Not all seaweed-eating fish are created equal. Reef fish near the islands of Fiji eat seaweed that is toxic to coral, helping maintain a healthy reef system. But some species of fish limit their grazing to only one type of seaweed. Herbivorous fish diversity is the coral’s best insurance for keeping different varieties of harmful algae in check.

Science Bulletins is a production of the National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology (NCSLET), part of the Department of Education at the American Museum of Natural History.

RELATED LINKS

Ecological Society of America: Consumer diversity interacts with prey defenses to drive ecosystem function
esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/12-0389.1

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
coralcoe.org.au/

International Union for Conservation of Nature: Monitoring Functional Groups of Herbivorous Reef Fishes as Indicators of Coral Reef Resilience
cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/resilience_herbivorous_monitoring.pdf

Wildlife Conservation Society: Fiji’s Waters
wcs.org/where-we-work/oceans/coral-triangle/fiji.aspx

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute: Impacts of Macroalgae on Ecosystems
whoi.edu/redtide/impacts/ecosystems/macroalgae

World Wildlife Fund, South Pacific: The Great Sea Reef
wwfpacific.org.fj/what_we_do/freshwater/the_great_sea_reef/

NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program
coralreef.noaa.gov/threats/fishing/

Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area
facebook.com/KHFMA

AMNH: Milstein Hall of Ocean Life
amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/biodiversity-and-environmental-halls/milstein-hall-of-ocean-life

Reef Resilience: Herbivory
reefresilience.org/Toolkit_Coral/C3a1_Herbivory.html

For the first time, scientists have calculated the rotation speed of a supermassive black hole, and they found that it is spinning at nearly the speed of light, the limit of what is possible, according to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Measuring the spin rate of black holes provides valuable clues about their formation.

Science Bulletins is a production of the National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology (NCSLET), part of the Department of Education at the American Museum of Natural History.

RELATED LINKS

NASA: NuSTAR Mission
nasa.gov/mission_pages/nustar/main/index.html

NuSTAR: Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array
nustar.caltech.edu/

XMM-Newton Science Operations Center
xmm.esac.esa.int/

X-ray Telescopes
imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/how_l1/xray_telescopes.html

Black Holes: Gravity’s Relentless Pull
hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/black_holes/

Black Holes: NASA Science
science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/black-holes/

Mammals are a highly diverse group. Ranging widely in size and shape, unique specializations have allowed them to inhabit nearly every land and water environment on Earth. Recently, researchers at the American Museum of Natural History and other institutions collaborated in a groundbreaking study to identify a likely ancestor to all placentals—mammals that nourish young in the womb with a placenta—using genetic and morphological data to construct the shrew-like creature.

Science Bulletins is a production of the National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology (NCSLET), part of the Department of Education at the American Museum of Natural History.

RELATED LINKS

Science: The Placental Mammal Ancestor and the Post-K-Pg Radiation of Placentals
sciencemag.org/content/339/6120/662.abstract

Nature News: Face-to-face with the earliest ancestor of all placental mammals
nature.com/news/face-to-face-with-the-earliest-ancestor-of-all-placental-mammals-1.12398

AMNH Research: Tracing the Face and Age of the Placental Mammal Ancestor
amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/research-posts/tracing-the-face-and-age-of-the-placental-mammal-ancestor

MorphoBank: Homology of Phenotypes Over the Web
morphobank.org/

National Evolutionary Synthesis Center: Evolution and Outreach
nescent.org/eog/

UCMP Berkeley: The Placental Mammals
ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/eutheria/placental.html

When humans became more dependent on carbohydrates, the diversity in our oral microbiome suffered. Farming brought significant dietary changes to human societies worldwide, causing microbial populations in human mouths to change dramatically. By studying fossilized bacteria in plaque from ancient teeth, scientists link carbohydrates and highly processed foods to the rise of two species of harmful oral bacteria that increase our susceptibility to cavities and gum disease.

Science Bulletins is a production of the National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology (NCSLET), part of the Department of Education at the American Museum of Natural History

RELATED LINKS

Nature Genetics: Sequencing ancient calcified dental plaque shows changes in oral microbiota with dietary shifts of the Neolithic and Industrial revolutions
nature.com/ng/journal/v45/n4/full/ng.2536.html

Australian Center for Ancient DNA
adelaide.edu.au/acad/

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
sanger.ac.uk/research/

Science: How Sweet It Is—Genes Show How Bacteria Colonized Human Teeth
sciencemag.org/content/339/6122/896.full?sid=b17c737e-1bdb-4cb7-b314-c8850c31df2c

Many diseases have both genetic and environmental causes. Scientists often take traditional racial boundaries into account when researching why certain populations seem predisposed to certain diseases. But work on asthma at the University of California–San Francisco is going beyond current concepts of race to consider human genetic variation—how our species has diversified in the past 150,000 years—to hone in on inherited components that may play a role in disease prevalence.

Science Bulletins is a production of the National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology (NCSLET), part of the Department of Education at the American Museum of Natural History.

Related Links

U.S. DOE Human Genome Program: Minorities, Race, and Genomics
ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/minorities.shtml

Nature Essay: Kinship—Race Relations
nature.com/nature/journal/v457/n7228/full/457380a.html

National Human Genome Research Institute: Rotimi Group
genome.gov/26525376

UCSF Sabre-Sandler Asthma Basic Research Center: Esteban Gonzalez Burchard
sabre.ucsf.edu/research/esteban_burchard.html

National Geographic: The Genographic Project
genographic.nationalgeographic.com