Coral could hold key to sunscreen pill

Researchers at King's College London have discovered how coral produces natural sunscreen compounds to protect itself from damaging UV rays, leading scientists to believe these compounds could be the basis for a new type of sunscreen in humans.
Dr Paul Long, from the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science at King's, discusses how they conducted their research in the Great Barrier Reef, and what they have found.

From BBC

Scientists hope to harness coral's natural defence against the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays to make a sunscreen pill for humans.

The King's College London team visited Australia's Great Barrier Reef to uncover the genetic and biochemical processes behind coral's innate gift.
By studying a few samples of the endangered Acropora coral they believe they can synthetically replicate in the lab the key compounds responsible.
Tests on human skin could begin soon.

Before creating a tablet version, the team, led by Dr Paul Long, plan to test a lotion containing the same compounds as those found in coral.
To do this, they will copy the genetic code the coral uses to make the compounds and put it into bacteria in the lab that can rapidly replicate to produce large quantities of it.
Once we recreate the compounds we can put them into a lotion and test them on skin discarded after cosmetic surgery tummy tucks”

He said scientists had known for some time that coral and some algae could protect themselves from the harsh UV rays in tropical climates by producing their own sunscreens but, until now, they didn't know how.
"What we have found is that the algae living within the coral makes a compound that we think is transported to the coral, which then modifies it into a sunscreen for the benefit of both the coral and the algae.
"Not only does this protect them both from UV damage, but we have seen that fish that feed on the coral also benefit from this sunscreen protection, so it is clearly passed up the food chain."
This could ultimately mean that people might be able to get inbuilt sun protection for their skin and eyes by taking a tablet containing the compounds. But for now, Dr Long's team are focusing their efforts on a lotion.
"Once we recreate the compounds we can put them into a lotion and test them on skin discarded after cosmetic surgery tummy tucks.
"We will not know how much protection against the sun it might give until we begin testing.
But there is a need for better sunscreens."

Another long-term goal of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council-funded study is to look at whether the processes could also be used for developing sustainable agriculture in the Third World.
The natural sunscreen compounds found in coral could be used to produce UV-tolerant crop plants capable of withstanding harsh tropical UV light.

Clouds: the wild card of climate change

From LiveSciences (This Research in Action article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation).

It is a little-known, but significant, fact that about 70 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by clouds at any given time.
But, not all clouds are the same; different types of clouds affect the Earth's climate differently.
While some types of clouds help to warm the Earth, others help to cool it.

Currently, all of the Earth's clouds exert a net cooling effect on our planet.
But the substantial and opposing influences of clouds begs the question:
What will be the net effect of all of the Earth's clouds on climate as the Earth continues to warm in the future?
Will clouds accelerate warming or help offset, or dull, warming?

Right now, "the scientific community is uncertain about how the effects of clouds will change in the future," says Hugh Morrison, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.

One of two ways

Most scientists doubt that the net cooling effect of clouds will ever be large enough to completely offset ongoing warming.
But many scientists say that if warming were to increase cooling clouds or decrease warming clouds, the current net cooling effect of clouds on the Earth's climate would probably increase.

This would moderate, or offset, ongoing warming.
The result: The Earth's end-of-the-century temperature may be pulled down toward the lower end of its predicted range.

But if, on the other hand, warming were to increase warming clouds or decrease cooling clouds, scientists say the current net cooling effect of clouds on the Earth's climate would probably decrease, and an important moderating force on ongoing warming would thereby diminish.
The result: The Earth's end-of-the-century temperature may be pushed up toward the upper end of its predicted range.

The resulting rise in temperature would, in a positive feedback loop, tend to promote the formation of even more warming clouds or further reduce the presence of cooling clouds.

Either way, temperatures would rise even higher.

Source of uncertainty

This dual role of clouds is why, in 1997, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) described clouds as "the largest source of uncertainty" in predictions of climate change.

To reduce this uncertainty and improve predictions of climate change and global warming, scientists are now working to better understand the relationships between clouds and climate.

Links :

• NSF : For more on clouds and climate change
• YouTube : Clouds prevent global warming
• UCAR : Clouds types
  

Uncommon ideals

Uncommon Ideals. from Doggerland.

As an entry into the Inaugural London Surf Film Festival, Chris McClean & Mark Waters put together this stunning short film featuring the poem “Uncommon Ideals” by Daniel Crockett.

“For most people the North Sea is a source of food, a source of fuel – oil and gas, a playground for catching waves or simply a mass of water that needs to be navigated.
Few are aware its these cold grey waters cover a prehistoric landscape that once joined England to Europe.
Yet between 18000 and 5500 BC, global warming raised sea levels to the extent that this area known as Doggerland was engulfed by water and the area that had been home to mankind disappeared.
This entire land sank beneath the North Sea.
Is it this former land that we North Sea surfers now surf.”
– Mark Waters

Ray Ives : a life underwater

A rogue with an eye for salvage - and the ladies

A Life Underwater is an affectionate portrait of one man's deep sea diving career, told through his extraordinary collection of marine artefacts.

