marine biology
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Scientists Are Racing to Save These Sea Stars From Extinction
Since 2013, a disease exacerbated by overheating oceans has been decimating sea star populations, especially those of one particularly striking variety: sunflower sea stars. Over the course of three years, the illness killed off nearly 91% of the sunflower species’ global population. Now, scientists are fighting to restore the beautiful creatures before it’s too late.…
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Australian Robots Are Exploring to the Deep Sea to Study Marine Snow
Where I live, it’s too warm out for a white Christmas. But in the deep ocean, it’s always snowing. I’m talking about marine snow, or flakes of biological debris like dirt, dead phytoplankton and algae, and even bits of faecal matter that shower down from higher waters. So festive!
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12 Sea Creatures That Look Extremely Fake
Why leave Earth in search of aliens when you can just dive right into our oceans? No doubt, the seas are filled with all sorts of oddities that often defy description, from incomprehensibly shaped comb jellies through to gigantic isopods that more rightly belong in a 1960s B-picture. Case in point, these 12 bizarro sea…
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Researchers Finally Figured Out How Octopuses Taste With Their Tentacles
Octopuses, with their eight suction-cup-covered tentacles, can taste objects simply by touching them. A team of researchers has finally figured out how these cephalopods are capable of pulling off this remarkable trick.