Articles for category: Marine Biology, Microbiology, Plants

Enrichment in Aquariums: Stimulating the Underwater World

The Science of a Balanced Aquarium: Tiny Ecosystems in Your Living Room

Trizzy Orozco

Imagine gazing into a shimmering glass box, where brilliant fish glide through underwater forests and strange, tiny worlds unfold before your eyes. It’s not just a hobby—it’s a living laboratory, a microcosm teeming with life, drama, and astonishing science. Aquariums don’t just beautify a room; they bring the intricate mysteries of nature right into your ...

Clownfish swimming through the coral reefs.

Why Clownfish Change Sex: Fluidity in Ocean Life

Trizzy Orozco

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if your gender could shift with the tides? In the bustling world beneath the waves, clownfish live this reality every day. With their vibrant orange bodies darting among sea anemones, these tiny fish have mastered a biology trick that baffles and amazes: they can change sex. ...

10 Bizarre Deep-Sea Creatures That Challenge Our Understanding of Life

10 Bizarre Deep-Sea Creatures That Challenge Our Understanding of Life

Andrew Alpin

You might think you know what life looks like. You’ve seen birds, insects, mammals, coral reefs in travel documentaries. You have a sense of what a living thing is supposed to do and how it’s supposed to work. Then someone points a remotely operated vehicle into the darkest trenches of the ocean, and everything you ...

The Entanglement Trap: When Plastic Becomes a Prison

Plastic vs. Sea Turtles: The Ongoing Battle for Survival in Our Oceans

Annette Uy

Picture this: a baby sea turtle that survived mass extinction events, outlived dinosaurs, and navigated the same ocean currents for over 100 million years is now facing its biggest threat from a material invented less than 80 years ago. Plastic waste has transformed our blue planet into a minefield of dangers for these ancient mariners. ...

Dry lakebed in the desert under blue sky during daytime.

Ghost Lakes of the Desert: When the Southwest Was Underwater

Trizzy Orozco

Imagine standing in the blazing heart of the American Southwest, dry wind whipping dust across endless stretches of sand and stone. Now, close your eyes and picture this same place as a vast, glittering sea, water stretching horizon to horizon, ancient waves lapping at the feet of mountains. It sounds impossible, almost dreamlike, but it’s ...

The Birth of Cenotes: Nature’s Sinkholes

Mexican Cenotes: Crystal-Clear Water Hides Microbes Older Than Time

Trizzy Orozco

The first time you peer into the shimmering blue depths of a Mexican cenote, your heart might skip a beat. The water is so clear it looks unreal, like a secret portal to another world. But beneath that inviting surface, these ancient limestone sinkholes guard a mystery far stranger than any legend—one that stretches back ...

Scuba diver captures a close-up shot of a sea turtle in its natural habitat.

Sea Turtle Superpowers: How These Ancient Reptiles Navigate the Open Ocean

Trizzy Orozco

Imagine drifting across the endless blue, guided by invisible forces, crossing oceans with no map or compass—just the pulse of the planet itself. For sea turtles, this isn’t fantasy. It’s survival. These awe-inspiring reptiles, older than dinosaurs, have mastered the art of long-distance navigation in ways that seem almost supernatural. Their journeys are epic, crossing ...

Underwater creatures.

The Deepest Parts of the Ocean What Strange Creatures Lurk in the Abyss

Maria Faith Saligumba

The ocean is vast, mysterious, and awe-inspiring, covering more than 70% of the Earth’s surface. While the shimmering waves and vibrant marine life of the ocean’s surface capture our imagination, what lies beneath in the deepest parts of the ocean is equally enthralling but significantly less explored. The mysterious darkness of the deep ocean, known ...

Mosasaurus, apex predators of prehistoric times

10 Ancient Sea Creatures That Once Lived in Kansas

Trizzy Orozco

Imagine standing in the heart of Kansas, with golden wheat fields stretching as far as the eye can see. Now, picture those rolling plains submerged beneath a vast, mysterious inland sea teeming with breathtaking monsters and ancient wonders. It’s almost impossible to believe, but long before Kansas became the land of sunflowers and tornadoes, it ...