Green eggs power solar salamanders

Close up of a single egg cell containing a salamander embryo and numerous algae growing within the egg. Source.

Scientists from the University of Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada have discovered photosynthetic algae living inside embryonic cells of the spotted salamander, providing them with extra power like a mean green energy drink. If true, this is the first known example of a vertebrate acquiring a new symbiont. The spotted salamander is a salamander species [...]

August 9th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , | Category: evolution, microbiology, science, zoology | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)

North Sea Genomes

Kelp blowing in the "wind" in Diamond Bay. Kelp forests are one of the most productive ecosystems of temperate and cooler seas. Source: saspotato on Flickr

If coral reefs are the rain forests of the tropical oceans, kelp forests are the woodlands of the Northern seas. Kelp is one of the algal species that can survive the harsh conditions of the North Sea that I know and love, together with other hardy seaweeds like bladder wrack. All these seaweeds are part [...]

June 29th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: evolution, science | Leave a comment