Scientists discover key egg enzyme for blocking sperm entry after fertilization
...ng after fertilization. Preventing polyspermy in sea urchins and many other animals involves a dramatic...gues from Brown University discovered an enzyme in sea urchins that is separate from those used by white blood cells and is specifically involved in genera...Free radicals and fertilization: Study reveals egg protection secret
...oduces hydrogen peroxide in the fertilized eggs of sea urchins. This infection-fighting free radical help...ntury-old biology riddle. In most animals, such as sea urchins, fish, mice and humans, only one sperm fertilizes an egg. If multiple sperm fuse with the eg...Researchers discover direct link between agricultural runoff and massive algal blooms in the sea
... an oxygen-depleted dead zone at the bottom of the sea where few creatures can survive. A massive dead zone appears every summer in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana and Texas. Scientists believe that agricultural runoff from the Mississippi River plays a pivotal role in creating this annual ...What have scientists learned since Mount St. Helens erupted?
...e, some Pacific salmon and steelhead trout were at sea when the eruption occurred. When they returned to Mount St. Helens to spawn in the years after the eruption, stream conditions had improved. Many migrant songbirds were still on their winter grounds in Mexico and Central America when the eruption occ...Cloned gene from sea animal may prove key in cancer drug development
...ies. And collecting vast numbers of the animals at sea would be environmentally destructive. One way of solving this dilemma is to clone the genes involved in natural bryostatin development. In the Chemistry and Biology paper, the researchers describe the process by which they cloned a large complex of g...Hudson's Bay Company fur trapping policies set stage for modern environmental struggles
... other strategies along the Northwest coast, where sea otter pelts were at the center of the fur trade. ... of the company's focus on profits, stocks of both sea otter and beaver declined west of the Cascade Mountains. Schefke said the company considered and ...Strange ocean wave patterns raise questions about beach erosion
... depths. That data confirmed that the water on the sea floor was moving slower -- and, sometimes, even in the opposite direction -- compared to water on the surface. So it turned out that the video system was getting accurate measurements after all. "We were feeling pretty good about that," Lippmann said...New monkey discovered in Northeastern India
...orld, occurring between 1600 and 3500 meters about sea level. Although the monkey is new to science, the animal is well known to the residents of the Himalayan districts of Tawang and West Kameng, where the species occurs. The monkey's species name, mun zala, means "deep-forest monkey" in the vernacu...Iceberg poses no threat to Antarctic personnel
...from wind and ocean currents, with the result that sea ice had formed over a larger area than usual in th...ington, on Nov. 4 and should reach the edge of the sea ice about Dec. 27. It will begin immediately to cut a channel in the sea ice for the supply ships. O...Satellites plus software equal best-ever Mediterranean heat map
...s of the Mediterranean, the world's largest inland sea is being updated on a daily basis as part of ESA's Medspiration project. With sea surface temperature (SST) an important variable for weather forecasting and increasingly seen as a k...Violent ocean motion no magic potion for reefs
...e production of compounds that can cause tumors in sea turtles and other animals, and research at other institutions has indicated its spread may also be tied to pollution. Before the team was able to study reefs farther up the coast, hurricanes Jeanne and Frances pummeled the region, forcing a two-mont...Ocean colour satellites guide research ship through South Pacific's watery desert
...n caused by the Trade Winds, which divert the warm sea surface layer off the South American coast, leavin...atchy and dynamic. Using satellite imagery showing sea surface temperature as well as chlorophyll concentration, the ship was able to move towards a site w...Scientists discover unique microbe in California's largest lake
...Its current elevation is about 227 feet below mean sea level, its maximum depth reaches 51 feet and its total volume is about 7.5 million acre-feet. It was formed in the early 1900s, when flow from the Colorado River was inadvertently directed to the Salton Basin. Once the Army Corps of Engineers returne...Queen's discovery sheds new light on ancient temperatures
...ears ago. But ikaite forms in shallow water on the sea bottom at cold temperatures and melts when brought to the surface. The fundamental question for scientists is what triggered the enormous ice ages that left the oceans cold enough for the formation of this mineral? One controversial theory known as ...The simple truth: Animal development not as complicated as it seems
...l lineages of three different nematode worms and a sea squirt with those randomly generated by a computer...isms showed the same pattern," Azevedo said. "The sea squirt, a chordate, has a general body plan similar albeit simplified to that of humans, while the...Sardines may prevent toxic gas eruptions off the California and African coasts
... eruptions, bubbling up from the ocean floor, kill sea life, annoy human seaside residents, and may even intensify global warming. But the simple sardine may save the day, according to a study from the Pew Institute for Ocean Science. In an article published in the November issue of Ecology Letters,...B-15A iceberg's close encounter monitored by Envisat
...as blocked ocean currents and led to a build-up of sea ice. This has led to turn to resupply difficulties...r, rougher surface of ice tongues from surrounding sea ice, while optical sensors simply show a continuity of snow-covered ice. "An ice tongue is 'pure' g...New evidence indicates biggest extinction wasn't caused by asteroid or comet
...paper. "Animals and plants both on land and in the sea were dying at the same time, and apparently from the same causes too much heat and too little oxygen." The paper is to be published in the print edition of Science in a few weeks. Co-authors are Roger Buick and Geoffrey Garrison of the UW; Jennifer...It came from the sea: 'Monster' crabs evolve a bug's nose
...merged in water. The robber crab's transition from sea to land has been accomplished through numerous, and in many cases far-reaching, adaptations. A question not previously addressed is how the robber crabs have adapted to olfaction in their new environment an intriguing question because the sense of s...Arid Australian interior linked to landscape burning by ancient humans
...izers are believed to have arrived in Australia by sea from Indonesia about 50,000 years ago, using fire as a tool to hunt, clear paths, signal each other and promote the growth of certain plants, he said. Fossil remains of browse-dependent birds and marsupials indicate the interior was made up of trees...