Latest Algae Stories
Indiana University IU seeks patent for discovery with implications for health care, climate change research An international team of biologists led by Indiana University's David M. Kehoe has identified both the enzyme and molecular mechanism critical for controlling a chameleon-like process that allows one of the world's most abundant ocean phytoplankton, once known as blue-green algae, to maximize light harvesting for photosynthesis. Responsible for contributing about 20 percent of...
University of California, San Diego The scientists genetically engineered marine algae to produce five different kinds of industrially important enzymes and say the same process they used could be employed to enhance the yield of petroleum-like compounds from these salt water algae. Their achievement is detailed in a paper published online in the current issue of the scientific journal Algal Research. The ability to genetically transform marine algae into a biofuel crop is important...
Bielefeld University Astonishing research finding by biologists at Bielefeld University published in the online journal Nature Communications Flowers need water and light to grow. Even children learn that plants use sunlight to gather energy from earth and water. Members of Professor Dr. Olaf Kruse’s biological research team at Bielefeld University have made a groundbreaking discovery that one plant has another way of doing this. They have confirmed for the first time that a plant,...
University of Southampton Scientists at the University of Southampton are pioneering a technique to predict when an ecosystem is likely to collapse, which may also have potential for foretelling crises in agriculture, fisheries or even social systems. The researchers have applied a mathematical model to a real world situation, the environmental collapse of a lake in China, to help prove a theory which suggests an ecosystem 'flickers', or fluctuates dramatically between healthy and...
LAS VEGAS, Nov. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Valensa International (Eustis, FL USA) announced today that its Parry Organic Spirulina ingredient has received its "no objection" letter from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on its application for Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status. Parry Organic Spirulina is the first and only organic spirulina in the world to achieve FDA GRAS status - a designation that broadens the range of food applications for which it will be...
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sapphire Energy, a world leader in producing crude oil from algae, and Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), the pioneers of the cross-disciplinary and integrative systems approach to research, today announced a strategic partnership to further the scientific research and development of algae biofuels. Through this partnership, the companies will focus on applying systems biology solutions to algae with the goal of significantly increasing oil...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Engineers from the University of Michigan have pulled off a feat in a matter of minutes that takes Mother Nature millions of years. The researchers "pressure cooked" algae for as little as a minute and transformed 65 percent of the green slime into biocrude. "We're trying to mimic the process in nature that forms crude oil with marine organisms," said Phil Savage, an Arthur F. Thurnau professor and a professor of chemical...
Further innovations needed to reach full potential Scaling up the production of biofuels made from algae to meet at least 5 percent -- approximately 39 billion liters -- of U.S. transportation fuel needs would place unsustainable demands on energy, water, and nutrients, says a new report from the National Research Council. However, these concerns are not a definitive barrier for future production, and innovations that would require research and development could help realize algal...
BOSTON, Oct. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and America is awash in pink. A staggering $6 billion is spent every year on breast cancer research with no medical cure in sight. Is it possible we are looking in the wrong place? Bits of Health(TM) Inc. thinks so. Research has consistently shown that eating green, alkaline foods prevents breast cancer 82% of the time. The only problem is most people don't like greens or don't have time to make them....
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online While the single-celled algae that live inside corals typically play a vital role in keeping the reefs healthy, a new study suggests that an overabundance of the symbiotic organisms could have a negative effect on them. According to scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, these algal symbionts provide corals with the energy needed to build larger reef frameworks. When...
Latest Algae Reference Libraries
Kelp forests are areas that are underwater with a high density of kelp. They’re recognized as one of the most dynamic and productive ecosystems on Earth. Smaller regions of anchored kelp are known as kelp beds. Kelp forests can be found worldwide throughout polar and temperate coastal oceans. In the year 2007, kelp forests were discovered in tropical waters near Ecuador as well. While they are physically formed by brown macroalgae of the order Laminariales, kelp forests offer a unique...
The masked spinefoot, also called a decorated rabbitfish or masked rabbitfish, lives in shallow coral rich lagoons, and seaward reefs of the Indo-West Pacific, at depths of 10 to 100 feet. The body of the masked spinefoot is a yellow-orange that gradients into a pale blue or white belly. It also has vertical blue lines toward the head and horizontal lines near the tail. A black stripe extends from the bottom of the mouth and runs through the eye. Above the eye the stripe turns to dark...
Image Credit: Dr. Wayne Meadows (NOAA)/Wikipedia The foxface rabbitfish is found in coral rich lagoons, and reefs in the coastal water of the Western Pacific. Around the western Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Great Barrier Reef, New Caledonia, Caroline Islands, and the Marshall Islands. It has also been sighted around Vanuatu, Nauru, Kiribati, and recently Tonga. Adults usually swim in pairs, but the juveniles have been known to form schools. The adult foxface rabbitfish is...
Image Caption: An Eastern Talma (Truncate Coralfish) at Fly Point, Port Stephens, NSW. Credit: Richard Ling/Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 2.0) The truncate coralfish is specifically found in the coastal waters of Australia at depths up to 230 feet, around rocky reefs that have an abundance of algae. This fish is a species of butterfly fish that is also called the Eastern Talma. In Southern Australia the truncate coralfish is harvested largely for the aquarium trade, and is considered harmless to...
Siderastreidae is a family of colonial, reef building stony corals. Members of this family include symbiotic algae in their tissues which help provide their energy requirements. The World Register of Marine Species lists 7 genera within this family: Anomastraea, Coscinaraea, Craterastrea, Horastrea, Psammocora, Pseudosiderastrea, and Siderastrea. Corals in this family vary in form and include massive, thickly encrusting, columnar, and irregular forms. Corallites are linked by flowing...
