Fragile sea creature sucked inside Aussie ship begins spawning eggs: 'Secrets hidden'
The study is part of a mission to understand the region which is undergoing a rapid change as temperatures warm. The Denman Marine Voyage's goal is to research a little-known glacier and the rare and elusive creatures that live around its waters. It pulls together 45 crew, 25 support staff and 60 scientists from four research organisations.
It's the first time researchers have been able to monitor the development of eggs laid by this species of sea butterfly, which resembles an iris inside a narrow vase. The crew have named the animal Clio because it's a pteropod with the scientific name Clio pyramidata.
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Ordinarily, the free swimming sea snail would be killed by nets used by researchers wanting to study it. But in this case, a specialised system was created to allow the gentle flow of water into a wet lab so they can carry on their lifecycle unharmed.
'The team is super excited about having the little creature, and observing it and looking after it, so it tells all of the secrets that have been hidden until now,' Dr Laura Herraiz Borreguero from the CSIRO said.
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Studying the 100km-long Denman Glacier is the focus of the mission. It has melted at a disturbingly fast rate, retreating by 5km in the last 20 years. If it were to melt completely, the sea level would rise by an estimated 1.5 metres, creating huge changes to the world's coastlines, destroying homes, contaminating water, and ruining agricultural crops.
Located just 5,000km south off the coast of Australia, the crews say its findings will be 'crucial for Australia's future and the welfare of the global community'.
The mission is in its fifth week. Researchers from the Australian Antarctic Division, the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership and Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future, are working 24-hour shifts to gather information.
They're collecting ice cores from the sea floor, studying clouds to improve climate modelling, and investigating marine life using nets and cameras, including sea spiders and sea pigs that grow to the size of a human hand, sea stars that are bigger than dinner plates, and several species believed to be new to science. The ship is expected to return to Hobart in early May.
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Newsweek
6 hours ago
- Newsweek
Doctor Raises Concerns Over Medical Cannabis Use With Cancer Treatment
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Despite its growing popularity among cancer patients for managing symptoms like nausea, pain and reduced appetite, a new study has warned that the use of medicinal cannabis could make immunotherapy less effective. This is the warning of Australian medical cannabis advocate Dr. Ben Jansen, whose newly-published review paper poses the question: "Are cannabinoids with cancer immunotherapy contributing to early death?" "As both a physician involved in the medicinal cannabis industry and an advocate for patient care, I find the discussion and patient informed consent around this interaction critical," Jansen wrote in his study. "Three key studies on this topic offer preliminary data suggesting a potential reduction in immunotherapy efficacy from cannabis use," he continued. "Though the results remain limited and controversial, warranting caution and additional research." Medical marijuana over official looking subscription document. Medical marijuana over official looking subscription document. thegoodphoto/Getty Images The first study looked into patients receiving the immunotherapy drug nivolumab for advanced cancers, including lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma and melanoma. It compared those on nivolumab alone (89 patients) and those on both nivolumab and cannabis (51 patients). The findings, Jansen noted, showed a significantly lower treatment response rate in patients using cannabis than in those on just nivolumab (15.9 vs. 37.5 percent.) The analysis excluded patients with advanced disease with survival of less than two months. "This suggests that patients using cannabis were approximately three times more likely to have a poor response to immunotherapy. Notably, cannabis use did not significantly impact progression-free survival or overall survival," Jansen wrote. Building on this, the second study compared 34 patients prescribed both immunotherapy and cannabis with 68 patients receiving the cancer treatment alone. That study found that tumors tended to take less than three-and-a-half months to grow or spread in the patients taking cannabis, as compared to more than a year for patients on immunotherapy alone. It also found the median overall survival time for cannabis users was 6.4 months compared to 28.5 months for non-users. A colourful illustration representing immune cells and white blood cells. A colourful illustration representing immune cells and white blood cells. quantic69/Getty Images It should be noted that both studies had inherent limitations—including small sample sizes and a focus on inhaled cannabis, rather than the orally-administered versions Jansen notes is favored in his experience with patients. Jansen added: "Factors such as smoking and other lifestyle elements, which heavily influence cancer risk and treatment outcomes, should be carefully considered when assessing cannabis' role in immunotherapy efficacy and cancer progression, and when interpreting the studies." The third study looked at 105 patients with tumors developing in solid organs—e.g. the breast, lung or prostate—receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors, and cannabis use primarily in the form of prescribed dronabinol. (Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a form of immunotherapy treatment that works by blocking proteins that prevent the immune system from attacking cancer cells.) Cannabis use was associated with significantly worse outcomes in patients receiving immunotherapy, including a shorter median overall survival time (6.7 vs 17.3 months), a reduced progression-free survival tune (4.8 vs 9.7 months) and a markedly lower disease control rate (10.7 percent vs 37.7 percent) compared with non-users. "Notably, these negative outcomes were most evident in white patients, raising the possibility of ethnicity-related pharmacogenetic variability in cannabinoid metabolism or immune response," Jansen wrote. Other potentially important factors like performance status, comorbidities and socio-economic status may have also been unaccounted for, and though tobacco was more common among cannabis users, it may still have influenced outcomes. Dropper with medical cannabis CBD hemp oil for oral use. Dropper with medical cannabis CBD hemp oil for oral use. 24K-Production/Getty Images "One of the challenges in interpreting these studies is the inherent complexity of cannabis as a therapeutic agent," wrote Jansen. Past research, Jansen notes, has found that cannabis can suppress the immune system through its active compounds: CBD, THC and other minor cannabinoids. At the same time, however, studies undertaken both in vitro and in living organisms have suggested that cannabinoids can both kill cancer cells and stop from spreading. "These