Tomorrow's Man
Thank you to Tom Harkin, Gus Worland, Gotcha 4 Life, OneEighty and all those involved in presenting Tomorrow Man at the Surf Club on Monday night. There was a wonderful response from the local community. Men and boys came together to share their personal stories and issues in an honest, open and safe forum. We are proud to support the response to local youth and emotional health issues and hope that it makes a difference.
Avalon Beach SLSC.June 2018
Thank you to Tom Harkin, Gus Worland, Gotcha 4 Life, OneEighty and all those involved in presenting Tomorrow Man at the Surf Club on Monday night. There was a wonderful response from the local community. Men and boys came together to share their personal stories and issues in an honest, open and safe forum. We are proud to support the response to local youth and emotional health issues and hope that it makes a difference.
Avalon Beach SLSC.
June 2018
Mahboba Rawi, Founder Of Mahboba's Promise, Visits Pittwater High School
Last week, Mahboba Rawi OAM attended Sydney's Pittwater High School's Multicultural Day assembly where several students and staff dressed in traditional Afghan clothing to display the country's beautiful culture.
Pittwater High School celebrates diversity as a community with over 60 cultural backgrounds at the school. It is certainly a time to not only celebrate the richness of this diversity, but to recognise that, whatever our backgrounds, we share core fundamental values that unite us.
Mahboba Rawi is founder of Mahboba’s Promise. As always, she captured the audience with her story and the work she does to supportschooling in Afghanistan, especially for girls, orphaned children and widows, in learning skills for work. Education, gender equality and the means to climb out of poverty are critical for lasting peace in this nation.
On the day, students raised $1,300 in mufti donations and as a result of a pledge, this has doubled to $2,600 to support Pittwater High Schools' sister school in the Panshir Valley.
Please go to www.mahbobaspromise.org to make any further donations.
Pittwater High has been a longtime supporter of MP through the School's Promise Program, which helps build bridges between Australian and Afghan communities.
Mahboba said "Thank you Pittwater High for always helping MP to raise funds for the women and children in Afghanistan!" after the visit.
Last week, Mahboba Rawi OAM attended Sydney's Pittwater High School's Multicultural Day assembly where several students and staff dressed in traditional Afghan clothing to display the country's beautiful culture.
Pittwater High School celebrates diversity as a community with over 60 cultural backgrounds at the school. It is certainly a time to not only celebrate the richness of this diversity, but to recognise that, whatever our backgrounds, we share core fundamental values that unite us.
Mahboba Rawi is founder of Mahboba’s Promise. As always, she captured the audience with her story and the work she does to support
schooling in Afghanistan, especially for girls, orphaned children and widows, in learning skills for work. Education, gender equality and the means to climb out of poverty are critical for lasting peace in this nation.
On the day, students raised $1,300 in mufti donations and as a result of a pledge, this has doubled to $2,600 to support Pittwater High Schools' sister school in the Panshir Valley.
Please go to www.mahbobaspromise.org to make any further donations.
Pittwater High has been a longtime supporter of MP through the School's Promise Program, which helps build bridges between Australian and Afghan communities.
Mahboba said "Thank you Pittwater High for always helping MP to raise funds for the women and children in Afghanistan!" after the visit.
New Analysis Shows Government’s Koala Reserve System Offers The Species Virtually No New Protection
Sydney Metro Northwest: Proposed SEPP Amendment
Feral Horse Protection Bill Is A Triumph Of Ignorance Over Science, Politics Over Good Policy
Eco Schools Grants
Supermarkets Step Up To Meet Global Plastic Challenge On World Environment Day
Australia Post's Environmental Plan To Save $10 Million
2018 Whale Census
Please Help: Contribute To Significant Trees Register For Our Area
Significant trees listings wanted
Avalon Preservation AssociationThe next step in the Avalon Preservation Association's Avalon Cultural Audit is to identify and list significant trees in the area.
Roger Sayers has nominated the Spotted Gums in the reserve opposite Careel Bay Wharf.
Please help us by contributing your pick of significant trees in the area so we can map them and enter into our database.
You can either post a picture/s on the APA Facebook page and identify location of tree/s and species type if known or email us with same at secretary@avalonpreservationassociation.org.au
Our new Avalon Preservation Association Noticeboard is finally installed on corner of Belle Property Building near Herforts Chemist Old Barrenjoey Rd Avalon Beach. Many thanks to Mark Griffin Belle Property for use of wall and Robert Adema for installation.
Significant trees listings wanted
Avalon Preservation Association
The next step in the Avalon Preservation Association's Avalon Cultural Audit is to identify and list significant trees in the area.
Roger Sayers has nominated the Spotted Gums in the reserve opposite Careel Bay Wharf.
Please help us by contributing your pick of significant trees in the area so we can map them and enter into our database.
You can either post a picture/s on the APA Facebook page and identify location of tree/s and species type if known or email us with same at secretary@avalonpreservationassociation.org.au
Our new Avalon Preservation Association Noticeboard is finally installed on corner of Belle Property Building near Herforts Chemist Old Barrenjoey Rd Avalon Beach. Many thanks to Mark Griffin Belle Property for use of wall and Robert Adema for installation.
Hunter Bioregional Assessment: Water Drawdown From Mining Could Affect 25% Of Region
A Vibrant New Town For The Illawarra
Launch Of Antarctic Science Foundation
Have Your Say On The Management Of Forests
Pittwater Reserves
Permaculture Northern Beaches 2018 Events
Manly • Warringah • Pittwater | Sydney
Permaculture Northern Beaches (PNB) is an active local group based on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Our parent body is Permaculture Sydney North.
PNB hold monthly permaculture related events on the 4th Thursday of each month at 7:15pm at the Nelson Heather Community Centre, Banksia Room, 5 Jacksons Rd, Warriewood
Manly • Warringah • Pittwater | SydneyPermaculture Northern Beaches (PNB) is an active local group based on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Our parent body is Permaculture Sydney North.
PNB hold monthly permaculture related events on the 4th Thursday of each month at 7:15pm at the Nelson Heather Community Centre, Banksia Room, 5 Jacksons Rd, Warriewood
Green Team Beach Cleans 2018!
Hosted by The Green TeamThe Green Team is back for 2018! It has been estimated that we will have more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050...These beach cleans are aimed at reducing the vast amounts of plastic from entering our oceans before they harm marine life.
Anyone and everyone is welcome! If you would like to come along, please bring a bucket, gloves and hat. Kids of all ages are also welcome!
The Green Team is a Youth-run, volunteer-based environment initiative from Avalon, Sydney. Keeping our area green and clean.
Making Buildings Greener With NABERS On World Environment Day
Earth Could Have Supported Continental Crust And Life Earlier Than Thought
June 5th, 2018The early Earth might have been habitable much earlier than thought, according to new research from a group led by University of Chicago scientists.
Counting strontium atoms in rocks from northern Canada, they found evidence that the Earth's continental crust could have formed hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought. Continental crust is richer in essential minerals than younger volcanic rock, which would have made it significantly friendlier to supporting life.
