Sean Cummings

Dec 11, 2024 | science.org | Sean Cummings

For newly sprouted trees, cattle and deer are usually a curse, come to nibble away what little body they have. But an advance article posted in October in the Annals of Botany suggests that in certain circumstances, the browsing animals could be a blessing in disguise: Losing leaves may help California oak seedlings conserve water during drought, boosting their chances of surviving. The finding, based on seedlings grown in a greenhouse, hasn’t been verified in the wild.

Nov 21, 2024 | nationalgeographic.com | Sean Cummings

To find food in the darkness, deep-diving whales rely on their built-in sonar, which bounces soundwaves off potential prey to reveal their location. But to these whales, plastic junk floating in the ocean may also “sound” just like a delicious squid. A new study suggests plastic debris like shopping bags bear remarkably similar “echoes” to those of squid—likely due to some combination of their shape, size, degree of weathering, and chemical composition, the authors write.

Nov 7, 2024 | science.org | Sean Cummings

A sinking ship is usually bad news. But not for the Floating Instrument Platform, or R/P FLIP, which sinks its stern and tips 90° to become a vertical platform for ocean research. Faced with prohibitively expensive renovations after more than 60 years of service, FLIP in 2023 was towed to Mexico, where it awaited dismantling—until last month, when a company announced it had purchased the craft and had plans to breathe new life into it.

Sep 17, 2024 | science.org | Sean Cummings

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Sep 12, 2024 | science.org | Sean Cummings

Even in summer, the Arctic is a harsh place for research. But the Tara Polar Station (TPS), a drifting laboratory launching from its shipyard this month ahead of its first ocean trials, is built to withstand Arctic conditions year-round, over and over again. Conceived by the Tara Ocean Foundation and funded mostly by the French government, the $23 million vessel is scheduled to carry researchers on a series of 2-year-long transpolar voyages beginning in 2026.