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Wild adult lynx in Banff National Park

A Deep Sea Squid Cares for Her Eggs

In recent years, submersibles have allowed scientists to explore the lives of deep-sea animals in ways that were not possible before. One of the many exciting discoveries was that a mother of the deep-sea squid species Gonatus onyx broods her eggs by holding them in her arms, a behavior that had never been previously reported for squids.

This shocking discovery was the first time scientists had evidence of parental care in squids. In 2012, a team of researchers led by Stephanie Bush, reported finding another species of deep-sea squid that broods eggs, Bathyteuthis berryi, suggesting that this form of parental care may be a common solution to a reproductive problem for deep-sea squids.

Watch a video about this amazing deep-sea discovery:

http://ow.ly/ZS9jc

(via: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)

World’s largest concentrated solar plant switches on in the Sahara

Morocco has switched on what will be the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant. The new site near the city of Ouarzazate could produce enough energy to power over one million homes by 2018 and reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 760,000 tons per year, according to the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) finance group.

As His Majesty Mohammed VI of Morocco pressed a button on 4 February 2016, the first phase of the three-part project was set in motion.

The solar plant, called the Noor complex, uses concentrating solar power (CSP) which is more expensive to install than the widely used photovoltaic panels, but unlike them, enables the storage of energy for nights and cloudy days.

Mirrors focus the sun’s light and heat up a liquid, which, when mixed with water, reaches around 400 degree Celsius. The steam produced from this process drives a turbine and generates electrical power.

A cylinder full of salt is melted by the warmth from the mirrors during the day, and stays hot enough at night to provide up to three hours of power, according to World Bank, who partially financed construction of the plant through a $97 million loan from the Clean Technology Fund.

“The returns on this investment will be significant for the country and its people, by enhancing energy security, creating a cleaner environment, and encouraging new industries and job creation,” said Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, World Bank Country Director for the Maghreb.

read more here

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KELP FOREST REPLACE CORALS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

A decrease from pH 8.1 to 7.9 observed in a CO2 vent system at 40 m depth leads to a dramatic shift in highly diverse and structurally complex habitats.

Rising levels of CO2 released by anthropogenic activities are driving unprecedented changes in the chemistry of the oceans. The mean ocean surface acidity has increased by 25–30% (equivalent to a drop of 0.1 pH units) since as the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the 1780s and is predicted to decline by a further 150–200% by the end of the century.

Ocean acidification is one of the greatest long-term challenges facing the survival of reefs and coral. Habitats widely distributed in the Mediterranean, such as coral colonies and maerl environments, characterized by the predominance of calcareous organisms, are relegated by Laminaria rodriguezii forests.   

Dominant habitats at mesophotic depths (the deepest part of the photic zone where light penetration is low, typically from 30–40 m to over 150 m) are usually characterized by a large dominance of calcifying organisms, such as endangered coralligenous outcrops and rhodolith beds in the Mediterranean Sea, which display a notable carbonate production. Calcareous red algae are the main framework builders in those two habitats, providing structural complexity and favouring biodiversity   

Reference: Linares et al. 2015.  Persistent natural acidification drives major distribution shifts in marine benthic ecosystems. Proc. R. Soc. B

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Bacteria use their own pumps to collect magnesium

Researchers at UiO and NCMM have discovered that the system used by bacteria to transport magnesium is so sensitive that it can detect a pinch of magnesium salt in a swimming pool.

Researchers at NCMM, the Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway at UiO and Oslo University Hospital have shown exactly how sensitive the bacteria’s transport system is.

Researcher Jens Preben Morth tells us ‘We have identified a nano-sized magnesium pump.’

The researchers manipulated an E. coli bacterium so that it overproduced using its own magnesium pump. 'The pump was isolated in the bacterium’s cell membrane.’ There are different methods of achieving this type of isolation. We could either divide up the proteins according to size, or we could examine the positive or negative electric charges of the proteins on the surface of the pump. 'As soon as the pump was isolated, we were able to work with the pure protein without disruption from other proteins,’ Morth explains. With the aid of enzyme kinetics, a special method of analysing chemical reactions, the researchers were able to obtain a calculation of the sensitivity to magnesium.

Saranya Subramani, Harmonie Perdreau-Dahl, Jens Preben Morth. The magnesium transporter A is activated by cardiolipin and is highly sensitive to free magnesium in vitro. eLife, 2016; 5 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.11407

The bacteria are shown in green. The multi-coloured area shows how the pump rests on the bacterial membrane (pink). The ‘machine’ itself inside the membrane is shown in orange. The grey dots are magnesium atoms. Credit: Jens Preben Morth, UiO

The dancers of the sea | Peter Chadwick

Date Idea: binge watch all the Free Willy movies

How do you think they'll dispose of Tillikums body? :/

They’ll probably do a necropsy after he dies to determine the exact cause of death. After that, I’m not sure what they’ll do. Normally they don’t tell anyone what happens to the animal’s body after they die. Perhaps since Tilikum is so well-known they’ll give him a proper burial/memorial? I’ve heard somewhere before (but for the life of me cannot remember where, so don’t take this as a fact) that Kalina is buried somewhere on the property of SeaWorld Orlando.

I know I’ve read that in Kamogawa Sea World they bury the dead orcas in a cherry blossom garden, which I think is very nice and respectful.