Coral reefs are creeping away from the tropics in response to warming oceans, but the pace is too slow to beat the heat and escape impacts of climate change, according to a breakthrough study published June 6 in Science Advances. The study, authored by researchers at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) Marine Ecological Theory Lab, also offers a hopeful alternative: immediate actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can significantly improve the future outlook for coral reefs globally.

Giant viruses play a role in the survival of single-celled marine organisms called protists. These include algae, amoeba, and flagellates, that form the base of ocean food webs. And since these protists form an important part of the food chain, these large DNA viruses are often responsible for various public health hazards, including harmful algal blooms. 

Physicists used a new technique to simultaneously visualize how six major organelles within a cell change as the cell grows. The work has implications for how cells regulate metabolism and growth, which is important in both health and disease.

Famed for its deep purple berries and potent antioxidant properties, black wolfberry (Lycium ruthenicum) thrives in harsh desert climates and holds significant nutritional and medicinal value. 

A new study from Waseda University reveals that the motor protein myosin XI is essential for helping plants absorb boron under nutrient-deficient conditions. Researchers found that myosin XI maintains the correct positioning of the boric acid channel AtNIP5;1 in root cells by supporting endocytosis. Without myosin XI, plants fail to localize this channel properly, leading to poor boron uptake and stunted growth. The findings could inform strategies to improve crop resilience in boron-deficient soils.

To enhance existing strategies for controlling the Aedes aegypti mosquito, geoinformation scientist Dr Steffen Knoblauch has created a high-resolution environmental suitability map for Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) that can help identify areas most conducive to breeding. It is based on advanced geospatial big data methods – leveraging openly available geodata such as satellite imagery, street view images, and climate data – that the researcher developed at Heidelberg University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR) and at HeiGIT (Heidelberg Institute for Geoinformation Technology).