Scientists studied 3.9-billion-year-old rocks from Nuvvuagittuq, Canada, and found evidence for an earlier formation of the crust.Credit: Elizabeth Bell
"Our evidence, which squares with emerging evidence including rocks in western Australia, suggests that the early Earth was capable of forming continental crust within 350 million years of the formation of the solar system," said Patrick Boehnke, the T.C. Chamberlin Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Geophysical Sciences and the first author on the paper. "This alters the classic view, that the crust was hot, dry and hellish for more than half a billion years after it formed."
One of the open questions in geology is how and when some of the crust -- originally all younger volcanic rock -- changed into the continental crust we know and love, which is lighter and richer in silica. This task is made harder because the evidence keeps getting melted and reformed over millions of years. One of the few places on Earth where you can find bits of crust from the very earliest epochs of Earth is in tiny flecks of apatite imbedded in younger rocks.
Luckily for scientists, some of these "younger" minerals (still about 3.9 billion years old) are zircons -- very hard, weather-resistant minerals somewhat similar to diamonds. "Zircons are a geologist's favorite because these are the only record of the first three to four hundred million years of Earth. Diamonds aren't forever -- zircons are," Boehnke said.
Plus, the zircons themselves can be dated. "They're like labeled time capsules," said Prof. Andrew Davis, chair of the Department of Geophysical Sciences and a coauthor on the study.
Scientists usually look at the different variants of elements, called isotopes, to tell a story about these rocks. They wanted to use strontium, which offers clues to how much silica was around at the time it formed. The only problem is that these flecks are absolutely tiny -- about five microns across, the diameter of a strand of spider silk -- and you have to count the strontium atoms one by one.
This was a task for a unique instrument that came online last year: the CHicago Instrument for Laser Ionization, or CHILI. This detector uses lasers that can be tuned to selectively pick out and ionize strontium. When they used CHILI to count strontium isotopes in rocks from Nuvvuagittuq, Canada, they found the isotope ratio suggested plenty of silica was present when it formed.
This is important because the makeup of the crust directly affects the atmosphere, the composition of seawater, and nutrients available to any budding life hoping to thrive on planet Earth. It also may imply there were fewer meteorites than thought pummeling the Earth at this time, which would have made it hard for continental crust to form.
"Having continental crust that early changes the picture of early Earth in a number of ways," said Davis, who is also a professor with the Enrico Fermi Institute. "Now we need a way for the geologic processes that make the continents to happen much faster; you probably need water and magma that's about 600 degrees Fahrenheit less hot."
The study is also confluent with a recent paper by Davis and Boehnke's colleague Nicolas Dauphas, which found evidence for rain falling on continents 2.5 billion years ago, earlier than previously thought.
Patrick Boehnke, Elizabeth A. Bell, Thomas Stephan, Reto Trappitsch, C. Brenhin Keller, Olivia S. Pardo, Andrew M. Davis, T. Mark Harrison, Michael J. Pellin. Potassic, high-silica Hadean crust. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018; 201720880 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1720880115
June 5th, 2018
The early Earth might have been habitable much earlier than thought, according to new research from a group led by University of Chicago scientists.
Counting strontium atoms in rocks from northern Canada, they found evidence that the Earth's continental crust could have formed hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought. Continental crust is richer in essential minerals than younger volcanic rock, which would have made it significantly friendlier to supporting life.
Scientists studied 3.9-billion-year-old rocks from Nuvvuagittuq, Canada, and found evidence for an earlier formation of the crust.
Credit: Elizabeth Bell
"Our evidence, which squares with emerging evidence including rocks in western Australia, suggests that the early Earth was capable of forming continental crust within 350 million years of the formation of the solar system," said Patrick Boehnke, the T.C. Chamberlin Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Geophysical Sciences and the first author on the paper. "This alters the classic view, that the crust was hot, dry and hellish for more than half a billion years after it formed."
One of the open questions in geology is how and when some of the crust -- originally all younger volcanic rock -- changed into the continental crust we know and love, which is lighter and richer in silica. This task is made harder because the evidence keeps getting melted and reformed over millions of years. One of the few places on Earth where you can find bits of crust from the very earliest epochs of Earth is in tiny flecks of apatite imbedded in younger rocks.
Luckily for scientists, some of these "younger" minerals (still about 3.9 billion years old) are zircons -- very hard, weather-resistant minerals somewhat similar to diamonds. "Zircons are a geologist's favorite because these are the only record of the first three to four hundred million years of Earth. Diamonds aren't forever -- zircons are," Boehnke said.
Plus, the zircons themselves can be dated. "They're like labeled time capsules," said Prof. Andrew Davis, chair of the Department of Geophysical Sciences and a coauthor on the study.
Scientists usually look at the different variants of elements, called isotopes, to tell a story about these rocks. They wanted to use strontium, which offers clues to how much silica was around at the time it formed. The only problem is that these flecks are absolutely tiny -- about five microns across, the diameter of a strand of spider silk -- and you have to count the strontium atoms one by one.
This was a task for a unique instrument that came online last year: the CHicago Instrument for Laser Ionization, or CHILI. This detector uses lasers that can be tuned to selectively pick out and ionize strontium. When they used CHILI to count strontium isotopes in rocks from Nuvvuagittuq, Canada, they found the isotope ratio suggested plenty of silica was present when it formed.
This is important because the makeup of the crust directly affects the atmosphere, the composition of seawater, and nutrients available to any budding life hoping to thrive on planet Earth. It also may imply there were fewer meteorites than thought pummeling the Earth at this time, which would have made it hard for continental crust to form.
"Having continental crust that early changes the picture of early Earth in a number of ways," said Davis, who is also a professor with the Enrico Fermi Institute. "Now we need a way for the geologic processes that make the continents to happen much faster; you probably need water and magma that's about 600 degrees Fahrenheit less hot."
The study is also confluent with a recent paper by Davis and Boehnke's colleague Nicolas Dauphas, which found evidence for rain falling on continents 2.5 billion years ago, earlier than previously thought.
Patrick Boehnke, Elizabeth A. Bell, Thomas Stephan, Reto Trappitsch, C. Brenhin Keller, Olivia S. Pardo, Andrew M. Davis, T. Mark Harrison, Michael J. Pellin. Potassic, high-silica Hadean crust. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018; 201720880 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1720880115
Study In Fiji Finds That Removing Sea Cucumbers Spells Trouble For Shallow Coastal Waters
June 5th, 2018The lowly sea cucumber strikes observers as a simple sausage-like creature, one that is far less interesting than brightly colored reef fish or color-changing octopi that share its coastal habitat.
The sea cucumber's unimpressive appearance belies the outsized role these creatures play in converting decomposing organic matter into recyclable nutrients and keeping coastal ecosystems healthy and clean, and overfishing them can have negative impacts on coastal marine environments, according to a new study focusing on a species of sea cucumber called a sandfish in the journal PeerJ.
