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 […]
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
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 […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
If you’re afraid of the dark, you should avoid the “midnight zone” in the oceans. It’s so far down that no sunlight ever reaches it. The zone’s inhabitants include creatures […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
In a classic Jules Verne novel, the submarine Nautilus travels “20,000 leagues under the sea.” You might think that “20,000 leagues” indicated the sub’s depth. But you’d need a really […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
The telescopefish has a cast-iron stomach. Not only can the stomach digest prey that’s bigger than the telescopefish itself, but it’s as dark as cast iron. That prevents the fish’s […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
From poetry to music to movies, we’re always hearing about the “deep blue sea.” But the seas aren’t always deep blue. And sometimes, they’re not blue at all. They can […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
For the seagrass beds of southern Texas, rising sea level may be a case of give and take—or make that take and give. Higher waters are killing off some seagrass. […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
The “beards” of marine mussels aren’t just a fashion statement. They anchor the mussels to the sea floor, attach to each other to form large “beds,” and hold out potential […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Early in World War II, the Navy began using sonar to probe for enemy U-boats. Ships would send out pulses of sound, then measure their reflection to figure out what […]