A striking feature of tropical forests, woody vines or lianas compete with trees for light, slowing tree growth or even killing them. Lianas are taking over forests across the Americas, but little is known about their biology. A new field guide to these important plants, Lianas y Enredaderas de la Isla de Barro Colorado, Panamá,, published by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), is an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to learn more about them.

Gaviria is working along with the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNal) Faculty of Mining’ Oceanic and Decision Sciences Research Group which is supported by the Deputy Rector's Office of Research. To obtain energy from the sea researchers use a technique known as ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) which uses the surface and deep water temperature difference to run a heat engine and produce useful work, usually in the form of electricity. Electric energy is produced by means of a thermodynamic process in which surface water can reach temperatures of up to 25º C (77º F) evaporating a liquid with a low boiling point such as ammonia. The resulting vapor is used to move a turbine and a generator to produce electricity.

The Rio Grande Rise, a 3,000 sq. km. mountainous rock formation at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean approximately 1,500 km off the coast of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, holds a veritable trove of minerals and chemical elements that are becoming increasingly scarce on land – and science is starting to explore this treasure.

Coral reefs of the Caribbean already faced warming waters, disease and human-induced degradation. Then the lionfish came along. First introduced into the U.S. Atlantic in the 1980s, the lionfish has spread throughout the Caribbean in what has been described as one of the worst marine invasions ever recorded. Lionfish were not a problem in their native ranges in the Western Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, but in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico they out-breed, out-compete and out-live native fish species and are decimating coral reefs. It only takes a year for a lionfish to reach maturity and begin to reproduce.

Among the extremophiles is Anisakis simplex a worm that can resist the radioactivity of Chernobyl (Ukraine); Chromohalobacter beijerinckii, a bacteria capable of enduring the high salt concentration of the Dead Sea and the tardigrades which survive in extremely dry environments in the Desert of Atacama, in Chile.

A striking feature of tropical forests, woody vines or lianas compete with trees for light, slowing tree growth or even killing them. Lianas are taking over forests across the Americas, but little is known about their biology. A new field guide to these important plants, Lianas y Enredaderas de la Isla de Barro Colorado, Panamá,, published by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), is an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to learn more about them.