The authors of the study titled "Effects of sandfish (Holothuria scabra) removal on shallow-water sediments" are: Steven Lee of the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research and the University of Bremen; Amanda K. Ford of the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research and the University of Bremen; Sangeeta Mangubhai of WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society); Christian Wild of the University of Bremen; and Sebastian C.A. Ferse of Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research and the University of Bremen.
In a sense, sea cucumbers are the vacuum cleaners of coastal marine environments. Since these invertebrates are also the target of a growing demand from Asian markets -- dried sea cucumbers are known as "bêche-de-mer" -- the authors of the study sought to examine the ecological implications of removing them from tropical coastal areas.
"Our study was designed to determine exactly how the removal of these organisms is impacting coastal ecosystems, which in this case was a coral reef flat in Fiji," said lead author Steven Lee.
The experiment focused on a specific species of sea cucumber known as the sandfish (Holothuria scabra), and was conducted along a wide reef flat along the coast of Vanua Levu, Fiji for several months between September 2015 and February 2016. After conducting a standard survey of the site in order to determine the density of sandfish on the sea bottom, the researchers created 16 square plots with four "treatments" containing different densities of sea cucumbers, all of which were designed to ascertain the implications of harvesting, and overharvesting, sea cucumbers from the reef.
The research team found that, in plots with high densities of sea cucumbers, oxygen conditions within the sediment stayed relatively stable, even under elevated sea surface temperatures experienced during the 2015/2016 El Niño event. In plots where all sea cucumbers had been removed, the penetration of oxygen into surface sediments decreased substantially, by 63 percent.
Overall, the researchers found that a reef's ability to handle increases in organic matter inputs from rainfall and flooding inland was diminished by the removal of sea cucumbers.
"Our findings suggest that overharvesting of sandfish and other sea cucumber species could have lasting effects on the marine ecosystems of small Pacific islands such as those in Fiji, resulting in changes that could limit the productivity of shallow water ecosystems," said Dr. Sangeeta Mangubhai, Director of WCS's Fiji Program. "Hopefully these results will help inform management decisions that will conserve moderate to high densities of sea cucumbers and protect these ecosystems in the interest of safeguarding coastal livelihoods and food security."
"Sea cucumbers are an important source of livelihood for many tropical coastal communities and are heavily fished throughout the tropical belt, but so far we didn't have a good understanding of the wider ecological implications of harvesting them" said Dr. Sebastian Ferse of the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) in Bremen, who collaborated with WCS in conducting this study as part of a project that looks into the social and ecological resilience of coral reefs in the South Pacific. "The results of this study fill an important knowledge gap and are timely for the management of an important resource for coastal communities."
This work was supported by: the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT); WCS; University of Bremen; the University of the South Pacific; and the residents of Natuvu village who permitted the study within their traditional fishing ground.
2018 has been designated by the International Coral Reef Initiative as the third International Year of the Reef. This is a great opportunity to come together to strengthen awareness on the plight of coral reefs, to step up and initiate conservation efforts.
Steven Lee, Amanda K. Ford, Sangeeta Mangubhai, Christian Wild, Sebastian C.A. Ferse. Effects of sandfish (Holothuria scabra) removal on shallow-water sediments in Fiji. PeerJ, 2018; 6: e4773 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4773
A species of sea cucumber known as the sandfish in the coastal waters of Fiji. Credit: Sangeeta Mangubhai/WCS.
June 5th, 2018
The lowly sea cucumber strikes observers as a simple sausage-like creature, one that is far less interesting than brightly colored reef fish or color-changing octopi that share its coastal habitat.
The sea cucumber's unimpressive appearance belies the outsized role these creatures play in converting decomposing organic matter into recyclable nutrients and keeping coastal ecosystems healthy and clean, and overfishing them can have negative impacts on coastal marine environments, according to a new study focusing on a species of sea cucumber called a sandfish in the journal PeerJ.
The authors of the study titled "Effects of sandfish (Holothuria scabra) removal on shallow-water sediments" are: Steven Lee of the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research and the University of Bremen; Amanda K. Ford of the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research and the University of Bremen; Sangeeta Mangubhai of WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society); Christian Wild of the University of Bremen; and Sebastian C.A. Ferse of Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research and the University of Bremen.
In a sense, sea cucumbers are the vacuum cleaners of coastal marine environments. Since these invertebrates are also the target of a growing demand from Asian markets -- dried sea cucumbers are known as "bêche-de-mer" -- the authors of the study sought to examine the ecological implications of removing them from tropical coastal areas.
"Our study was designed to determine exactly how the removal of these organisms is impacting coastal ecosystems, which in this case was a coral reef flat in Fiji," said lead author Steven Lee.
The experiment focused on a specific species of sea cucumber known as the sandfish (Holothuria scabra), and was conducted along a wide reef flat along the coast of Vanua Levu, Fiji for several months between September 2015 and February 2016. After conducting a standard survey of the site in order to determine the density of sandfish on the sea bottom, the researchers created 16 square plots with four "treatments" containing different densities of sea cucumbers, all of which were designed to ascertain the implications of harvesting, and overharvesting, sea cucumbers from the reef.
The research team found that, in plots with high densities of sea cucumbers, oxygen conditions within the sediment stayed relatively stable, even under elevated sea surface temperatures experienced during the 2015/2016 El Niño event. In plots where all sea cucumbers had been removed, the penetration of oxygen into surface sediments decreased substantially, by 63 percent.
Overall, the researchers found that a reef's ability to handle increases in organic matter inputs from rainfall and flooding inland was diminished by the removal of sea cucumbers.
"Our findings suggest that overharvesting of sandfish and other sea cucumber species could have lasting effects on the marine ecosystems of small Pacific islands such as those in Fiji, resulting in changes that could limit the productivity of shallow water ecosystems," said Dr. Sangeeta Mangubhai, Director of WCS's Fiji Program. "Hopefully these results will help inform management decisions that will conserve moderate to high densities of sea cucumbers and protect these ecosystems in the interest of safeguarding coastal livelihoods and food security."
"Sea cucumbers are an important source of livelihood for many tropical coastal communities and are heavily fished throughout the tropical belt, but so far we didn't have a good understanding of the wider ecological implications of harvesting them" said Dr. Sebastian Ferse of the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) in Bremen, who collaborated with WCS in conducting this study as part of a project that looks into the social and ecological resilience of coral reefs in the South Pacific. "The results of this study fill an important knowledge gap and are timely for the management of an important resource for coastal communities."
This work was supported by: the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT); WCS; University of Bremen; the University of the South Pacific; and the residents of Natuvu village who permitted the study within their traditional fishing ground.
2018 has been designated by the International Coral Reef Initiative as the third International Year of the Reef. This is a great opportunity to come together to strengthen awareness on the plight of coral reefs, to step up and initiate conservation efforts.
Steven Lee, Amanda K. Ford, Sangeeta Mangubhai, Christian Wild, Sebastian C.A. Ferse. Effects of sandfish (Holothuria scabra) removal on shallow-water sediments in Fiji. PeerJ, 2018; 6: e4773 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4773
A species of sea cucumber known as the sandfish in the coastal waters of Fiji. Credit: Sangeeta Mangubhai/WCS.
