Sea urchin spines are not only for defence—they also act as natural sensors. A research team led by Prof. WANG Zuankai, Associate Vice President (Research and Innovation), Dean of Graduate School, Kuok Group Professor in Nature-Inspired Engineering and Chair Professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), together with scholars from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), has discovered the mechanoelectrical perception in sea urchin spines, originating in their gradient porous structure, that allows the spines to instantly detect water flow. Using 3D printing, the team has replicated this structure and developed a bionic metamaterial sensor, which holds promise for breakthroughs in sensing technology. This innovation will drive the advancement of deep-sea technology such as marine monitoring and underwater infrastructure management, and can be extended to other emerging fields like brain-computer interfacing and aerospace.

Coral reef health is being threatened by climate change and human activity. A group of researchers recently developed an acoustic assay that tracks the number of photosynthetic oxygen bubbles created by a coral reef to help determine the photosynthetic rate and health of the ecosystem.

A research team shows that future air pollution controls could significantly reshape atmospheric nitrogen deposition to the oceans, with unexpected consequences for marine productivity and climate feedbacks.

Techniques developed to study the distant past—from dating ancient artifacts to reconstructing climate records in ice cores—are now being repurposed to better understand the lives of modern sea turtles. Using radiocarbon methods from archaeology, researchers show that sea turtle shell plates are biological time capsules that record signs of major environmental disturbances in the ocean.

A study from the University of California, Davis, steps back to look at the overall impact of avian influenza on pinnipeds worldwide and offers recommendations for moving forward to monitor and build resilience in affected species.

As climate change reshapes Arctic food webs, ringed seals will swim into risky polar bear territory if the menu is varied enough. 

That’s the central finding of a new study published in Ecology Letters. UBC researchers tracked 26 ringed seals and 39 polar bears in eastern Hudson Bay, using GPS and dive information to analyze how the animals found, and avoided becoming, food. 

Researchers led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have created the first global atlas of the influence of tides on coastal rivers. The regions surrounding these coastal rivers are particularly susceptible to flooding, especially with advancing climate change. The freely accessible world map shows the effects at a glance.

A new shark deterrent developed at FAU could transform commercial fishing by dramatically reducing unintended shark bycatch. Created by Stephen Kajiura, Ph.D., the patent-pending device uses a simple zinc and graphite combination to generate a weak electric field that repels sharks without affecting target fish. Field tests have shown up to a 69% reduction in shark bycatch, offering a practical, low-cost solution to a persistent ecological and economic challenge.