New Atlas

Science Audio available

Fossil fats suggest animal life got started later than previously thought

Michael Irving March 6, 2019

In the world of palaeontology, new discoveries usually proclaim things are older than we previously thought. But new research out of the Max Planck Institute has found that animals probably arose later than is currently believed.

Rhizaria algae is now believed to be responsible for fossil fat molecules that have confused scientists ...

Science

Bacteria used to neutralize algae-bloom toxin

Ben Coxworth February 11, 2019

When algal blooms occur in lakes, the over-abundant cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) produce a toxin known as microcystin. Now, Ohio-based scientists are using OTHER types of bacteria to neutralize that toxin, in a process that could be cheaper and more eco-friendly than the alternatives.

Science Audio available

Fossil fats reveal how complex life kicked off after Snowball Earth phase

Michael Irving January 31, 2019

About 700 million years ago, basically the entire planet iced over in a period often called “Snowball Earth.” Now researchers have found fossil fats that help fill in the story of how life bounced back after this global cataclysm, and how we humans might owe our very existence to them.

Fossil fats have shown how complex life arose after Earth's "snowball" phase

Environment

Seaweed-munching microbes produce sustainable bioplastic

Ben Coxworth December 27, 2018

Plastic waste is a major problem in the world's oceans, which is why some groups have developed bioplastics that break down in the sea. Even those aren't entirely eco-friendly, though, which is why Israeli scientists are working on one that's derived from marine microorganisms.

The microorganisms produced a bioplastic polymer called polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) after consuming sea lettuce, pictured here

Environment

Sensors buried in farmers' fields may help prevent algae blooms

Ben Coxworth November 1, 2018

Toxic algae blooms can be nasty, killing fish, other wildlife and sometimes even people. One of the main causes of such blooms is excessive amounts of fertilizer running off of fields and into waterways. A new type of buried sensor, however, could help address that situation.

Toxic algae blooms are at least partially caused by fertilizer that runs off of farmers' fields ...

Science

Portable device gets the drop on toxic algae

Ben Coxworth October 3, 2018

Freshwater and marine algal blooms can be harmful – even fatal – to wildlife and humans alike, so the sooner that authorities can predict them, the better. A cheap and portable new device developed at UCLA could help them do so.

Space

Candy-pink lagoon raises hopes for life on Mars

David Szondy September 21, 2018

Algae found in a candy-pink Spanish lagoon is giving scientists hope that life could or may once have existed on Mars. Dunaliella salina EP-1, from the Laguna de Peña Hueca in La Mancha, lives in high salt and sulfur concentrations similar to those found at the buried lake at the Martian ice cap.

The candy-pink Laguna de Peña Hueca derives its color from the red cells of the salt-loving ...

Environment

Algae-meal fish food could make aquaculture more eco-friendly

Ben Coxworth August 20, 2018

Even though tilapia may be raised on farms, the food that they eat still contains ecologically-important fish that are caught in the ocean, depleting wild stocks. That's why Dartmouth College scientists are now looking at replacing the fishmeal in that food with existing algae meal.

Pallab Sarker and Anne Kapuscinski (who is now at UC Santa Cruz) work with Nile tilapia

Environment

QUT deploys high-tech "message in a bottle" to fight floods and pollution in river systems

Matt Kennedy July 23, 2018

It may look like a discarded piece of plumbing or a message in a bottle bobbing about aimlessly in the river, but Queensland University of Technology's humble "Drifter" hides some serious kit with a lifesaving mission for flood-prone regions.

A Drifter device, about to be deployed in a Brisbane river

Science

"World's oldest colors" found in billion-year old fossils

Michael Irving July 9, 2018

Scientists have uncovered what they’re calling the oldest colors on Earth. Dating back more than a billion years, the bright pink pigments are the remains of some of the earliest microscopic organisms that once inhabited an ancient ocean, and their discovery helps fill a gap in the fossil record.

A vial of the pink compounds, which at 1.1 billion years old, represent the oldest intact ...