When comparing different types of antifouling paints against fouling on leisure boats, the results were the opposite of what many would expect. Of the paints tested, the biocide-free silicone paint worked best, and the paint marketed as environmentally friendly turned out to be extremely toxic. The study, led by Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, was conducted in Swedish, Danish and French coastal waters, and also showed that coatings with a low copper content can be just as effective as those containing more copper.

Why do some bird songs endure for generations while others fade away? An FAU study suggests the answer may lie in the landscape itself. Researchers found that the most common songs of Bachman’s sparrows travel through natural habitats with greater clarity than rarer songs, raising the possibility that environmental acoustics help shape which vocal traditions are learned, shared and passed down over time.

Fear learning is a key adaptive mechanism, but its links to the immune system remain unclear, especially in people with childhood maltreatment. This study examined whether the type and timing of childhood abuse and neglect influence the relationship between brain function during fear learning and inflammation. Data were collected from 128 adults, including inflammatory markers (IL-8, IL-17) and fMRI brain scans during a fear conditioning task. Results revealed that the type and timing of childhood maltreatment differentially moderate associations between fear-related brain activity, functional connectivity, and inflammatory levels. These findings help explain how early adversity increases long-term health risks by altering neural-immune interactions.

A straightforward blood-based assessment developed at Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, can help assess how effectively high-density lipoprotein (HDL) remove cholesterol from blood vessel walls, a function known as cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC). The study linked low CEC to a high-risk coronary plaque, supporting the broader clinical use of this method for predicting cardiovascular risk and improving preventive strategies.

Kyoto, Japan -- Humpback whales are one of the most popular species for whale watching. Since they are active close to the water's surface, groups of whale watchers can often see them breaching and diving during breeding periods. One popular whale watching destination is the Ogasawara Islands -- also known as the Bonin Islands -- a remote archipelago about 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo. These isles serve as a key breeding ground for humpback whales, which migrate in large numbers every December to May to these coastal waters.

Scientists have identified one of the main habitats of humpback whales in the Ogasawaras to be the Chichijima Island group, also home to the archipelago's main human settlement. Yet exactly which areas around Chichijima are critical for these whales has remained a mystery. This motivated a team of researchers at Kyoto University, the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association, and Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology to model the whales' distribution using sighting survey data.

The team examined visual survey data collected from vessels used by the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association in 2013 and also from 2015 to 2018. This data includes the locations of 160 groups of whales, totaling 234 individuals, that were confirmed during the five-year survey. The team then used two species distribution models to combine this data with topographic factors such as water depth, seabed slope, and distance from the coastline in order to predict the most suitable habitats for humpback whales.