Invasive Species Of Coral Boasts Amazing Capacity For Regeneration
June 5th, 2018Detected for the first time in Brazil on the coast of the Southeast region in the late 1980s, when oil and gas prospecting began in the Campos Basin offshore of Rio de Janeiro, sun corals of the genus Tubastraea are now spreading very swiftly throughout the rocky shores and cliffs of Brazilian islands and are considered to be biological invaders.
Once biodiverse and multicolored, the reefs in Búzios Island -- part of the municipality of Ilhabela, Sao Paulo State, also located at the Southeast -- are now covered with orange stripes. In some places, no bare rock or other species of coral can be seen.
"The reefs around Búzios Island are in an irreparable condition," said Marcelo Kitahara, a professor in the Marine Science Department of the Federal University of São Paulo (DCMAR-UNIFESP) in Santos, Brazil. Kitahara heads a project supported by the Sao Paulo Research Foundation -- FAPESP to study the phylogenomics of two species and the links between their evolution and climate change.
The genus Tubastraea comprises seven species, all native to the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean and Pacific. Only two, T. coccinea andT. tagusensis, are also found in the southwest Atlantic. Both are invasive species.
The first Brazilian sightings were recorded in the Campos Basin in the 1980s, followed by the discovery of colonies on reefs off the southern coast of Rio de Janeiro State in the 1990s. Since then, sun coral has been found across over 3,000 km of the Brazilian coastline, from Santa Catarina in the South to Ceará in the Northeast.
"Management action is still possible in some places, but this requires the complete manual removal of all colonies," Kitahara said. "If nothing is done to stop its advance, sun coral could potentially colonize the entire Brazilian coast."
A study showing the surprising capacity of sun coral to regenerate had its results published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. The lead author is PhD student Bruna Louise Pereira Luz, a biologist affiliated with the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) and currently in Australia studying sun coral at James Cook University, Townsville, near the Great Barrier Reef, under supervision of Kitahara.
"Sun coral colonies multiply at a great speed in areas such as these. We set out to understand how and why," said Kitahara. On one of the findings -- only made possible through a lab-conducted experiment -- they also revealed that sun coral regeneration process gets faster as water temperature increases.
Possible influence of Oil & Gas industryThe appearance of these invasive species just when oil and gas production began was not unique to Rio de Janeiro. The Gulf of Mexico also has vast offshore oilfields, and sun coral has been found on the Mexican coast since the early 2000s. There are even records of sun coral attached to the hulls of ships.
"We can't be totally sure that offshore oil drilling in the Campos Basin resulted in the invasion of our coast by sun coral, but all the evidence points to this conclusion," said the FAPESP project coordinator.
A coral reef is a limestone skeleton built by colonies of thousands of tiny animals called coral polyps. Most reef-building corals contain photosynthetic algae that live in their tissues. The corals and algae have a symbiotic relationship: the polyps provide the compounds required by the algae for photosynthesis, and the algae provide the polyps with nutrients. Other types, including sun coral, can grow and proliferate without algae.
"Because it has no algae, sun coral isn't confined to places with sunlight for photosynthesis. It typically occurs at depths of up to 20 meters, but sightings have been recorded at 110 meters. On rocky shores and underwater cliffs, polyps build huge numbers of colonies and cover 100% of the substrate," Kitahara explained.
During this process, they drive out the native coral, devastating ecological relations with the marine fauna that depend on or inhabit it.
Reorganization of stem cellsTo investigate the mechanisms that enable sun coral to adapt so successfully and proliferate rapidly in various marine environments, the researchers collected a colony of T. coccinea and another of T. tagusensis from Búzios Island.
In the laboratory, the researchers removed from each colony 120 fragments composed of skeleton with living tissue but lacking mesenteries, mouths and tentacles. The samples of each species were then separated into two groups of 60, one with very small fragments (3.5-11 mm²) and another with slightly larger fragments (11-53 mm²). All 240 fragments were placed separately in containers with filtered seawater.
For each combination of species and fragment size, individuals were further separated into three groups of 20 fragments and maintained at a constant temperature of 24 °C (historically the average surface water temperature in the region), 27 °C (the average sea surface temperature in summer) or 30 °C (observed during heat waves).
Finally, the effects of the presence of food were tested by adding equal amounts (10 ml) of live zooplankton every other day to half of the containers.
The fragments were photographed on the first day of the experiment and when the mouth and complete polyp were first observed. Only 41 of the 240 fragments, or 17.1%, underwent tissue necrosis and death. The other 199 fragments (86.9%) regenerated. Of these, 21 (9% of the entire sample) displayed an alternative regeneration pattern, with the formation of two polyps instead of one.
Regardless of the species, coral fragment survival was affected only by temperature. The survival rate was highest at 24 °C. There was no difference between the fragments kept at 27 °C and those kept at 30 °C. Food supply and fragment size did not affect survival.
Regeneration was found to include the following stages. After initial tissue retraction, mouth rudiments became noticeable, sometimes two for a single fragment. Subsequent development consisted either of tissue reorganization around the mouth rudiments, leading to the formation of two small, distinct polyps, or the reabsorption of one of the rudiments, in which case significant tissue differentiation around the remaining mouth rudiment resulted in a larger polyp.
"We observed a very interesting phenomenon," Kitahara said. "From a cellular viewpoint, there was a reorganization of stem cells. The polyp in formation consumed tissue as a source of energy to prioritize the production of other body parts."
The results of the experiment generally indicated faster regeneration rates at higher temperatures. The fastest mouth regeneration for fragments without contact with food was 23 days at 24 °C or 18 days at 30 °C. However, fragments kept at 27 °C in contact with living zooplankton displayed 30% faster mouth development. This suggests optimal mouth development at the intermediate temperature (27 °C), provided there is contact with food.
Fragments of both species developed into complete polyps in approximately 25 days at 27 °C and 30 °C. Unfed individuals of the species T. coccinea took approximately 41 days to achieve polyp formation.
As Kitahara explained, the fact that sun coral regenerates faster at higher temperatures is highly germane to its invasive success. Most native corals on the Brazilian coast suffer bleaching when surface water temperatures rise.
"They lose color," said the FAPESP-funded researcher. "Warmer water interferes with the metabolism of their symbiont algae. Bleached coral survives only for a few days. If the temperature remains high, it dies. The bleaching or death of native coral opens up an opportunity for substrate invasion by sun coral."
The next steps in this line of research, according to Kitahara, will be to sequence sun coral's genome, on the molecular side, and, on the ecological side, to investigate the biological aspects of its invasion and how it affects native marine fauna.
The future does not appear promising for native corals on the Brazilian coast, in Kitahara's opinion. For sun coral, on the contrary, it appears to be bright. On one hand, global climate change and rising seawater temperatures help the invader, which regenerates faster in warmer water, while native corals risk dying. Not to mention the prospect of expanding oil production in Brazilian waters.
