PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Magnetic attraction for fish, crabs?

Study examines if magnetic fields from aquatic power sources affect animals

Magnetic attraction for fish, crabs?
2010-09-20
(Press-News.org) SEATTLE – Super-sized electromagnetic coils are helping explain how aquatic life might be affected by renewable energy devices being considered for placement along America's coastal waters and in the nation's rivers.

Scientists with the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are examining whether a variety of fish and invertebrates change their behavior during and after exposure to an electromagnetic field similar to those produced by marine and hydrokinetic power devices that capture energy from ocean waves, tides, currents and rivers. Research began this summer and will continue for two years.

PNNL marine ecologist Jeff Ward will discuss this research Wednesday at Oceans 2010, an ocean engineering conference that runs Monday through Thursday in Seattle. The conference is being hosted by the Marine Technology Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers' Oceanic Engineering Society.

"The ocean's natural ebb and flow can be an abundant, constant energy source," said PNNL oceanographer Andrea Copping, who is the principal investigator on the project out of PNNL's Marine Sciences Laboratory in Sequim, Wash. "But before we can place power devices in the water, we need to know how they might impact the marine environment."

Energy companies and utilities are looking at using several different technologies to harness energy from oceans and rivers. Marine power could come from devices that move with rolling waves on the ocean's surface or from underwater turbines that spin with the tides and currents. And hydrokinetic devices would be similar to marine power devices, but generate power from free-flowing water in rivers and streams. Whatever the design, each device generates electricity that travels through cables that connect the device with a land power line. Researchers want to know how the devices and their cables affect marine life.

Electrical magnetism

This research project is using two specially designed coils at PNNL's Marine Sciences Laboratory. The coils, called Helmholtz coils, each consist of about 200 pounds of copper wiring wrapped into a window frame-like outline that's roughly five feet by five feet. The wiring carries electricity at the flip of a switch. Like any electricity, this creates an electromagnetic field that naturally attracts magnetic materials like iron. The field around the electrical coil can create between 0.1 and 3 milliTeslas of magnetic flux. Three milliTeslas is about three-tenths the magnetic flux of a typical small bar magnet. Previous research into how electromagnetic fields affect marine animals has been in the 3 to 5 milliTesla range.

Researchers want to know if the electromagnetic field will also affect marine and estuarine animal behavior, including migration, finding food and avoiding predators. Several aquatic animals – such as sharks, skates, salmon, sea turtles and lobsters - may use the Earth's natural magnetic fields like a compass to navigate and detect their prey.

To test the field's potential effects, aquarium tanks filled with marine species are being placed near the two coils. Then researchers will activate the electromagnetic field – at various strengths and time periods – to see if the animals' actions change.

For example, researchers will observe whether the electromagnetic field interferes with the ability of juvenile Coho salmon to recognize and avoid predators. Young salmon normally stop swimming, go low and stay still when they detect a predator. Also, the scientists will examine whether the typically fast, flicking movements of Dungeness crab antennules – the small antennae next to crabs' eyes that help them detect odors – change when exposed to the electromagnetic field. And researchers will document whether the animals are attracted or repelled by the fields.

"We really don't know if the animals will be affected or not," Ward said. "There's surprisingly little comprehensive research to say for sure."

New frontiers

There have been some limited studies in this area, but most have been conducted outside the United States and involved animals that aren't common in U.S. waters. Ward noted this project will help develop a broader body of information from which scientists, marine power developers and the regulatory agencies that permit the power devices can draw to determine how proposed devices could affect certain marine life at a given site.

If animals demonstrate a noticeable behavior change in the controlled environment of laboratory tests, PNNL researchers may conduct a field study with test animals placed near pilot marine power devices such as the one Snohomish County PUD has proposed for Admiralty Inlet in Washington state's Puget Sound.

