HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Scientists in Australia are trying to paint the sea floor red. They’re giving a helping hand to the red handfish—one of the most endangered fish on the planet. The fish […]
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.
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
A massive hailstorm blasted northeastern Spain a couple of years ago. It lasted only 10 minutes or so. But it produced the largest hailstones ever recorded in the country—the size […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Many gardeners use clam shells as decorations. But not many garden the clams themselves. Yet clam gardens can yield more clams than untended shorelines, provide more species diversity, and even […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Life along the American coastline has been getting more perilous. Earth’s warming climate is causing a rise in sea level, an increase in major hurricanes, more marine heatwaves, and many […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Thresher sharks are some of the “snappiest” fish in the oceans. They have an oversized tail fin that looks like a scythe—and is almost as deadly. A shark “snaps” the […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
It may sound surprising, but many mountains are hiding from us—some of which may be more than a mile high. Scientists are finding more of them all the time, though—at […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
When you build a house, it affects the surrounding ecosystem. The same thing applies to houses built by fiddler crabs in salt marshes. Their burrows can help or hinder the […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Many fish use sound to communicate. Most of them vibrate a small internal “balloon,” known as the swim bladder. This produces a variety of grunts, clicks, and buzzes. But some […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Olive trees are sprouting all across the Balearic Islands—a chain off the Mediterranean coast of Spain. The largest island, Mallorca, has more than 800,000 cultivated trees. They yield a good […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
The classic example of chaos theory is called the butterfly effect: If a butterfly flaps its wings over China, it creates ripples in the air that might eventually trigger storms […]