical-subtropical cells but intensified trade winds increasing western boundary current transport. Increased arrow…

Deep-sea coral garden located in the Drake Passage seamount; image captured by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Credit: Laura F. Robinson Pioneering analysis of deep-sea corals has overturned the idea that ocean currents contributed to increasing global levels of carbon dioxide in the air over the past 11,000 years. The study,…

A close-up of extended polyps of an apparently healthy great star coral colony (Montastraea cavernosa) on a reef near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The tentacles surrounding the mouth of each polyp help trap food particles for the coral to eat. The brown coloration is from the symbiotic microalgae (Symbiodiniaceae) that live in the coral tissues. Credit: Valerie PaulThe new treatment provides a viable alternative to traditional antibiotic treatment, minimizing the threat of resistant pathogenic bacteria.Scientists from the…

In a surprising twist on ‘What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger’, scientists have discovered that the poop from fish that predate on coral provides a massive payload of crucial microscopic organisms that strengthen reefs.The discovery has found that feces from coral-eating fish – corallivores – is packed with symbiotic dinoflagellate algae, which is essential for coral survival. It upends traditional views that these fish were damaging reef structure and, instead, it was the grazers eating detritus and bushy algae…

Taryn Foster believes Australia’s dying coral reefs can still be rescued—if she can speed up efforts to save them. For years, biologists like her have been lending a hand to reefs struggling with rising temperatures and ocean acidity: They’ve collected coral fragments and cut them into pieces to propagate and grow them in nurseries on land; they’ve crossbred species to build in heat-resistance; they’ve experimented with probiotics as a defense against deadly diseases.But even transplanting thousands of these healthy and…