Human Health
Attacking Alzheimer’s: Medicinal marine microbes
Alzheimer’s disease is a serious brain condition that affects many elderly people. It is important to find new ways to treat and cure the disease. The ocean, particularly extreme environments, is one of the best places to look for medicinal compounds made by microbes. LeAundra JeffsI am a Master’s Candidate at University of Delaware where […]
Not So Organic Marine Snow
What happens when plastic pollution mixes into the ocean carbon cycle? Read to find out more about how plastic from the surface ocean might reach mussels living at the bottom of the sea! Melanie FeenI am a first year graduate student at the Graduate School of Oceanography at University of Rhode Island. I use robots […]
Snowmageddon: A lighthearted start to Marine Snow theme week
While the term “marine snow” may conjure images of an aquatic winter wonderland, some aspects of this phenomenon may not inspire a Bing Crosby song. Marine snow is responsible for transporting many of the nutrients found in the surface, sunlit waters of the ocean to depths where it becomes a significant food and nutrient source […]
BAD BOYZ 2.0. Emerging environmental contaminants
Our generation is facing environmental challenges not only from commonly-known contaminants, but also emerging ones, which have been lurking in the shadows until recently. Check this week’s post to know more about these (sometimes surprising) pollutants, and their effects! Prabarna GangulyI’m a fourth year PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology at Northeastern University. My […]
Tarballs invading our coastlines: Ghosts of oil spills past
We live in a world that is torn between reliance on fossil fuels and renewable energy. Although we have made great strides towards increasing wind and solar energy, the ghosts of oil spills past are washing up on our shorelines. Katherine BarrettKate is a 4th year PhD candidate in the Biological Sciences Department at the […]
MARPOL-ling in the Right Direction
Posted by Steven Koch Research article: Zetterdahl, M., Jana Moldanov, J., Xiangyu Pei, X., Pathak, R. K., Demirdjian, B. (2016). Impact of the 0.1% fuel sulfur content limit in SECA on particle and gaseous emissions from marine vessels. Elseveir, Atmospheric Environment, 145 (2016) 338-345. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2016.09.022 Background Air pollution is an important issue that adversely […]
A toxic toasty blob: warm water in the Pacific provides a happy home for poisonous algae
A warm blob at the ocean surface, fishery closures, and unhappy marine mammals – what do all these things have in common? The answer is microscopic: a toxic type of algae called Pseudo-nitzschia thrives when temperatures are warm and nutrients are plentiful. It poisons the shellfish that feed marine mammals and support a multi-million dollar […]
From Wastewater to Seahorses to the Medicine Cabinet
Pollution of metals could be getting into the tissue of seahorses–the very tissues that are used to make a special Chinese medicine. Now scientists fear that the metal pollutants could harm the patients who take the medicine. Read more to find out what they learned about the accumulation of metals in seahorse tissues. Anne M. […]
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