U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Engineer Officers and Engineer Chiefs have tough, dirty jobs in what’s called horizontal construction — building and maintaining roads, airstrips, landing zones and base camps.

A vital part of this work is making precise production calculations and estimates. Thanks to the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global’s TechSolutions program, these warfighters can download a specially designed app on their smart phone or tablet to perform their jobs faster and more accurately — and ensure consistency and standardization across military services.

Just a few bottles of river water can reveal which fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and even mammals live nearby — according to a new study published in Water Biology and Security by researchers at the University of Florence and the University of Pisa.

How do octopuses remember what they learn? A new study reveals a surprising “molecular switch” in the octopus brain that helps preserve memories by keeping connections between nerve cells strengthened over time, without the need to produce new proteins. The discovery sheds new light on one of nature’s greatest mysteries: how creatures with vastly different brains evolved remarkably sophisticated learning and memory abilities.

FAU researchers will investigate why some corals survive and thrive after being planted on reefs while others die. By analyzing coral genetics, microbial communities and environmental conditions, the research aims to identify the most resilient corals and the reef environments best suited to them. The findings could transform restoration strategies, improving coral survival, reducing costs, and strengthening the long-term resilience of Florida’s Coral Reef.

An international team of researchers, led by scientists from the University of Plymouth (UK) and the Foundation for Biodiversity Research (France), has developed a framework which advocates for human harms from nature to be framed as avoidable risks that arise from the intersection of ecosystem hazards with human exposure and vulnerability. They hope the study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, will help decision makers identify more sustainable ways to manage the natural world.

Charon’s pygmygoby, named for the golden “coins” on its tail, is known from just two specimens.