HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
The polar bear is more than just a big mammal; it’s an icon for an entire region — it’s hard to think of the Arctic without picturing these beautiful creatures. […]
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
When you bite into an ear of corn, you’re after the juicy kernels. But if you get a little too enthusiastic, you can get some of the cob, too. One […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
If zombies ever run out of brains to munch on, they might look to the sea for more. They can find brains that are up to six feet tall and […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
The big ships that ply the Indian Ocean and South China Sea help power the world’s economy. And they also may help power the weather. In particular, they may “seed” […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
We humans have been known to eat some pungent foods, from boiled cabbage to brussels sprouts to limburger-and-onion sandwiches. But a mollusk that lives in the mud at the bottom […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
Many marine creatures hang out in beds of seagrass or kelp to hide from predators or prey. But the leafy seadragon beats them all. It’s covered with leafy appendages that […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
The heart of a typical adult human can pump about 2,000 gallons of blood per day. But that’s anemic compared to the pumping capacity of a sponge — the living […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
James Bond, Indiana Jones, and other action heroes can’t seem to avoid waterfalls. They plummet down them, or they just miss them, narrowly avoiding a gruesome fate. But no hero […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
When sea otters decided to move into Glacier Bay in Alaska, they didn’t mess around. They first appeared in the bay in the 1990s — more than two centuries after […]
HOST Damond Benningfield
DISCUSSION
One of the most geologically active regions on Earth is at the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, along a chain of volcanic mountains both above and below the ocean […]