Tubestrea sp. Sun Coral photo by Franklin Samir Dattein.
B.L.P. Luz, K.C.C. Capel, C. Zilberberg, A.A.V. Flores, A.E. Migotto, M.V. Kitahara. A polyp from nothing: The extreme regeneration capacity of the Atlantic invasive sun corals Tubastraea coccinea and T. tagusensis (Anthozoa, Scleractinia). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 2018; 503: 60 DOI: 10.1016/j.jembe.2018.02.002
June 5th, 2018
Detected for the first time in Brazil on the coast of the Southeast region in the late 1980s, when oil and gas prospecting began in the Campos Basin offshore of Rio de Janeiro, sun corals of the genus Tubastraea are now spreading very swiftly throughout the rocky shores and cliffs of Brazilian islands and are considered to be biological invaders.
Once biodiverse and multicolored, the reefs in Búzios Island -- part of the municipality of Ilhabela, Sao Paulo State, also located at the Southeast -- are now covered with orange stripes. In some places, no bare rock or other species of coral can be seen.
"The reefs around Búzios Island are in an irreparable condition," said Marcelo Kitahara, a professor in the Marine Science Department of the Federal University of São Paulo (DCMAR-UNIFESP) in Santos, Brazil. Kitahara heads a project supported by the Sao Paulo Research Foundation -- FAPESP to study the phylogenomics of two species and the links between their evolution and climate change.
The genus Tubastraea comprises seven species, all native to the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean and Pacific. Only two, T. coccinea andT. tagusensis, are also found in the southwest Atlantic. Both are invasive species.
The first Brazilian sightings were recorded in the Campos Basin in the 1980s, followed by the discovery of colonies on reefs off the southern coast of Rio de Janeiro State in the 1990s. Since then, sun coral has been found across over 3,000 km of the Brazilian coastline, from Santa Catarina in the South to Ceará in the Northeast.
"Management action is still possible in some places, but this requires the complete manual removal of all colonies," Kitahara said. "If nothing is done to stop its advance, sun coral could potentially colonize the entire Brazilian coast."
A study showing the surprising capacity of sun coral to regenerate had its results published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. The lead author is PhD student Bruna Louise Pereira Luz, a biologist affiliated with the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) and currently in Australia studying sun coral at James Cook University, Townsville, near the Great Barrier Reef, under supervision of Kitahara.
"Sun coral colonies multiply at a great speed in areas such as these. We set out to understand how and why," said Kitahara. On one of the findings -- only made possible through a lab-conducted experiment -- they also revealed that sun coral regeneration process gets faster as water temperature increases.
Possible influence of Oil & Gas industry
The appearance of these invasive species just when oil and gas production began was not unique to Rio de Janeiro. The Gulf of Mexico also has vast offshore oilfields, and sun coral has been found on the Mexican coast since the early 2000s. There are even records of sun coral attached to the hulls of ships.
"We can't be totally sure that offshore oil drilling in the Campos Basin resulted in the invasion of our coast by sun coral, but all the evidence points to this conclusion," said the FAPESP project coordinator.
A coral reef is a limestone skeleton built by colonies of thousands of tiny animals called coral polyps. Most reef-building corals contain photosynthetic algae that live in their tissues. The corals and algae have a symbiotic relationship: the polyps provide the compounds required by the algae for photosynthesis, and the algae provide the polyps with nutrients. Other types, including sun coral, can grow and proliferate without algae.
"Because it has no algae, sun coral isn't confined to places with sunlight for photosynthesis. It typically occurs at depths of up to 20 meters, but sightings have been recorded at 110 meters. On rocky shores and underwater cliffs, polyps build huge numbers of colonies and cover 100% of the substrate," Kitahara explained.
During this process, they drive out the native coral, devastating ecological relations with the marine fauna that depend on or inhabit it.
Reorganization of stem cells
To investigate the mechanisms that enable sun coral to adapt so successfully and proliferate rapidly in various marine environments, the researchers collected a colony of T. coccinea and another of T. tagusensis from Búzios Island.
In the laboratory, the researchers removed from each colony 120 fragments composed of skeleton with living tissue but lacking mesenteries, mouths and tentacles. The samples of each species were then separated into two groups of 60, one with very small fragments (3.5-11 mm²) and another with slightly larger fragments (11-53 mm²). All 240 fragments were placed separately in containers with filtered seawater.
For each combination of species and fragment size, individuals were further separated into three groups of 20 fragments and maintained at a constant temperature of 24 °C (historically the average surface water temperature in the region), 27 °C (the average sea surface temperature in summer) or 30 °C (observed during heat waves).
Finally, the effects of the presence of food were tested by adding equal amounts (10 ml) of live zooplankton every other day to half of the containers.
The fragments were photographed on the first day of the experiment and when the mouth and complete polyp were first observed. Only 41 of the 240 fragments, or 17.1%, underwent tissue necrosis and death. The other 199 fragments (86.9%) regenerated. Of these, 21 (9% of the entire sample) displayed an alternative regeneration pattern, with the formation of two polyps instead of one.
Regardless of the species, coral fragment survival was affected only by temperature. The survival rate was highest at 24 °C. There was no difference between the fragments kept at 27 °C and those kept at 30 °C. Food supply and fragment size did not affect survival.
Regeneration was found to include the following stages. After initial tissue retraction, mouth rudiments became noticeable, sometimes two for a single fragment. Subsequent development consisted either of tissue reorganization around the mouth rudiments, leading to the formation of two small, distinct polyps, or the reabsorption of one of the rudiments, in which case significant tissue differentiation around the remaining mouth rudiment resulted in a larger polyp.
"We observed a very interesting phenomenon," Kitahara said. "From a cellular viewpoint, there was a reorganization of stem cells. The polyp in formation consumed tissue as a source of energy to prioritize the production of other body parts."
The results of the experiment generally indicated faster regeneration rates at higher temperatures. The fastest mouth regeneration for fragments without contact with food was 23 days at 24 °C or 18 days at 30 °C. However, fragments kept at 27 °C in contact with living zooplankton displayed 30% faster mouth development. This suggests optimal mouth development at the intermediate temperature (27 °C), provided there is contact with food.
Fragments of both species developed into complete polyps in approximately 25 days at 27 °C and 30 °C. Unfed individuals of the species T. coccinea took approximately 41 days to achieve polyp formation.
As Kitahara explained, the fact that sun coral regenerates faster at higher temperatures is highly germane to its invasive success. Most native corals on the Brazilian coast suffer bleaching when surface water temperatures rise.
"They lose color," said the FAPESP-funded researcher. "Warmer water interferes with the metabolism of their symbiont algae. Bleached coral survives only for a few days. If the temperature remains high, it dies. The bleaching or death of native coral opens up an opportunity for substrate invasion by sun coral."
The next steps in this line of research, according to Kitahara, will be to sequence sun coral's genome, on the molecular side, and, on the ecological side, to investigate the biological aspects of its invasion and how it affects native marine fauna.
