News & Events

New Research: Astonishing Octopus Is Master of Disguise By peering into the genes of the mimic octopus, which has the mind-boggling ability to shift its color and shape to impersonate anything from sea snakes to stingrays, scientists are now uncovering the evolutionary steps it took to become a master of disguise.	02 Sep 2010

News: Cold Empties Bolivian Rivers of Fish With high Andean peaks and a humid tropical forest, Bolivia is a country of ecological extremes. But during the Southern Hemisphere's recent winter, unusually low temperatures in part of the country's tropical region hit freshwater species hard, killing an estimated 6 million fish and thousands of alligators, turtles and river dolphins.	01 Sep 2010

New Research: Special Adhesive Helps Oysters Stick Together Oysters and other marine organisms like to attach themselves to one another, creating dense reefs that in undamaged conditions can extend for miles. In sticking together, oysters avoid major impact from waves, and can more easily reproduce. By forming a dense block, the oysters also make it difficult for predators to remove individual oysters. Now, researchers have found that the adhesive that oysters produce is a unique material.

31 Aug 2010

Interactive Map: The Census of Marine Life The Census of Marine Life is a global network of researchers in more than 80 nations engaged in a 10-year scientific initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans. The world's first comprehensive Census of Marine Life - past, present, and future - will be released before the end of the year.	30 Aug 2010

Photos: The Wonderful World of Sea Slugs Terry Gosliner of the California Academy of Sciences traveled to the Philippines in May to study colorful sea slugs called nudibranchs, which provide clues about the biodiversity of the oceans. Here are some of the species that he found -- some old, some new.	27 Aug 2010

News: Oceanography: Dead in the Water? Every summer for the past nine years, water with lethally low concentrations of oxygen has appeared off the Oregon coast. The hypoxia may be a sign of things to come elsewhere.	26 Aug 2010

New Finding: Disease "Killed One Million Bats" A disease known as white-nose syndrome has killed approximately one million little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) in North America, say scientists.	25 Aug 2010

New Research: Attack of the Ancient 'Zombie' Ants Researchers claim to have found the first evidence of 'zombie' ants in the fossil record. They have matched peculiar cuts on a 48-million-year-old fossil leaf with the 'death bites' made by modern ants infected by a fungal parasite.	24 Aug 2010

New Finding: Polar Bears a Threat to Some Arctic Bird Communities An Arctic expedition has confirmed fears that polar bears are preying on the eggs of barnacle geese who migrate to the Solway Firth each winter. During a recent trip, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) found evidence of bears eating thousands of eggs. The bears have turned to the eggs after being stranded on land in the summer months as a result of diminishing ice.

23 Aug 2010

News: Global Hunt Begins for "Extinct" Species of Frogs Over the next two months, conservationists will scour the world for species thought to be extinct but which may just be hanging on. Missions will begin in 14 countries searching for species such as the golden toad, the hula painted frog and the scarlet frog.	20 Aug 2010