EurekAlert! - Science News: Marine Science Portal

Public Release: 1-May-2013

Development
Finding Nematostella: An ancient sea creature
A study of tentacle-formation in a sea anemone shows how epithelial cells form elongated structures and puts the spotlight on a new model organism.

Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Burroughs Wellcome Fund

Public Release: 1-May-2013
NASA sees Cyclone Zane bearing down on Queensland, Australia
NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of Cyclone Zane headed toward the northern Cape York Peninsula of Queensland where it is expected to make landfall by May 2 and cross into the Gulf of Carpentaria.

NASA

Public Release: 1-May-2013

Environmental Science & Technology
Health defects found in fish exposed to Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Three years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, crude oil toxicity continues to sicken a sentinel Gulf Coast fish species, according to new findings from a research team that includes a University of California, Davis, scientist.

National Science Foundation, Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 1-May-2013

Examine Impacts of Fukushima on the Ocean
Meeting: 'Experts Convene to Examine Impacts of Fukushima on the Ocean'
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will convene international experts at a public colloquium to explore the impact of Fukushima on the ocean and human health. The panel will be held on May 9, 2013, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. EDT and simulcast on the Web. Online viewers are encouraged to participate and send questions for the panel discussion via Twitter.

Public Release: 1-May-2013

Journal of Applied Ecology
'Dirty dozen' invasive species threaten UK
Parts of the UK are at greater risk of invasion by non-native aquatic species than previously thought, according to new research. The first to include human factors in models used to predict where invasive species will arrive and spread, the study shows the Thames, Anglian and Humber river basins are most vulnerable.

Public Release: 30-Apr-2013

Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Electron-beam pasteurization of raw oysters may reduce viral food poisoning
Texas A&M University researchers and others studied how electron-beam pasteurization of raw oysters may reduce the possibility of food poisoning through virus.

Public Release: 30-Apr-2013
NASA infrared data revealed the birth of Tropical Storm Zane
Infrared data indicates temperatures of cloud tops and the surface of the sea beneath tropical cyclones, and NASA's AIRS instrument captured an infrared look at low pressure area System 92P in the Southwestern Pacific Ocean that hinted it was rapidly developing into Tropical Cyclone Zane.

NASA

Public Release: 30-Apr-2013
Agencies should use common approach to evaluate risks pesticides pose to endangered species
When determining the potential effects pesticides could pose to endangered or threatened species, the US Environmental Protection Agency, National Marine Fisheries Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service should use a common scientific approach, says a new report from the National Research Council.

Public Release: 30-Apr-2013

Subterranean Biology
The underground adventures of the Mediterranean frog Rana iberica
Although many amphibians have been reported to live or spend part of their life underground, the Mediterranean frog Rana iberica, has never been reported dwelling in subterranean habitats until now. A new study published in the open access journal Subterranean Biology marks the first record of all life stages of the species from a drainage gallery of Serra da Estrela Natural Park in Portugal.

Public Release: 30-Apr-2013

Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Bizarre bone worms emit acid to feast on whale skeletons
Only within the past 12 years have marine biologists come to learn about the eye-opening characteristics of mystifying sea worms that live and thrive on the skeletons of whale carcasses. Now, scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego describe how Osedax, mouthless and gutless "bone worms," excrete a bone-melting acid to gain entry to the nutrients within whale bones.

Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Austrian Science Fund

Public Release: 29-Apr-2013

Biological Conservation
Sea turtles benefiting from protected areas
Nesting green sea turtles are benefiting from marine protected areas by using habitats found within their boundaries, according to a US Geological Survey study that is the first to track the federally protected turtles in Dry Tortugas National Park.

US Geological Survey

Public Release: 29-Apr-2013

Earth and Planetary Science Letters
No Redoubt: Volcanic eruption forecasting improved
Forecasting volcanic eruptions with success is heavily dependent on recognizing well-established patterns of pre-eruption unrest in the monitoring data. But in order to develop better monitoring procedures, it is also crucial to understand volcanic eruptions that deviate from these patterns. New research retrospectively documented and analyzed the period immediately preceding the 2009 eruption of the Redoubt volcano in Alaska, which was characterized by an abnormally long period of pre-eruption seismic activity that's normally associated with short-term warnings of eruption.

US Geological Survey

Public Release: 29-Apr-2013

PLOS ONE
Researchers track singing humpback whales on a Northwest Atlantic feeding ground
Male humpback whales sing complex songs in tropical waters during the winter breeding season, but they also sing at higher latitudes at other times of the year. NOAA researchers have provided the first detailed description linking humpback whale movements to acoustic behavior on a feeding ground in the Northwest Atlantic.

