The shipping industry has long relied on fossil fuels, contributing significantly to global pollution. With stricter environmental regulations like the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) greenhouse gas reduction strategy, the shift toward electric ships powered by lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is now unstoppable. These battery-powered vessels promise cleaner, more efficient maritime transport—but there’s a catch: the harsh marine environment poses unique challenges for battery performance and safety.

The next time you breathe, consider this: photosynthesis of algae, powered by iron dust in the ocean, made it possible.  Now, a new Rutgers University study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences pulls back the curtain on this vital process.

Iron is a critical micronutrient for marine phytoplankton, the microscopic algae that form the foundation of the ocean’s food webs. It is deposited into the world’s oceans as dust from deserts and arid areas as well as from glacial meltwater.

 

As bacteria become increasingly resistant to antibiotics and other antibacterials, there is a growing need for alternatives. In a study published on August 14^th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, Tobias Warnecke and colleagues from the University of Oxford and the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom, identified untapped antimicrobials produced by archaea, single-celled organisms that make up one of the three domains of life (the other two being bacteria and eukaryotes, the group that includes us).

The sliteye shark has been recorded for the first time on the Great Chagos Bank, the world’s largest coral atoll structure—marking a major advance in understanding the geographic range of this near-threatened species.

Every human being leaves traces behind, and has done so for thousands of years. In a new study, a team led by lead author Dr. Yanming Ruan from MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen shows that human influence on soil erosion goes back much further than previously thought. Their findings have now been published in Geophysical Research Letters.

North American river otters eat, play and defecate in the same place. But their terrible food hygiene make them ideal for detecting future health threats in the environment, according to scientists. In a new study published Aug. 14, Smithsonian scientists analyzed the otters’ diets and “latrine” habitats in the Chesapeake Bay for the first time. They discovered river otters often eat food riddled with parasites—and that may not be a bad thing for the larger ecosystem.

When a North American river otter left behind some weird looking poo on a dock in Maryland and got caught by a wildlife camera, scientists started to investigate. They found river otters living in the Chesapeake Bay eat a variety of fish, crabs, and the occasional duck – and that their food is infested with parasites which sometimes infect otters. As river otters hunt infected prey, they might play a vital role within local food webs through the culling of sick individuals, the researchers said.