Oceans
- Life
Sea sponges launch slow-motion snot rockets to clean their pores
Sea sponges rely on a sneezing mechanism to clear their pores, using mucus to flush out debris. This mucus provides food for other marine life.
By Jude Coleman - Paleontology
Megatooth sharks may have been higher on the food chain than any ocean animal ever
Some megalodons and their ancestors were the ultimate apex predators, outeating all known marine animals, researchers report.
By Asa Stahl - Oceans
How some sunscreens damage coral reefs
In lab experiments, sea anemones and coral turned oxybenzone into a toxin activated by light. But helpful algae may provide a layer of protection.
- Climate
Coastal cities around the globe are sinking
Of 99 coastal cities, nearly one-third are sinking in some places at more than a centimeter per year, making them more vulnerable to rising seas.
- Oceans
Even the sea has light pollution. These new maps show its extent
Coastal cities and offshore development create enough light to potentially alter behavior of tiny organisms dozens of meters below the surface.
- Climate
How did we get here? The roots and impacts of the climate crisis
Over the last century and a half, scientists have built a strong case for the roots and impacts of human-caused climate change.
- Oceans
Some deep-sea octopuses aren’t the long-haul moms scientists thought they were
Off California’s coast, some octopuses lay eggs in the warmer water of geothermal springs in the “Octopus Garden,” speeding up their development.
- Oceans
Sunlight helps clean up oil spills in the ocean more than previously thought
Solar radiation dissolved as much as 17 percent of the surface oil slick spilled after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, a new study suggests.
- Animals
Deep-sea Arctic sponges feed on fossilized organisms to survive
Slow-moving sponges, living deep in the Arctic Ocean where no currents deliver food, scavenge a carpet of long-dead critters.
- Oceans
The past’s extreme ocean heat waves are now the new normal
Marine heat waves that were rare more than a century ago now routinely occur in more than half of global ocean, suggesting we’ve hit a “point of no return.”
- Climate
Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier ice shelf could collapse within five years
The loss of Thwaites’ buttressing ice shelf could hasten the demise of the “Doomsday Glacier” and raise the risk of dramatic sea level rise.
- Oceans
The Southern Ocean is still swallowing large amounts of humans’ carbon dioxide emissions
A 2018 study suggested the ocean surrounding Antarctica might be taking up less CO₂ than thought, but new data suggest it is still a carbon sink.