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News & Articles By Edsel Cook

03/24/2019 / By Edsel Cook

Anxious aquatic life: Murky water found to affect fish growth and impair their health, warn researchers

As the waters of coastal areas grew more murky due to the rising amounts of sediments coming from inland, the fish living in those places became more nervous and timid. Australian researchers suspected that such drastic alterations in behavior would hamper the proper growth of the animals, thereby reducing a fish’s chances of surviving in the changing environment. […]

03/19/2019 / By Edsel Cook

Study reveals glass knifefish use tiny active sensing motions to keep track of their surroundings

Researchers are finally beginning to understand how the brain of an organism controls its active senses. An experiment with glass knifefish (Eigenmannia virescens) revealed that the tiny active sensing motions performed by the animal are controlled via sensory feedback. The tiny movements increase the accuracy of the data that is being sent to the brain of the fish. These […]

03/18/2019 / By Edsel Cook

Plants can “remember” environmental changes and adapt, researchers discover

No plant in the world has a feature that’s remotely similar to a brain. However, British researchers recently found out that flowering plants contained proteins that can store information about changes in their environment, such as shifts in temperatures when one season gave way to another. These data served as “memories” for a plant. When the plant experienced stimuli that matched […]

03/15/2019 / By Edsel Cook

New study finds that 100 PERCENT of sea turtles have plastics in their bellies

The next time you come across a sea turtle in the wild, remember that there are pieces of plastic trash inside the animal’s belly. And if that is not stomach-churning enough for you, imagine the damage caused by jagged pieces of toxic pollutant tumbling inside your belly. Researchers in the United Kingdom raised this issue after checking more than 100 […]

03/13/2019 / By Edsel Cook

Engineers develop revolutionary technology that uses solar energy to turn seawater into potable water

Solar energy is often used to power the process that converts undrinkable seawater into potable liquid. Italian researchers found a way to vastly increase the efficiency of the solar-powered desalination process, resulting in at least twice the amount of drinkable water compared to older approaches. Desalination removes salt from seawater so that it can be […]

03/13/2019 / By Edsel Cook

“Sounds” like home: Baby coral choose their home using acoustics and low-frequency sound

When a family is thinking about moving into a new neighborhood, they will scope out the area first and see if it is any good. In a similar vein, the larvae of coral pick a place to call home based on the sounds made by the animals there, said American researchers. Once a larva decides to settle […]

03/08/2019 / By Edsel Cook

Are organized clean-ups really saving the world’s beaches?

In response to the increasing amounts of plastic trash that are washing up on the shorelines of the world, many concerned groups are rallying people to gather up the beach litter for proper disposal. But these organized clean-up efforts are only a drop in the world ocean-full of plastic waste. The beaches of Roatan reflect […]

03/06/2019 / By Edsel Cook

Plastic pollution at its WORST: Research finds that sea scallops can ingest BILLIONS of microplastics particles in just 6 hours

Is your mouthful of seafood tasting less like a meal and more like poisonous plastic? U.K. researchers recently warned about the dangerous amounts of microplastic pollutants that can get into the bodies of marine animals that humans catch and eat for food. Researchers at the University of Manchester (Manchester) conducted several experiments where they exposed […]

03/06/2019 / By Edsel Cook

Drones can take birdwatching to the next level

Aerial drones are being touted as a much better way to watch over endangered species in the wilderness. U.K. researchers recently suggest sending out drones with thermal-sensing cameras that can spot the well-camouflaged specimens and hidden nests of the European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus). While numerous in overall number and still common throughout most of Europe, this species is growing increasingly rare […]

02/28/2019 / By Edsel Cook

Novel chemistry method paves the way for large-scale production of bioplastic bottles

Japanese and Dutch researchers demonstrated a new technique to extract an important plastic-making chemical from non-edible plant matter in large quantities. Their method of getting furan-2,5-dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) from a renewable source of material could displace the fossil fuel equivalent that is used to make plastic bottles and other plastic products. There is a growing […]

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