The future does not appear promising for native corals on the Brazilian coast, in Kitahara's opinion. For sun coral, on the contrary, it appears to be bright. On one hand, global climate change and rising seawater temperatures help the invader, which regenerates faster in warmer water, while native corals risk dying. Not to mention the prospect of expanding oil production in Brazilian waters.
Tubestrea sp. Sun Coral photo by Franklin Samir Dattein.
B.L.P. Luz, K.C.C. Capel, C. Zilberberg, A.A.V. Flores, A.E. Migotto, M.V. Kitahara. A polyp from nothing: The extreme regeneration capacity of the Atlantic invasive sun corals Tubastraea coccinea and T. tagusensis (Anthozoa, Scleractinia). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 2018; 503: 60 DOI: 10.1016/j.jembe.2018.02.002
Powerful Owl Release
March 18, 2018: Avalon Preservation AssociationPNHA's Jacqui Marlow has advised that a Powerful Owl chick has been released in Plateau Park following its recuperation in Taronga Park.
If you see it there being harassed, or even if you see it at all, can you please phone her on 0458 194 127.
Powerful owl family - photo courtesy PNHA
March 18, 2018: Avalon Preservation Association
PNHA's Jacqui Marlow has advised that a Powerful Owl chick has been released in Plateau Park following its recuperation in Taronga Park.
If you see it there being harassed, or even if you see it at all, can you please phone her on 0458 194 127.
Powerful owl family - photo courtesy PNHA
Tour Of The Moon In 4K
DNA Study To Reveal Age Old Secrets Of Whale Sharks
June 8th, 2018: from CSIROThis World Oceans Day, CSIRO scientists will be conducting a world first by collecting DNA samples from the whale shark population at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, to determine their age, while also unlocking the secrets of where they travel to and how deep they go.
"Taking genetic samples from whale sharks will provide a critical piece of data on their age to help us estimate the population on the western coast of Australia and the eastern Indian Ocean," CSIRO Senior Scientist Dr Richard Pillans said.
"We will also be using satellite tags to track where the whale sharks go to gain insight into their behaviour."Previous tagging has revealed whale sharks travelling south to Perth and others have been located as far as the Gulf of Carpentaria, 3500 km away.
"We have also discovered a whale shark travelling as deep as 1.8 kms," he said.
Although the largest fish in the sea, the whale shark is very elusive with much of its behaviour still unknown.
Whale sharks are attracted to Ningaloo Reef to feed, and form part of the reef's diverse marine ecosystem.
CSIRO is conducting extensive research of this heritage-listed area as part of Ningaloo Outlook, a five-year, $5.4 million research partnership with BHP that includes turtle tagging, coral reef surveys in deep and shallow water and marine debris assessment.
CSIRO's partnership with BHP highlights the importance of industry-research collaborations to develop scientific knowledge on complex marine sanctuaries and is an effective way to engage the community.
"Our oceans are vast, and there is still a lot that we don't know, however BHP's partnership with CSIRO provides insight into Ningaloo Reef and how to manage it sustainably.
"We engage heavily with the broader community to promote this complex ecosystem including the local school and the Australian public who can track marine life online," BHP Petroleum Australia General Manager Graham Salmond said.
Along with deep and shallow reef studies and monitoring turtle and shark populations, CSIRO researchers have been quantifying marine debris found at the reef.
Ningaloo Reef has low levels of marine debris levels, both in the water and on shore — Port Melbourne, for example, has 500 times the amount of rubbish as beaches at northern Ningaloo.
However, marine life, including the whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef, won't be immune to future ocean threats.
"There's still a lot to learn about whale sharks and the potential impacts of a changing marine environment but with more research we hope to find out more, including where whale sharks mate and where they go to give birth to their live young," Dr Pillans said.
World Oceans Day is a global initiative and highlights the importance of our oceans and marine resources.
Images: Whale sharks on the Ningaloo Reef. Credit: Dr Richard Pillans CSIRO
June 8th, 2018: from CSIRO
This World Oceans Day, CSIRO scientists will be conducting a world first by collecting DNA samples from the whale shark population at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, to determine their age, while also unlocking the secrets of where they travel to and how deep they go.
"Taking genetic samples from whale sharks will provide a critical piece of data on their age to help us estimate the population on the western coast of Australia and the eastern Indian Ocean," CSIRO Senior Scientist Dr Richard Pillans said.
"We will also be using satellite tags to track where the whale sharks go to gain insight into their behaviour.
"Previous tagging has revealed whale sharks travelling south to Perth and others have been located as far as the Gulf of Carpentaria, 3500 km away.
"We have also discovered a whale shark travelling as deep as 1.8 kms," he said.
Although the largest fish in the sea, the whale shark is very elusive with much of its behaviour still unknown.
Whale sharks are attracted to Ningaloo Reef to feed, and form part of the reef's diverse marine ecosystem.
CSIRO is conducting extensive research of this heritage-listed area as part of Ningaloo Outlook, a five-year, $5.4 million research partnership with BHP that includes turtle tagging, coral reef surveys in deep and shallow water and marine debris assessment.
CSIRO's partnership with BHP highlights the importance of industry-research collaborations to develop scientific knowledge on complex marine sanctuaries and is an effective way to engage the community.
"Our oceans are vast, and there is still a lot that we don't know, however BHP's partnership with CSIRO provides insight into Ningaloo Reef and how to manage it sustainably.
"We engage heavily with the broader community to promote this complex ecosystem including the local school and the Australian public who can track marine life online," BHP Petroleum Australia General Manager Graham Salmond said.
Along with deep and shallow reef studies and monitoring turtle and shark populations, CSIRO researchers have been quantifying marine debris found at the reef.
Ningaloo Reef has low levels of marine debris levels, both in the water and on shore — Port Melbourne, for example, has 500 times the amount of rubbish as beaches at northern Ningaloo.
However, marine life, including the whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef, won't be immune to future ocean threats.
"There's still a lot to learn about whale sharks and the potential impacts of a changing marine environment but with more research we hope to find out more, including where whale sharks mate and where they go to give birth to their live young," Dr Pillans said.
World Oceans Day is a global initiative and highlights the importance of our oceans and marine resources.
Images: Whale sharks on the Ningaloo Reef. Credit: Dr Richard Pillans CSIRO
Broccoli Lattes Could Be A Thing
June 6, 2018: from CSIROGreen, nutrient-rich coffees may be on the horizon after researchers have developed a powder made from imperfect-looking broccoli that would have previously been wasted.
The product, developed by Hort Innovation and CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, packs a healthy punch with approximately one serve of broccoli in every two tablespoons of powder.
A Melbourne café became the first to experiment brewing a broccoli latte recently, with mixed reviews.
While broccoli lattes might not suit everyone, Hort Innovation chief executive John Lloyd said the powder could be used for smoothies, soups, baking and as a way of hiding broccoli from fussy kids in meals.
