A consortium led by the University of Vaasa, Finland, has been awarded significant Horizon Europe funding for a major research and innovation project that moves long‑distance shipping closer to a zero‑carbon future. The H4PERION – Hydrogen FOR Performance Enhancement and Reliable Ice OperatioN – project will, for the first time, demonstrate in practice how a large vessel can operate with a hydrogen‑capable internal combustion engine (ICE). This marks an important milestone in clean maritime technology.

For 350 million years, ammonites were the resilient masterpieces of the ancient seas. They survived the Great Dying of the Permian-Triassic, an event that wiped out 96% of marine life, only to vanish during the end-Cretaceous extinction that claimed the dinosaurs. Meanwhile, their less-diverse cousins, the nautiloids, sailed through the catastrophe and still inhabit our oceans today.

Why did the invincible ammonites fail while the nautiloids endured?

 

A new study found that cultivating seaweed species alongside marine finfish in integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) operations, where seaweeds receive nutrient-rich effluent from fish production, can significantly reduce—and even eliminate—key waste products from marine finfish farming.

A new study published in the journal npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, shows that electronically tagged sharks can serve as mobile sensors, collecting ocean climate data in regions that are difficult to observe using conventional methods.

Researchers at Aarhus University have demonstrated that a simple adjustment to water filtration methods can dramatically improve the detection of marine animal DNA when using advanced, PCR-free sequencing. This methodological optimization could help clear a major bottleneck in aquatic biomonitoring and marine conservation efforts. The study is published in the Metabarcoding and Metagenomics journal.

Tiny plankton shells used to reconstruct past polar ocean temperatures may contain two different chemical stories, a new study by iC3 researchers has found. 

The work shows that Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, a key species in polar climate archives, can grow an outer shell crust with a different chemical make-up from the shell beneath it, even when both are grown in the same conditions.

This discovery could help scientists produce more accurate records of past ocean change.

A major new report published today warns that nature loss is not just an environmental issue, it is already disrupting our food system, threatening catastrophic impacts on our economy and society. The report has been produced by the UK’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and Anglia Ruskin University.