Like a modern-day pirate, 75-year-old Ray Ives has been scouring the seabed for treasure his whole life.

The former commercial diver has plundered the deep for over fifty years, bringing to the surface anything that glittered -- even gold.

In a shipping container near the water, Ray tends his museum of cannon, bottles, bells, swords, portholes and diving gear.

He even still takes to the water in a 1900s diving suit.

What is killing killer whales?

From BBC

Killer whales, the ocean's fiercest predators, are easily recognisable by their black and white markings.
But their future seems less clearly defined.

Marine experts are concerned about an invisible threat to the animals that has been building in our seas since World War II.

That was when industries began extensively using chemical flame retardants, such as PCBs.
These chemicals were later found to harm human health and the environment, and governments around the world banned their use in the 1970s.

But their legacy lives on in the world's seas and oceans, say biologists, posing a modern threat to animals such as killer whales, also known as orcas.

Small population

Ingrid Visser grew up watching killer whales, the largest members of the dolphin family, from the shores of her native New Zealand.
She has dedicated her life to knowing more about the animals. (Orca Research Trust)

The island nation's orca population is made up of fewer than 200 individuals and as such is listed as threatened.

"They hunt in New Zealand waters in the shallows for the rays and in deeper waters for the sharks," says Dr Visser.
"[These] orca are unique as they are the only population that has so far been recognised to specialise in hunting for rays and sharks."

But according to Dr Visser's studies, this diet could be the reason the population is not growing.
As large mammals, killer whales consume a large amount of prey.
But this position at the top of the food chain, as "apex predators", makes them particularly vulnerable to changes in their prey.
That is because orca feed on fish that in turn eat polluted prey or absorb pollution from the water. So the orca ingest all of the pollution in the chain, in a process called "bioaccumulation".

Dr Visser says her studies of the bodies of stranded orca and the sharks and rays they feed on have confirmed this fear.

"Their prey is definitely polluted - we are seeing spikes in the same chemicals as are seen in the orca," she says.
"Studies have identified high levels of flame retardant chemicals in orca particularly from the Northern Hemisphere, for example from the north Pacific, particularly off Canada and the Arctic," he says.
"These chemicals have also been found at high concentrations in orca from the Southern Hemisphere."

PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) were banned globally from the 1970s.
In recent years, the European Union has also banned the use of PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in foam for furniture and electrical devices due to their potential toxicity.
"The two main groups of flame retardant chemicals, PCBs and PBDEs have a range of effects on animals including interference with thyroid function and vitamin A metabolism, negative effects on neurological and reproductive development and impacts on immune function," says Prof Rogers.

Persistent threat

But despite actions to limit use of these chemicals, also referred to as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), marine experts suggest the damage has already been done.

"PCBs are not water soluble, they only dissolve and accumulate in fatty tissue," says Dr Paul Jepson from the Zoological Society of London.
Dr Jepson says this fat solubility is a considerable issue for female cetaceans such as killer whales who feed their young for up to a year on high fat milk to kick-start their development.
"You get this huge maternal transfer. It's been calculated that in whales and dolphins about ninety percent or more of the mother's body burden of PCB can be offloaded, particularly to the first calf," he tells BBC Nature.

POPs are a problem that is not going away.
"Even though PCBs have been banned they're just so resistant to break down in the environment. The decline of these pollutants is happening very slowly," says Dr Jepson.
In his role as co-ordinator of the UK Cetacean Strandings Project Dr Jepson regularly comes into contact with marine mammals.
His studies into harbour porpoises, common to UK waters, have highlighted the ongoing impact of the chemicals.
"We're not really finding any decline at all in PCBs in our harbour porpoises... levels in the UK appear to have plateaued since about 1997."

Studying the predators close-up could help their future survival.
Dr Jepson says that Dr Visser's findings could pose a serious cause for concern for orca worldwide, especially those in seas close to heavily populated and industrialised nations.

"Pollutant levels, particularly with PCBs, will be much higher in European waters than they would in New Zealand," says Dr Jepson.
"If they are finding quite high levels in orcas in New Zealand it's really quite worrying for us."

Little-known facts

This remains a controversial area of study however due to the elusive nature of the subjects.

Orca have the most cosmopolitan distribution of any animal, being found in every ocean around the world.
But their wide-ranging territories, predatory nature and deep-sea lifestyles have restricted long-term studies to determine population sizes.

There is precious little opportunity to study the animals on land either as orca rarely strand: Dr Jepson's last encounter with one on the UK coast was 12 years ago.
Not much is known therefore about the causes of orca's deaths and what, if any, pollutants are in their bodies.

Dr Visser however is determined to record New Zealand's orcas in the hope they will provide information that will help conservationists worldwide.
To do this, the scientist is literally immersing herself in the world of the killers: diving with the animals to document their behaviour and health.

Without in-depth studies of populations around the world, there will not be enough evidence to truly know whether populations are in decline.

Links :

• BBC :Killer whale
• TheGuardian / YouTube : The woman who swims with killer whales (BBC)