Coral Bleaching Reversed at Record Speed Using New Stanford Method: ‘Not a Lost Cause, at All’ - Good News Network

Bleached coral fragments recovered after touching healthy genetic clones in laboratory experiments involving one species and two genotypes. A week of contact supplied enough beneficial algae for fragments to continue recovering after separation. Tissue fusion appears to enable rapid transfer, but mismatched corals competed instead, and reef-scale restoration remains untested. A few millimeters separated recovery from severe decline in tanks of bleached coral. Fragments touching healthy genetic clones regained their beneficial algae and resumed growth. Fragments held nearby without contact largely succumbed to invasive algae and tissue loss. The laboratory findings, published in Science Advances, reveal a route to rapid recovery after bleaching. Stanford University researchers found that about a week of contact could provide enough algae for recovery to continue independently. The results identify a biological mechanism, rather than a method already demonstrated to restore natural reefs. Danny Collins, an oceans doctoral student at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, led the study with colleagues including Steve Palumbi.

Bleached corals can fully recover within a few weeks through brief contact with healthy corals, opening new possibilities for restoration. Corals provide food and livelihoods to hundreds of millions of people globally through fisheries, tourism, and other benefits. (Image credit: Zephyr 18/Getty)

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researcher Isaiah Santistevan led the development of three-dimensional simulations exploring how a nuclear device could deflect or disrupt an asteroid threatening Earth. Credit: Blaise Douros/LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers are developing three-dimensional simulations to examine how a nuclear device could be used to deflect or potentially disrupt an asteroid threatening Earth.