findings hold particular relevance for patients considering, or currently using, medical cannabis during immunotherapy," the doctor said. "As medical practitioners, we must weigh the benefits of cannabis in managing cancer-related symptoms (such as pain, nausea and anorexia) against its potential to compromise treatment efficacy." "While cancer has a promising role in supportive cancer care, these early findings support careful consideration when patients are concurrently undergoing immunotherapy." Jansen emphasized how important it is that clinicians ensure patients are well informed of potential interactions, particularly until we have a clearer understanding of the situation, and has called for more thorough research and trials. "Future studies should aim to control for variables such as cancer type, cannabis dosage, socio-economic status and patient lifestyle factors, particularly tobacco use, which may confound results," he concluded. Do you have a tip on a health story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about cancer? Let us know via health@ References Bar-Sela, G., Cohen, I., Campisi-Pinto, S., Lewitus, G. M., Oz-Ari, L., Jehassi, A., Peer, A., Turgeman, I., Vernicova, O., Berman, P., Wollner, M., Moskovitz, M., & Meiri, D. (2020). Cannabis Consumption Used by Cancer Patients during Immunotherapy Correlates with Poor Clinical Outcome. Cancers, 12(9), Article 9. Hadid, T., Biedny, A., Mamdani, H., Azmi, A., Kim, S., Jang, H., Uprety, D., Al Hallak, M. N., & Sukari, A. (2024). Association between cannabis use and clinical outcomes in patients with solid malignancies receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors. Therapeutic Advances in Vaccines and Immunotherapy, 12, 25151355241309095. Jansen, B. (2025). Are cannabinoids with cancer immunotherapy contributing to early death? A call for caution and further study. New Zealand Medical Journal, 138(1619). Taha, T., Meiri, D., Talhamy, S., Wollner, M., Peer, A., & Bar‐Sela, G. (2019). Cannabis Impacts Tumor Response Rate to Nivolumab in Patients with Advanced Malignancies. The Oncologist, 24(4), 549–554.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
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Sharks vs. hurricanes? Scientists say predators can help track huge storms.
It's not a schlocky TV movie or teams in a hockey game. Sharks vs. hurricanes is real science. Researchers are looking at how sharks can help gather ocean data for improved hurricane predictions by using sharks as freely moving monitors – by putting sensor tags on the fish. The goal is that the sharks will gather temperature and other data that will go towards better forecasts of hurricanes – data that's challenging or expensive to get elsewhere. "By attaching these tags ... to sharks, which are wide-ranging, mobile predators, we will be able to observe a much larger part of the ocean that typically remains unobserved," said marine ecologist Aaron Carlisle of the University of Delaware, in an email to USA TODAY. He said it's not so much that we can't obtain these data using other means (such as vessels or autonomous vehicles), it's that those other platforms are very expensive and are limited in where they can go. In addition, "remote sensing via satellite-based sensors only looks at the surface, and it is what is going on below the surface that is really critical for many oceanographic/climate processes (such as hurricanes)." Water temps drive hurricane formation According to Carlisle, water temperature, and how it changes with depth, is what drives ocean heat content, and that is generally what drives hurricanes. He said salinity is important too, but is less critical for this particular issue in this region. Indeed, according to the National Weather Service, the first condition for hurricane formation is that ocean waters must be above 79 degrees F. "Below this threshold temperature, hurricanes will not form or will weaken rapidly once they move over water below this threshold. Ocean temperatures in the tropical East Pacific and the tropical Atlantic routinely surpass this threshold," the weather service said. What species of sharks are being used? Blue sharks and mako sharks are two of the species that were the best suited to carry these tags, due to their movement and diving characteristics. This isn't the first time animals have been used in a similar way for scientific research. Animals such as seals and narwhals have been tagged to track hard-to-reach areas in the Arctic and Antarctic, the Washington Post reports. Dolphins and whales have also been used by Russia for military purposes. Will the data captured by the sharks be used during actual hurricanes? "Yes, our goal is to have a 'fleet' of sharks carrying these tags during the hurricane season, and they will be providing real-time oceanographic data across the North Atlantic that will be fed into various ocean models that are used to predict hurricane strength, intensity, direction, etc.," Carlisle said in an e-mail. So far, his team conducted tagging experiments with the sharks in May, with some success. "As to whether the sharks will be in the actual hurricanes remains to be seen, but I suspect they will avoid them and won't be surfacing during hurricanes!" Is the goal to have the sharks deployed this year, during the 2025 season? This year, researchers are still working out bugs and are limited in the number of tags that can be deployed due to the continuing after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a huge impact on this project, Carlisle reported. "Our hope, if we obtain sufficient additional funding to keep things moving forward, is that we will be actually doing this type of work on a larger scale in 2026 (if lucky) or more likely 2027." Funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been more than satisfactory for the project so far, and Carlisle said "the agency has been incredibly supportive of us throughout this process." The teams' partner, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System, has also been helpful. NOAA budget cuts: Dramatic budget cuts at NOAA could put weather forecasts in peril, lives in danger Are the sharks harmed by having the tags attached to them? "That's a topic that we are keenly aware of in our field," Carlisle said. "Attaching anything to an animal will have some impact on the animal, but we do everything in our power to minimize any negative impacts on the animal." In addition, Carlisle and his team go through a thorough permitting and review process that ensures they do everything they can to minimize impacts on animals. Beyond that, he said they need the animals to be "happy and healthy" in order to provide the team with good data, as they are carrying very expensive equipment (each tag costs about $6,000), so if the tag has significant deleterious impacts on the animal, "we aren't just hurting the animal but we're essentially throwing the tag away." The tags will not be on the animals permanently: researchers use parts that will corrode over time, allowing the whole tag package to fall off the animal. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane researchers plan a 'fleet' of sharks to help forecasts Solve the daily Crossword
USA Today
8 hours ago
- USA Today
Sharks vs. hurricanes? Scientists say predators can help track huge storms.
