Underwater expedition by Florida-based team supports possible therapeutic use of bacterial toxins from sea squirts
Researchers at a Florida university say bacterial toxins produced by tiny marine organisms they have studied in Antarctica could become an effective treatment for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.
A team from the University of South Florida (USF), Desert Research Institute (DRI) and Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) recently returned from a six-week expedition to one of the world’s remotest regions in which they collected samples of ascidians, invertebrates known as sea squirts that thrive in the icy waters.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
06/29/2026 - 07:00
06/29/2026 - 05:00
Research suggests 41,800 premature US deaths in 2024 were attributable to road pollution
Roughly five Americans die every hour due to exposure to toxic road vehicle pollution, a new study has found.
It’s the latest warning showing fossil-fueled transit is a major driver of mortality.
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06/29/2026 - 00:45
In today’s newsletter: Last week’s extreme weather should galvanise the political response to global heating. But the sad paradox is that it could bolster support for climate-sceptical parties
Good morning. You could be forgiven for thinking that last week’s heatwave in Europe would be a galvanising moment for action on the climate crisis. At one point, more than 150 million Europeans sweltered in temperatures above 35C (95F) – with several parts of the continent soaring past 40C. A heatwave of this magnitude has never been recorded this early in the year.
When scientists finish their calculations, the death toll will probably number in the thousands. Spain, one of the few countries that produces real-time statistics on excess deaths linked to heat, has recorded more than 100 per day since Wednesday. French authorities said that at least 1,000 additional deaths had been recorded between 24 and 27 June, a figure that is likely to rise. They include four toddlers who died in incidents linked to the heat. A three-year-old boy in a Paris suburb was found dead last week after climbing into a car and becoming trapped.
Iran | The sudden eruption of fresh hostilities in the Gulf – just 10 days after Iran and the US signed a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict – threatens to put the two countries back on the path to war.
Europe heatwave | Germany, Czechia, Poland and Hungary reached record temperatures of more than 40C on Sunday as a heatwave linked to hundreds of deaths in western Europe spread east.
UK politics | Andy Burnham is the most popular man at Westminster right now, and Labour MPs, the unions, Whitehall civil servants, political advisers and thinktanks are all battling for the ear of the next prime minister.
UK news | One pound in every £11 of UK government spending on contractors went to private equity-controlled companies last year, research shows, including key services such as transport, waste management and healthcare.
Royal family | The Duke of Sussex fears his children will not meet King Charles in the coming days after their UK visit was “pulled out from under their feet at the 11th hour”.
Today | Andy Burnham will give his first major speech since winning the Makerfield byelection and becoming Labour leader in waiting, setting out his economic vision and plans for radical devolution.
Tomorrow | The Amos review into NHS maternity services will be published.
Wednesday | The review into the sentences in the Fordingbridge rape case, which shocked the country and prompted a debate about leniency towards young offenders, will be heard in the court of appeal.
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06/29/2026 - 00:00
Air conditioning can bring significant benefits but also real harms. The answer is for it to take its place alongside a comprehensive state plan for climate adaptation
As Britain reels from Europe’s worst ever heatwave, many households are, for the first time, seriously considering air conditioning. Leftists have often been critical of AC, pointing out that there are cheaper, more ecological ways to combat severe heat. But with decades of underinvestment leaving the UK dismally unprepared to handle further heatwaves, is it time to rethink the progressive position on air con?
Like many new technologies, air conditioning can bring significant benefits but also real harms, contributing to external air temperatures and global emissions. Dogmatically denying these harms, as AC boosters tend to, is unhelpful, but likewise refusing to explore how mechanical air-cooling systems could play a more productive role in progressive climate adaptation is just as blinkered.
Phineas Harper is a writer and curator
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06/28/2026 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 29 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s44183-026-00221-1
Leveraging AI to objectively analyze legal frameworks protecting the marine environment: a focus on enforced bans
06/25/2026 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 26 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s44183-026-00195-0
Trustworthy AI for the ocean: bridging the science-policy divide
06/25/2026 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 26 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s44183-026-00223-z
Participatory mapping of maritime uses as a pathway to inclusive Marine Protected Area governance
06/23/2026 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 24 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s44183-026-00222-0
Marine conservation lost in submission: the bottlenecks stalling the European Union’s protected areas pledge delivery
06/21/2026 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 22 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s44183-026-00220-2
Resource-dependent economies should shift from finite extractive resources toward sustainable development pathways. This commentary frames marine natural capital as Blue Gold, in contrast to oil-based Black Gold. Using Oman as a case study, we show that integrating marine resources into national development strategies can advance diversification, resilience, and long-term sustainability when guided by ecological limits, effective governance, and value-based economic planning for sustainable ocean-based transformation in resource-dependent coastal economies worldwide.
World Ocean Explorer Wins Gold Medal Serious Simulation Award from Serious Play Annual International Competition
10/26/2023 - 14:35
For Immediate Release October 19, 2023
Sedgwick, Maine USA World Ocean Explorer, a 3D virtual aquarium and educational simulation, was recently cited for excellence, winning a Gold Medal Award in the 2023 International Serious Play Awards Program.
World Ocean Explorer is an innovative 3D virtual aquarium designed for educational exploration of the world’s oceans. With interactive exhibits and a lobby space, visitors can immerse themselves in realistic marine environments, including a DEEP SEA exhibit funded by Schmidt Ocean Institute, showcasing unprecedented deep-sea discoveries off Australia. Targeted at 3rd graders and beyond, this immersive experience offers a range of perspectives on the ocean environment and can be explored through guided tours or user-controlled interfaces. Visit DEEP SEA at worldoceanexplorer.org/deep-sea-aquarium.html.
Serious Play Conference brings together professionals who are exploring the use of game-based learning, sharing their experience, and working together to shape the future of training and education. For more information on Serious Play Award Program visit seriousplayconf.com/international-serious-play-award-programs.
World Ocean Explorer is a transformative virtual aquarium designed to deepen understanding of the world ocean and amplify connection for young people worldwide. Organized around the principles of Ocean Literacy and the Next Gen Science Standards, World Ocean Explorer brings the wonder and knowledge of ocean species and systems to students in formal and informal classrooms, absolutely free to anyone with a good Internet connection. As an advocate for the ocean through communications, World Ocean Observatory believes there is no better investment in the future of the sustainable ocean than through a new approach to educational engagement that excites, informs, and motivates students to explore the wonders of our marine world and to understand the pervasive connection and implication for our future, inherent in the protection and conservation of all aspects of our ocean world.
World Ocean Explorer presents an astonishing 3-dimensional simulated aquarium visit, organized to reveal the wonders of undersea life, with layers of detailed data and information to augment the emotional connection made to the astonishing beauty and complexity of the dynamic ocean. Within each of the virtual exhibits, students visit exemplary theme-based sites with myriad opportunities to understand the larger perspectives of scientific knowledge as organized and visualized to dramatize the impact and change on ocean life as a result of natural and human-generated events. Through immersion among displays, mixed media and 3D models, the experience of an aquarium visit will be brought into classrooms or home school environments as a free, accessible, always available opportunity for teaching and learning. All of this will be available to a world audience without physical limitation or cost. World Ocean Explorer, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, receives support from the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, Visual Solutions Lab, the Climate Change Institute, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, and The Fram Museum Oslo. To learn more about the current and future exhibits of World Ocean Explorer, visit worldoceanexplorer.org.
media contact
Trisha Badger, Managing Director, World Ocean Observatory | director@thew2o.net +12077011069
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