World's Largest Marine Reserve Coming Up in Australia

The Australian government has announced plans to create the a huge marine protection zone in the Coral Sea off the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. The reserve would span an area of approximately 990,000 sq km (larger than France). A 90 day public consultation period will take place through which the government hopes to finalize the plans. Meanwhile oil and gas exploration has been banned. Commercial and recreational fishing is permitted in certain areas. The proposed Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve if implemented will contribute a lot to preserving a lot of oce... more »

Use of microalgae helps in controlling pollution

Tiny organisms known as microalgae could hold answers to some intractable problems. That includes curbing carbon dioxide emissions that are contributing to global warming and reducing the burden of industrial effluents.Microalgae, like plants, are capable of photosynthesis, using the energy from sunlight to turn carbon dioxide and water into sugar.In a talk at the International Conference on New Horizons in Biotechnology held in Thiruvananthapuram recently, Prof. Yang spoke of his team's efforts at treating municipal wastewater using the single-celled green alga, Chlorella vulgaris.

Wastewater contained plenty of organic compounds and nutrients to sustain the organism. The oils that then accumulated in the cells could be harvested and turned into biodiesel.

It was found that untreated wastewater gave the best algal growth. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria found in the wastewater could be acting as growth enhancers, he noted.