ocean

Lake Hillier: Pink Australian lake gets its colour from red and purple microbes

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DNA sequencing has revealed that a bright pink lake on an island off Western Australia gets its colour from a mix of salt-loving bacteria and algae Earth 10 March 2022 By Alice Klein Aerial view of Lake Hillier, Australia Tourism Western Australia The unusual bubblegum pink colour of a remote lake in Western Australia has … Read more

Robotic ships could inspect underwater pipelines without a crew

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Autonomous ships that can deploy uncrewed underwater vehicles could be used to inspect pipelines, cables and seabed drilling activity Technology 4 March 2022 By David Hambling Ocean Infinity’s marine robotic vessel Ocean Infinity Engineers are developing a fleet of 85-metre-long vessels that will deploy underwater vehicles for tasks like pipeline inspection while their operators remain … Read more

Tropical storms: Ocean waves from cyclones could be focused like laser beams

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Computer modelling of cyclone Mekunu, which hit the coast of Oman in 2018, reveals that ocean currents may have focused waves from the storm into straight beams that hit the coast of India and Pakistan Physics 3 March 2022 By Bas den Hond Debris litters a beach after cyclone Mekunu hit Salalah, Oman, in May … Read more

Marine biology: Watch first video of a possible rare sponge reef found near California

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Vast mounds of sponges stretching for hundreds of metres have been discovered 600 metres down near the Channel Islands off California Environment 3 March 2022 By Michael Le Page Vast mounds made of the skeletons of glass sponges have been discovered 600 metres down on the seabed of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary off … Read more

Scientists want to create a library of every sound in the ocean | Science

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Most of us have heard the plaintive songs of humpback whales, or the cries of orcas chattering with their pods. But what about the strains of the spiky kina sea urchin? (It makes a hollow plopping sound.) Now, scientists want to bring the song of the kina—and thousands of other unassuming sea creatures—to other researchers … Read more

Are we on the verge of a global initiative to clean up ocean plastics?

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A global summit on clearing up the oceans has produced big promises – is it just blah, blah, blah, or can we make the future of plastic fantastic, asks Graham Lawton Environment | Columnist 23 February 2022 By Graham Lawton Elena Valeeva/Shutterstock IN JUNE 2021, the government of the Seychelles decided it was time to … Read more

Antarctica’s Hidden Under-Ice Rivers Could Play a Significant Role in Sea-Level Rise

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Underneath Antarctica’s vast ice sheets there’s a network of rivers and lakes. This is possible because of the insulating blanket of ice above, the flow of heat from within the Earth, and the small amount of heat generated as the ice deforms.   Water lubricates the base of the ice sheets, allowing the ice to … Read more

Mystery Tsunami That Spread Around The World in 2021 Can Finally Be Explained

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Last year in August, a surprise tsunami in the South Atlantic Ocean mushroomed to distances over 10,000 kilometers (more than 6,000 miles) away, rippling through the North Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Oceans.   It was the first time a tsunami had been recorded in three different oceans since the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, … Read more

Arctic Sponges Survive Dark, Hostile Conditions by Feasting on The Extinct

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The bottom of the Arctic Ocean, below the permanent sea ice, is not a friendly place for life. Down there in the cold dark, nutrients and vegetation are sparse; it’s expected that any life that does manage to eke out an existence under these conditions would be likewise thin on the ground.   Scientists were … Read more