Chemistry

A High-Flying Aquatic Robot

Inspired by the flying squid, researchers have built a robot that can launch itself from the water surface using water-reactive…

Chemistry Hazards Human Health Toxicology Undergraduate Research

SURFO SPECIAL: Flame retardants: Not as friendly as we like to think

Jamillez Olmo Classen is a senior at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, majoring in Technology in Industrial Chemical…

Atmospheric Chemistry Biochemistry Biological oceanography Chemistry Climate Change Conservation Human impacts Ocean Acidification

Pteropods are Ptough: How one of the ocean’s most fragile creatures may cope with climate change

Climate change, due to the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning, is arguably the most important issue…

Biology Chemistry deep sea Geology ocean engineerings Ocean Exploration

Autonomous Under-ICE Vehicles

Seafloor exploration in areas of thick ice coverage has many obstacles. With careful planning and modifaction of AUV design and…

Chemistry deep sea

Deep Iron: Good for the Ocean’s Bones

: Iron isn’t just good for your body – it’s good for the ocean, too. While many studies focus on…

Chemistry

Out of sight, but not out of mind: human created chemicals persist deep in the Arctic Ocean

Human created chemicals can be "too good" at their job, remaining persistent and/or toxic in the environment, well beyond the…

Chemistry

Fireproofing the Arctic

Chemicals that are stable enough for our everyday use are often remarkably stable in the natural environment as well. This…

Chemistry

After the Phase Out: Can Banning Toxic Chemicals Rescue Pilot Whales?

When it comes to persistent pollutants, all roads lead to the ocean. Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) is a chemical that has…

Biochemistry Chemistry Genetics

Pollutants produced by poriferans: using genetics to fill in blanks about sponge chemical production

Although its easy to mistake a sponge for a furry looking rock, these invertebrates and the microbes that inhabit them…

Chemistry Remote Sensing

Dawn of the age of Aquarius…total alkalinity measurements

While not as exciting as the new era of peace predicted by 5th Dimension, it is pretty cool that scientists…

Chemistry Climate Change Paleoceanography

The Bipolar See-Saw: Dansgaard-Oeschger Events and the Antarctic Climate

Within large timescales of glacial and interglacial periods, mini, rapid climate shifts may occur thanks to oceanic circulation processes and…

Biochemistry Biological oceanography Chemistry Climate Change Modeling

Eat Organic at Your Local Gyre Margin

Paper: Letscher, Robert T., et al. 2016. Nutrient budgets in the subtropical ocean gyres dominated by lateral transport. Nature Geoscience, v.9:…

Chemistry

Beyond CO2: Chemical Consequences of Our Love Affair with Fossil Fuels

Our world relies heavily on the burning of biological materials such as wood or fossil fuels to harness energy. While…

Chemistry

Not better together: complex pollutant soup spells trouble for marine phytoplankton

A group of international researchers have found that marine phytoplankton communities are susceptible to impairment from complex mixtures of organic…

Chemistry

What’s in the Hair of a Polar Bear?

The accumulation of toxic methylmercury is a serious threat to wildlife all over the world – especially top predators in…

Chemistry

Spawning Under the Influence: Drugs and Toxins Found in Salmon

You may think you’re familiar with the side effects of most common medications, but there are other, hidden side effects…

Chemistry Climate Change

Lead Pollution in Antarctic Waters: Have We Cleaned Up Our Act?

Researchers traveled to the far reaches of Antarctica to determine whether lead levels there have declined since humans started cleaning…

Alternative Energy Chemistry deep sea thermodynamics

Fueling Science with Science (& hydrothermal fluid)

Wouldn’t it be wicked cool if scientists could overcome the obstacle of power limitation by plugging their instruments directly into…

Biology Chemistry Coastal Management

Whale earwax: a hearing aid & time capsule

How is whale earwax essential to whales, and how can it help whale conservation? Read more to find out!

Chemistry

Please Pass the Plastic

Tiny shards and fibers of plastic termed “microplastics” accumulate in seafood with unknown consequences for human health. Now, they’re turning…