WRITER Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
An old hag churns the waters near two islands off the western coast of Scotland. The churning creates the third-largest whirlpool in the oceans—the Gulf of Corryvreckan, or Brecan’s cauldron. […]
Radio Program
Our regular Science and the Sea™ radio program presents marine science topics in an engaging two-minute story format. Our script writers gather ideas for the radio program from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute’s researchers and from our very popular college class, Introduction to Oceanography, which we teach to hundreds of non-science majors at The University of Texas at Austin every year. Our radio programs are distributed to commercial and public radio stations across the country.
WRITER Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Scientists are tuning in to seagrasses. That may tell them how much carbon the grass is storing—an important detail in understanding our changing climate. Seagrass beds are among the most […]
WRITER Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
The oceans are gobbling up Alaska’s northern coastline in a hurry—a result of our planet’s warming climate. That could force some towns to move farther inland, away from the hungry […]
WRITER Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Charles Darwin wrote about much more than evolution. Among other things, after his ’round-the-world trip in the 1830s, he wrote a book about coral reefs—an attempt to explain the origins […]
WRITER Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
“Medicane” sounds like a mash-up of medicine and a candy cane—maybe something to get your kiddos to take their medicine. The term is a mash-up, but there’s nothing sweet about […]
WRITER Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
A forest fire both destroys and creates. It destroys the plants and animals that live there. But it creates the conditions for a new ecosystem to develop through a process […]
WRITER Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
About three-quarters of all the antibiotics in use today were developed from a type of bacteria that lives in the soil. But nasty bacteria are becoming more resistant to those […]
WRITER Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
A team of astronomers recently reported the possible discovery of a compound in the atmosphere of another planet that could be produced by life. If the compound really is there, […]
WRITER Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
The weedfish is cryptic. That doesn’t mean that it speaks in riddles or leaves notes that no one can decipher. Instead, it’s easily hidden—it blends into its environment. Divers say […]
WRITER Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Many volcanoes are among the most majestic sights on the planet: Tall and wide, they belch molten rock or plumes of ash that can tower miles high. But there’s another […]