Florida manatees are threatened by human activity, but they’re also doing better than ever, according to a study examining manatee populations since 12,000 BC, published November 20, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Thomas J. Pluckhahn of the University of South Florida and David K. Thulman of George Washington University, Washington DC, U.S.

New research suggests that while manatees are an indelible part of Florida’s seascape, they might also be relatively new residents in the Sunshine State.

In Australia, shellfish reef restoration projects are helping to recover degraded coastal systems and enhance fish habitat, but much more research is needed to support and evaluate these efforts, researchers say.

Flinders University researchers are gaining insights into how shellfish reefs – including oyster, mussel and razor clam (pinnid) reefs – support marine biodiversity, and seeking solutions from dozens of international studies led by the US.

Over 14 million tonnes of microplastics are estimated to be lying on the ocean floor with the fashion industry among the worst pollutants. But a new project led by textile experts at Heriot-Watt University in the Scottish Borders, is aiming to make fashion labels and consumers alike, more environmentally aware when manufacturing and buying new clothes.

The history of a major animal group, composed of millions of species of insects, arachnids, and nemotodes, has been elusive - until now. A UC Riverside-led team has now identified the oldest known ecdysozoan in the fossil record and the only one from the Precambrian period.

SAN ANTONIO — November 18, 2024 —Southwest Research Institute is working to expand software normally used to model electrolytes and predict corrosion and turn it into a tool that can help determine whether ice-covered worlds have the right conditions for microbial life. The project is supported by NASA’s Habitable Worlds program, which seeks to use knowledge of the history of the Earth and the life upon it as a guide for determining the processes and conditions that create and maintain habitable environments.

The occurrence of multiple stressors undermines the acclimatisation strategies of juvenile herring: If larvae are exposed to several stress factors at the same time, their ability to respond to these changes at the molecular level is reduced. Experiments by a team from the northern German cities of Oldenburg and Kiel show that a combination of two factors is sufficient to prevent a reaction.

Hydrogels created using carbon dioxide (CO₂) offer a safer alternative to those formed with acidic agents. While most research has focused on pre-gelation conditions affecting hydrogel properties, this study by researchers from Tokyo University of Science explores the impact of CO₂ release after gelation. The team prepared alginate-based hydrogels and found that faster CO₂ release decreases crosslinking, while slower release results in stiffer hydrogels. These findings could lead to improved hydrogels for medical applications.

Many living organisms are able to regenerate damaged or lost tissue, but why some are particularly good at this and others are not is not fully understood. Molecular biologists Alexander Stockinger, Leonie Adelmann and Florian Raible from the Max Perutz Labs at the University of Vienna have now made an important contribution to clarifying this question in a new study. In it, they explain the molecular mechanism of regeneration in marine worms and thus create a better understanding of the natural reprogramming ability of cells. The study has just been published in the renowned journal Nature Communications.