National Oceanographic Partnership Program

Public Release: 26-Apr-2013

Monthly Weather Review
Researchers develop new metric to measure destructive potential of hurricanes
Researchers at Florida State University have developed a new metric to measure seasonal Atlantic tropical cyclone activity that focuses on the size of storms in addition to the duration and intensity, a measure that may prove important when considering a hurricane's potential for death and destruction.

NOAA, US Geological Survey, US Department of Agriculture

Public Release: 26-Apr-2013
Federally funded research & development centers employed more than 3,000 postdoctoral researchers
According to a recent report released by the National Science Foundation, 22 of the nation's 39 federally funded research and development centers employed 3,011 postdocs in 2010, the year the latest data are available.

Public Release: 26-Apr-2013
Sea surface temperatures reach highest level in 150 years
Sea surface temperatures in the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem during 2012 were the highest recorded in 150 years, according to the latest Ecosystem Advisory issued by NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center. Temperature is also affecting distributions of fish and shellfish on the Northeast Shelf.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service

Public Release: 26-Apr-2013

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Fish win fights on strength of personality
When predicting the outcome of a fight, the big guy doesn't always win suggests new research on fish. Scientists at the University of Exeter and Texas A&M University found that when fish fight over food, it is personality, rather than size, that determines whether they will be victorious.

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Public Release: 25-Apr-2013

Nature Communications
Competing pathways affect early differentiation of higher brain structures
A new study shows how the strength and timing of competing molecular signals during brain development has generated natural and presumably adaptive differences in a brain region known as the telencephalon -- much earlier than scientists had previously believed.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 25-Apr-2013

PLOS ONE
Why do guppies jump?
Pet guppies often jump out of their tanks. One such accident inspired a new study by University of Maryland biologist Daphne Soares, which reveals how guppies are able to jump so far, and suggests why they do it.

Public Release: 25-Apr-2013

Science
Whales able to learn from others
Humpback whales are able to pass on hunting techniques to each other, just as humans do, new research has found.

Public Release: 24-Apr-2013

Nature
Ancient Earth crust stored in deep mantle
Scientists have long believed that lava erupted from certain oceanic volcanoes contains materials from the early Earth's crust. But decisive evidence for this phenomenon has proven elusive. New research from a team including Carnegie's Erik Hauri demonstrates that oceanic volcanic rocks contain samples of recycled crust dating back to the Archean era 2.5 billion years ago.

BU, National Science Foundation

Public Release: 23-Apr-2013

Geophysical Research Letters
AGU journal highlights -- 23 April 2013
Featured in this release are research papers on the following topics: "Beachfront nourishment decisions: the "sucker-free rider" problem," "Identifying the physical processes that control the stratigraphic record," "Uplift of Zagros Mountains slows down convergence of two plates," "Extensive Antarctic campaign finds cold bias in satellite records," "Measuring tidal displacement using GPS," and "Hydrology affects carbon storage potential of prairie potholes."

Public Release: 23-Apr-2013
EARTH: Denying sea-level rise
In 2009, the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission, a body that controls and regulates coastal development in North Carolina, asked 13 members of its advisory Science Panel to prepare a report on the state of sea-level rise in North Carolina. After the report was published, there was a subsequent maelstrom regarding its utility and validity. In this month's issue of EARTH Magazine, Orrin Pilkey and Alexander Glass from Duke University describe what happened.

Public Release: 23-Apr-2013

International Association for Great Lakes Research Annual Conference
AWRI researcher honored for Lake Michigan outreach efforts
Janet Vail, associate research scientist at Grand Valley State University's Annis Water Resources Institute in Muskegon, will be given the prestigious 2013 Jack Vallentyne Award by the International Association for Great Lakes Research.

Public Release: 23-Apr-2013

Geosphere
Geosphere features top geoscience technology, including LiDAR, EarthScope, CHIRP, ALSM, and IODP
Geosphere papers posted online 4 and 17 April 2013 use LiDAR, ALSM (Airborne Laser Swath Mapping), EarthScope, CHIRP (compressed high-intensity radar pulse), and IODP (International Ocean Drilling Program) data to further geoscientists' understanding of the nature of Earth. New locations studied: Sakhalin, in the Russian far east; Peña de Bernal nation monument, México; and Andalshatten batholith, central Norway. Geosphere's online-only articles feature a variety of article lengths, stunning figures, and animations or 3-D digital displays.