In a recent paper published in Geology, scientists propose that certain kinds of wrinkle structures in sedimentary rock are the remnants of ancient microbial communites, similar to those found in deep ocean whale falls today. Geologists have long considered these wrinkle structures as physical in nature, formed by underwater landslides, because the deepsea environment wasn't thought to be hospitable to photosynthetic microbes. In their paper, the researchers demonstate how chemosynthetic microbes, which need no light to grow, could thrive in these environments and leave these wrinkles structures behind. 

Corals living in coastal bays with strongly fluctuating temperatures and environmental conditions are better able to withstand heat and other stressors than their counterparts on more stable reefs. This is shown by research conducted by marine biologist Sarah Solomon, whose work offers valuable insights into the mechanisms and trade-offs associated with the resilience of coral reefs in a rapidly changing climate. On Thursday 19 February, she will defend her PhD thesis at the University of Amsterdam.

As part of a new study researchers from Bournemouth University (BU) have discovered European eels, Anguilla anguilla, at the stage of silvering living in the inland waters of Cyprus for the first time.

Kyoto, Japan -- The enzyme Na⁺-NQR is a sodium pump that drives the respiration of many marine and pathogenic bacteria. Using redox reactions, the process of exchanging electrons between materials, it powers the transportation of sodium ions across the membrane, supporting the growth of the bacteria.

Yet there is a mystery behind this mechanism, as scientists have had trouble understanding exactly how the redox reactions are linked to sodium-pumping. In particular, the lack of structural information on the key intermediate states that form while the enzyme is operating has posed a major challenge; determining these structures is essential to understanding how the pump functions.

This gap in knowledge motivated a team of researchers at Kyoto University to investigate what powers this mysterious sodium pump. Using cryo-electron microscopy performed by co-first author Moe Ishikawa-Fukuda, the team was able to directly capture multiple intermediate structural states of the enzyme as it transformed during operation. They then combined these structural snapshots with molecular dynamics simulations performed by co-first author Takehito Seki.

During 2026, new legislation – the result of an agreement between the UK Government and the European Union – is planned to come into force for recreational pollack fishing that limits catches to three fish per angler per day. It will result in more fish being released after they are caught, but new research led by the University of Plymouth (UK) - and involving scientists and industry representatives across the UK - has suggested changing how that release happens could have a marked difference on the fisheries’ long-term sustainability.

Matthew Troia, a UT San Antonio assistant professor, was awareded the distinguished Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award by the National Science Foundation. The award will support his investigation on how climate change and urbanization are affecting freshwater ecosystems by enabling exotic tropical fish species to expand northward. During the next five years, Troia will integrate lab experiments, extensive field monitoring, and computer modeling to better understand the vulnerability of Texas waterways.

Did mantle plume or plate tectonics drive the continental breakup that formed the North Atlantic during the Eocene? University of Utah-led study leans toward tectonics in long debate to explain why so much magma surfaced off Norway.

Researchers have identified a new type of visual cell in deep-sea fish larvae that challenges a century of knowledge about vertebrate visual systems.

Human activity has lessened the resilience of modern coral reefs by restricting the energy flow that moves through the food chains – or webs – of these important ecosystems. Examining otoliths – fish ear stones that are preserved in marine sediments across millennia – the team applied a novel nitrogen isotope method to 7,000-year-old fossils in order to reconstruct ancient reef food webs directly for the first time and compare with modern reefs. This new approach allows for a clearer understanding of the threats now posed to these centers of marine biodiversity, an international team of researchers report today in the journal Nature.