Researchers are looking at how sharks can help gather ocean data for improved hurricane predictions by using sharks as freely moving ocean monitors. It's not a schlocky TV movie or teams in a hockey game. Sharks vs. hurricanes is real science. Researchers are looking at how sharks can help gather ocean data for improved hurricane predictions by using sharks as freely moving monitors – by putting sensor tags on the fish. The goal is that the sharks will gather temperature and other data that will go towards better forecasts of hurricanes – data that's challenging or expensive to get elsewhere. "By attaching these tags ... to sharks, which are wide-ranging, mobile predators, we will be able to observe a much larger part of the ocean that typically remains unobserved," said marine ecologist Aaron Carlisle of the University of Delaware, in an email to USA TODAY. He said it's not so much that we can't obtain these data using other means (such as vessels or autonomous vehicles), it's that those other platforms are very expensive and are limited in where they can go. In addition, "remote sensing via satellite-based sensors only looks at the surface, and it is what is going on below the surface that is really critical for many oceanographic/climate processes (such as hurricanes)." Water temps drive hurricane formation According to Carlisle, water temperature, and how it changes with depth, is what drives ocean heat content, and that is generally what drives hurricanes. He said salinity is important too, but is less critical for this particular issue in this region. Indeed, according to the National Weather Service, the first condition for hurricane formation is that ocean waters must be above 79 degrees F. "Below this threshold temperature, hurricanes will not form or will weaken rapidly once they move over water below this threshold. Ocean temperatures in the tropical East Pacific and the tropical Atlantic routinely surpass this threshold," the weather service said. What species of sharks are being used? Blue sharks and mako sharks are two of the species that were the best suited to carry these tags, due to their movement and diving characteristics. This isn't the first time animals have been used in a similar way for scientific research. Animals such as seals and narwhals have been tagged to track hard-to-reach areas in the Arctic and Antarctic, the Washington Post reports. Dolphins and whales have also been used by Russia for military purposes. Will the data captured by the sharks be used during actual hurricanes? "Yes, our goal is to have a 'fleet' of sharks carrying these tags during the hurricane season, and they will be providing real-time oceanographic data across the North Atlantic that will be fed into various ocean models that are used to predict hurricane strength, intensity, direction, etc.," Carlisle said in an e-mail. So far, his team conducted tagging experiments with the sharks in May, with some success. "As to whether the sharks will be in the actual hurricanes remains to be seen, but I suspect they will avoid them and won't be surfacing during hurricanes!" Is the goal to have the sharks deployed this year, during the 2025 season? This year, researchers are still working out bugs and are limited in the number of tags that can be deployed due to the continuing after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a huge impact on this project, Carlisle reported. "Our hope, if we obtain sufficient additional funding to keep things moving forward, is that we will be actually doing this type of work on a larger scale in 2026 (if lucky) or more likely 2027." Funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been more than satisfactory for the project so far, and Carlisle said "the agency has been incredibly supportive of us throughout this process." The teams' partner, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System, has also been helpful. NOAA budget cuts: Dramatic budget cuts at NOAA could put weather forecasts in peril, lives in danger Are the sharks harmed by having the tags attached to them? "That's a topic that we are keenly aware of in our field," Carlisle said. "Attaching anything to an animal will have some impact on the animal, but we do everything in our power to minimize any negative impacts on the animal." In addition, Carlisle and his team go through a thorough permitting and review process that ensures they do everything they can to minimize impacts on animals. Beyond that, he said they need the animals to be "happy and healthy" in order to provide the team with good data, as they are carrying very expensive equipment (each tag costs about $6,000), so if the tag has significant deleterious impacts on the animal, "we aren't just hurting the animal but we're essentially throwing the tag away." The tags will not be on the animals permanently: researchers use parts that will corrode over time, allowing the whole tag package to fall off the animal.