"With a rising trend in healthy eating across the board, Australian growers are always looking at ways to diversify their products and cut waste while meeting consumer demand," Mr Lloyd said.
He also said despite the increasing popularity of 'superfoods' and health and wellness, Australian diets are still poor.
"Research shows the average Australian is still not eating the recommended daily intake of vegetables a day, and options such as broccoli powder will help address this," he said.
The 100 per cent broccoli powder is made from whole broccoli, and produced using a combination of selected pre-treatment and drying processes to retain the natural colour, flavour and nutrient composition of fresh broccoli.
Lead researcher, CSIRO's Mary Ann Augustin, said the broccoli was high in protein and fibre, and health-promoting bioactive phytochemicals, making it an ideal candidate for powder development.
"The powders are an option for farmers who want to produce value-added vegetable ingredients for the lucrative functional food markets," Dr Augustin said.
"The broccoli powder has already been used for the production of extruded snacks with high vegetable content.
"Prototype extruded snacks with 20-100 per cent vegetable content were displayed during National Science Week at the Queen Victoria Market last year and were well-received by parents and even by kids."
The broccoli powder, and associated extruded snacks, are being developed as part of a larger research and development project which aims to reduce vegetable waste by creating healthy food products from ‘ugly’ produce.
The next steps, Dr Augustin said, are to take the powder into further product development and consumer sensory evaluation trials.
"The CSIRO team and Hort Innovation are discussing potential commercial applications with produce growers and grower groups across Australia who are interested in getting the powder on the market," she said.
John Said, managing director of Fresh Select, a leading broccoli producer, is excited by the commercial opportunities available through the development of the value-added broccoli ingredients and products.
"I see this project as the emerging new food trend," Mr Said said.
"Australians don't eat enough vegetables and farmers across Australia will have access to an alternative market whilst improving farm yields and sustainability.
"They will also be contributing to healthier lifestyles!"
A broccoli latte brewed by Common Folk cafe.
June 6, 2018: from CSIRO
Green, nutrient-rich coffees may be on the horizon after researchers have developed a powder made from imperfect-looking broccoli that would have previously been wasted.
The product, developed by Hort Innovation and CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, packs a healthy punch with approximately one serve of broccoli in every two tablespoons of powder.
A Melbourne café became the first to experiment brewing a broccoli latte recently, with mixed reviews.
While broccoli lattes might not suit everyone, Hort Innovation chief executive John Lloyd said the powder could be used for smoothies, soups, baking and as a way of hiding broccoli from fussy kids in meals.
"With a rising trend in healthy eating across the board, Australian growers are always looking at ways to diversify their products and cut waste while meeting consumer demand," Mr Lloyd said.
He also said despite the increasing popularity of 'superfoods' and health and wellness, Australian diets are still poor.
"Research shows the average Australian is still not eating the recommended daily intake of vegetables a day, and options such as broccoli powder will help address this," he said.
The 100 per cent broccoli powder is made from whole broccoli, and produced using a combination of selected pre-treatment and drying processes to retain the natural colour, flavour and nutrient composition of fresh broccoli.
Lead researcher, CSIRO's Mary Ann Augustin, said the broccoli was high in protein and fibre, and health-promoting bioactive phytochemicals, making it an ideal candidate for powder development.
"The powders are an option for farmers who want to produce value-added vegetable ingredients for the lucrative functional food markets," Dr Augustin said.
"The broccoli powder has already been used for the production of extruded snacks with high vegetable content.
"Prototype extruded snacks with 20-100 per cent vegetable content were displayed during National Science Week at the Queen Victoria Market last year and were well-received by parents and even by kids."
The broccoli powder, and associated extruded snacks, are being developed as part of a larger research and development project which aims to reduce vegetable waste by creating healthy food products from ‘ugly’ produce.
The next steps, Dr Augustin said, are to take the powder into further product development and consumer sensory evaluation trials.
"The CSIRO team and Hort Innovation are discussing potential commercial applications with produce growers and grower groups across Australia who are interested in getting the powder on the market," she said.
John Said, managing director of Fresh Select, a leading broccoli producer, is excited by the commercial opportunities available through the development of the value-added broccoli ingredients and products.
"I see this project as the emerging new food trend," Mr Said said.
"Australians don't eat enough vegetables and farmers across Australia will have access to an alternative market whilst improving farm yields and sustainability.
"They will also be contributing to healthier lifestyles!"
A broccoli latte brewed by Common Folk cafe.
Curious Kids: Why Do Our Ears Pop?
June 6, 2018This is an article from Curious Kids, a series for children. The Conversation is asking kids to send in questions they’d like an expert to answer. All questions are welcome – serious, weird or wacky!
Hi Curious Kids, My name is James and I live in Melbourne and I’m 10 years old. Why do our ears pop when we reach a certain altitude? - James, age 10, Melbourne.
Hi James. What a great question.
There are three key sections of our ear – the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. Your question relates to the middle ear and the area around the ear drum.
The middle ear space is pretty airtight, although air can pass into and out of this space by the opening and closing of the Eustachian tube (the tube that links the middle ear to the back of the throat). Most of us can do this by yawning or opening our jaws, which often results in our ears “popping”.
Can you ‘pop’ your ears by yawning? It’s all about the Eustachian tube.
Your ears pop because of the pressure difference between the air outside and the air inside your middle ear space. I’ll explain how that works.
You have a small amount of air sealed in the middle ear space. And then there’s all the rest of the air outside, in the atmosphere.
Normally the air pressure inside the middle ear and in the atmosphere are very similar, or at least not different enough to cause you any trouble. As you increase in altitude (either in a car going up a hill, going up in a lift, or taking off in an aeroplane) the air pressure in the atmosphere decreases, making the air “thinner”, while the air pressure in the middle ear remains relatively unchanged.
This puts pressure on your eardrum as the air pressure in the middle ear expands relative to the air around it. This expansion causes not only the discomfort you feel before your ears “pop”, but also makes it harder to hear things, because the pressure on your eardrums makes the sound harder to transmit.
There is no specific altitude at which your ears pop, and during quick ascents, like during an aeroplane take-off, you may have to equalise or “pop” your ears a few times to keep up with the pressure changes.
Other times, like on a slow walk up a hill, your ears may equalise themselves without you even noticing.
The reverse can happen when you are descending in an aeroplane or going down a hill. The air in the atmosphere increases in density through the descent, while the air pressure in the middle ear space remains low like it was at the higher altitude.
This forces pressure on the eardrum and causes it to retract inwards (instead of bulging outwards on ascent) until your ears pop to make the pressure between the middle ear and the atmosphere more equal.
You can have some trouble if you are doing a significant ascent or descent and have a cold or an ear infection.
The mucus from a cold or ear infection can block the Eustachian tube, making it hard to equalise your ears properly. This can make your ears ache from even small changes in altitude and the eardrum is pushed inwards (on descent) or outwards (on ascent).
Babies and young children often have blocked Eustachian tubes – this may be one reason they don’t like flying.
