Earth

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Scientists at NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have successfully conducted the first remote detection of a harmful algal species and its toxin below the ocean's surface. The achievement was recently reported in the June issue of Oceanography.

No one can be certain exactly how much Earth's climate will warm due to carbon emissions but a new study this week suggests that even the best predictions using current methods might be incorrect.

The Wildlife Conservation Society announced today that critically endangered alligators in China have a new chance for survival. The WCS's Bronx Zoo, in partnership with two other North American parks and the Department of Wildlife Conservation and Management of the State Forestry Administration of China, has successfully reintroduced alligators into the wild that are now multiplying on their own.

New evidence shows that sex may be a reason why some plants better defend themselves than others.

In research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists from North Carolina State University and Duke University discovered that sexually produced evening primrose plants withstand attacks from plant-eaters like caterpillars better than plant relatives that reproduce by themselves.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a final rule in the Federal Register prohibiting the harvesting of krill in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. The rule goes into effect on August 12, 2009. Krill are a small shrimp-like crustacean and a key source of nutrition in the marine food web.

According to a five-year Purdue University study, while using a diverse herbicide application strategy may increase production costs, the practice will drastically reduce weeds and seeds that are resistant to a popular herbicide. The results were published in the journal Weed Science.

KEYSTONE, CO – People with pain in the elbow or forearm from playing sports or just from common everyday activities, might be able to use a simple bar and strengthening exercise to alleviate pain, say researchers who are presenting their study results at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting in Keystone, Colorado, July 9th-12th.

Last period of global warming

The Victoria fossils are about 110 million years old, around the time that Australia split with Antarctica, and dinosaurs roamed in prolonged polar darkness along forested southern Australia river plains. It was one of the last times the Earth experienced global warming, with an average temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit – about 10 degrees higher than today.

Dr. Craig R. Smith, oceanography professor at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, recently published a paper in Marine Ecology Progress Series titled, "Biogeochemistry of a deep-sea whale fall: sulfate, reduction, sulfide efflux and methanogenesis."

The research by Smith and collaborators is the first detailed study of microbial processes at a deep-sea whale fall. The work evaluated the biogeochemical effects of a 30-ton whale carcass deployed at 1,675 mile depth for seven years on the California margin.