On the radar

News from the world of science

Secret nibblers of the deep

SUNKEN SHIPSand whales can offer sustenance to worms and snails, according to Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California. They have been analysing "whale falls" at depth for some years using remotely operated vehicles and have found that bone-eating worms and snails, including several newly discovered species, play important roles in breaking down the remains.

Meanwhile scientists analysing the Titanichave identified a bacterium they call Halomonas titanicae. It can stick to steel surfaces and create mounds of corrosion products, and it may be speeding up the breakdown of the wreck, according to the Guardian.

No pining for needles

Scientists in Canada have been looking at how the Christmas tree sheds its needles.

They identified a plant hormone, ethlyene, that is involved in needle loss in the balsam fir. When they blocked it in branches, needle retention was prolonged by up to 73 days. The study was published in the journal Treesearlier this year but has been getting media exposure from a well-timed release.

“We managed to double the needle retention period of the branches, notes co-author Steeve Pépin from Université Laval. “[But] we still have to prove we can transpose these findings to the entire tree.”

Black is back at Nasa

Black is the new black at Nasa: engineers are developing an intensely black coating made of multi-walled carbon nanotubes that are about 10,000 times thinner than a strand of human hair. The hollow tubes are arranged in a way that reflects little light, and the space agency is looking to use the technology to coat surfaces and “help suppress errant light that has a funny way of ricocheting off instrument components and contaminating measurements,” according to its website.