____________________________Question answered by Chris Brennan-JonesNHMRC Research Fellow, Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia
Hello, curious kids! Have you got a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to us. They can:* Email your question to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au
June 6, 2018
This is an article from Curious Kids, a series for children. The Conversation is asking kids to send in questions they’d like an expert to answer. All questions are welcome – serious, weird or wacky!
Hi Curious Kids, My name is James and I live in Melbourne and I’m 10 years old. Why do our ears pop when we reach a certain altitude? - James, age 10, Melbourne.
Hi James. What a great question.
There are three key sections of our ear – the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. Your question relates to the middle ear and the area around the ear drum.
The middle ear space is pretty airtight, although air can pass into and out of this space by the opening and closing of the Eustachian tube (the tube that links the middle ear to the back of the throat). Most of us can do this by yawning or opening our jaws, which often results in our ears “popping”.
Can you ‘pop’ your ears by yawning? It’s all about the Eustachian tube.
Your ears pop because of the pressure difference between the air outside and the air inside your middle ear space. I’ll explain how that works.
You have a small amount of air sealed in the middle ear space. And then there’s all the rest of the air outside, in the atmosphere.
Normally the air pressure inside the middle ear and in the atmosphere are very similar, or at least not different enough to cause you any trouble. As you increase in altitude (either in a car going up a hill, going up in a lift, or taking off in an aeroplane) the air pressure in the atmosphere decreases, making the air “thinner”, while the air pressure in the middle ear remains relatively unchanged.
This puts pressure on your eardrum as the air pressure in the middle ear expands relative to the air around it. This expansion causes not only the discomfort you feel before your ears “pop”, but also makes it harder to hear things, because the pressure on your eardrums makes the sound harder to transmit.
There is no specific altitude at which your ears pop, and during quick ascents, like during an aeroplane take-off, you may have to equalise or “pop” your ears a few times to keep up with the pressure changes.
Other times, like on a slow walk up a hill, your ears may equalise themselves without you even noticing.
The reverse can happen when you are descending in an aeroplane or going down a hill. The air in the atmosphere increases in density through the descent, while the air pressure in the middle ear space remains low like it was at the higher altitude.
This forces pressure on the eardrum and causes it to retract inwards (instead of bulging outwards on ascent) until your ears pop to make the pressure between the middle ear and the atmosphere more equal.
You can have some trouble if you are doing a significant ascent or descent and have a cold or an ear infection.
The mucus from a cold or ear infection can block the Eustachian tube, making it hard to equalise your ears properly. This can make your ears ache from even small changes in altitude and the eardrum is pushed inwards (on descent) or outwards (on ascent).
Babies and young children often have blocked Eustachian tubes – this may be one reason they don’t like flying.
____________________________
Question answered by Chris Brennan-Jones
NHMRC Research Fellow, Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia
Hello, curious kids! Have you got a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to us. They can:
* Email your question to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au
Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Extract: Safety Advisory - Potential Risk Of Harm To The Liver
5 June 2018: TGA
Consumers and health professionals are advised that rare cases of harm to the liver have been associated with products that contain Camellia sinensis (green tea) extracts.
Camellia sinensis (C. sinensis) is a herbal ingredient permitted for use in low-risk medicines in Australia. Approximately 267 listed medicines in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) contain C. sinensis; the majority of which contain the ingredient as a concentrated extract. These products are often used to assist with weight management and as source of antioxidants.
Medicines containing C. sinensis extracts have been associated with a number of cases of liver toxicity world-wide, although the incidence appears to be rare and unpredictable. The majority of C. sinensis use (including green tea in beverage form) is unlikely to cause harm, therefore the TGA considers that a recall of C. sinensis products is not warranted.
Canada’s therapeutic goods regulator, Health Canada, and the European Food Safety Authority have also published information on the risk of harm to the liver by C.sinensis extracts.
The TGA is continuing to monitor the safety of C.sinensis and encourages consumers and health professionals to report any suspected problems associated with a product containing C.sinensis, especially any cases relating to the liver, to the TGA.
Information for consumers
If you or someone you provide care for has been taking a product containing C.sinensis (green tea) please be aware of this issue. Products that contain C.sinensis that are included in the ARTG will include the ingredient Camellia sinensis on the label.
If you develop any of the following problems, stop taking a product containing C.sinensis and contact your doctor as soon as possible:
- nausea
- stomach pain
- pale stools
- dark urine
- itching all-over
- the whites of the eyes have turned yellow or the skin is yellow (jaundice).
If you have any questions or concerns about this issue, contact your health professional.
If you suspect you have had a side effect to a product containing C.sinensis, please report it to the TGA
Red Tide Fossils Point To Jurassic Sea Flood
June 5th, 2018: University of Adelaide
Dinosaur-age fossilised remains of tiny organisms normally found in the sea have been discovered in inland, arid Australia -- suggesting the area was, for a short time at least, inundated by sea water 40 million years before Australia's large inland sea existed.
The fossils are the egg-like cysts of microorganisms known as dinoflagellates, best known for producing red tides or algal blooms that can turn the sea water blood red. The cysts rest on the sea floor before hatching new dinoflagellates.
Researchers at the University of Adelaide, in collaboration with geological consultancy MGPalaeo, discovered these microfossils in Jurassic rocks of south-western Queensland, near the town of Roma.
One of the dinoflagellate cysts, normally the cause of red tides in the sea, has been found in arid Australia. Credit: Carmine Wainman, University of Adelaide
Described in the journal Palynology, the fossils have been dated to the late Jurassic period, 148 million years ago. This is a time when Australia was joined to Antarctica, and where dinosaurs roamed across ancient rivers, floodplains and swamps.
"We have plenty of evidence from the 110 million-year-old vast inland Eromanga Sea, which covered a large swathe of central, eastern Australia during the Cretaceous period (following on from the Jurassic)," says Dr Carmine Wainman, Postdoctoral Fellow in the University of Adelaide's Australian School of Petroleum.
"We've seen the opalised fossils sold in Adelaide's Rundle Mall, and the spectacular ancient marine reptiles on display in the South Australian Museum -- all from the later Cretaceous period.
"However, this new microfossil evidence from the same region suggests there was a short-lived precursor to this sea 40 million years earlier."
Dr Wainman believes these microfossils must have been brought inland by an incursion of sea water and then evolved quickly to adapt to the freshwater or brackish conditions as the sea waters slowly receded.
"There is no other feasible explanation for how they managed to reach the interior of the Australian continent when the ancient coastline was thousands of kilometres away," Dr Wainman says.
"It was probably a result of rising sea levels during a time of greenhouse conditions before the establishment of the Eromanga Sea. With further investigations, we may find more of these microorganisms or even fossilised marine reptiles that uncover untold secrets about how this part of the world looked in the Jurassic."
Carmine C. Wainman, Daniel J. Mantle, Carey Hannaford, Peter J. McCabe. Possible freshwater dinoflagellate cysts and colonial algae from the Upper Jurassic strata of the Surat Basin, Australia. Palynology, 2018; 1 DOI:10.1080/01916122.2018.1451785