Scientists: Newly found fault caused Haiti quake

Image via WikipediaThe Washington Post"-- The devastating earthquake that rocked Haiti in January was unleashed by a previously undetected fault line - not the well-known one scientists initially blamed, according to an analysis of new data.
It's unclear how dangerous the new, unmapped fault might be or how its discovery changes the overall earthquake hazard risk for Haiti, said Eric Calais, a professor of geophysics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind."

Caribbean Coral Reef Protection Efforts Miss the Mark

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nsf.gov"Conservation efforts aimed at protecting endangered Caribbean corals may be overlooking regions where corals are best equipped to evolve in response to global warming and other climate challenges.

That's the take-home message of a paper published in this week's issue of the journal Science by researchers Ann Budd of the University of Iowa and John Pandolfi of the University of Queensland, Australia.

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Killer seaweed threatens corals

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msnbc.com: "Waving with the currents on the seafloor, a seaweed species that looks like tufts of bright-green grass is somewhat of an assassin, at least for nearby coral reefs, a new study suggests.

Its weapon of choice: natural chemicals.

The seaweed, called Chlorodesmis fastigiata, along with several common species of seaweeds in both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, can kill corals upon contact by releasing deadly chemicals."