As part of the project, scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are also examining how electromagnetic fields created by hydrokinetic devices, which generate power from free-flowing water in rivers and streams, might affect freshwater animals. And researchers from Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center at Oregon State University are also studying the potential electromagnetic effects on crabs.

This study is a component of PNNL's larger research effort to better understand the potential environmental impact of marine and hydrokinetic energy development. PNNL researchers are also examining whether underwater noise from these devices could impact aquatic life, whether underwater animals could be injured by the rotating turbines in tidal power devices and how marine devices could impact the flow patterns of coastal waters. All this work is being funded by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Wind and Water Power Program.



INFORMATION:

Ward will discuss this research during a marine renewable energy session at Oceans 2010. The session runs from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Wednesday in room 4C3 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle. For more information about Oceans 2010, go to http://www.oceans10mtsieeeseattle.org/. Credentialed reporters can receive a free one-day registration at the conference.

REFERENCE: J. Ward, I. Schultz, D. Woodruff, G. Roesijadi, A. Copping. "Assessing the Effects of Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy Development on Marine and Estuarine Resources." Oceans 2010. Copy available upon request.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory where interdisciplinary teams advance science and technology and deliver solutions to America's most intractable problems in energy, the environment and national security. PNNL employs 4,700 staff, has an annual budget of nearly $1.1 billion, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965. Follow PNNL on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Magnetic attraction for fish, crabs?

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Female fish abandoned by males to raise offspring on their own

2010-09-20
Caring for children can be a tough job, particularly if you are a female cichlid fish. Native to the crater lakes of Nicaragua, cichlid fish look after their young by defending them against would-be predators. While male and female cichlid fish generally share parental responsibilities, research shows that this is not always the case. Conducted by an international team of researchers that included two biologists from Monash University, and published in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, new research has shown that male cichlid fish have a propensity ...

Secrets of birds' sexual signals revealed

Secrets of birds sexual signals revealed
2010-09-20
Patterned feathers, previously thought to be used only for camouflage in birds, can play an important role in attracting a mate and fending off rivals, a University of Melbourne study reveals. Ms Thanh-Lan Gluckman, co-author of the paper and Masters of Philosophy student from the Department of Zoology at the University of Melbourne, Australia, said this finding brought a new perspective to research in animal communication and evolution. "The implication of this study is that feathers don't need to be bright and showy to be used in sexual signalling and hence this changes ...

Protein behind development of immune system sentinels identified

Protein behind development of immune system sentinels identified
2010-09-20
A protein called PU.1 is essential for the development of dendritic cells, the sentinels of the immune system, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers in Melbourne, Australia, have shown. Dendritic cells (DC) are immune cells that present proteins from foreign invaders, such as viruses, to the killer T cells of the immune system, allowing a full immune response to be mounted against the invaders. Researchers from the Immunology division have been studying dendritic cells and how different molecules regulate their development. Dr Li Wu said one of the molecules ...

Citizen scientist

2010-09-20
We are all scientists now, thanks to SETI@home, Galaxy Zoo, The Great Sunflower Project, Folding@home and counltess other projects that allow individuals to take part in scientific research directly or indirectly. In the case of SETI@home and Folding@home one shares one's computer CPU with the researchers, whereas Galaxy Zoo is more about active involvement with the classification of stellar objects in images of the night sky, for instance. Now, writing in the International Journal of Organisational Design and Engineering, US researchers have mapped out an approach to ...

Marine scientists unveil the mystery of life on undersea mountains

Marine scientists unveil the mystery of life on undersea mountains
2010-09-20
They challenge the mountain ranges of the Alps, the Andes and the Himalayas in size yet surprisingly little is known about seamounts, the vast mountains hidden under the world's oceans. Now in a special issue of Marine Ecology scientists uncover the mystery of life on these submerged mountain ranges and reveal why these under studied ecosystems are under threat. The bathymetry of our oceans is now resolved at a scale and detail unimaginable by early pioneers and recent estimates suggest that, globally, there may be up to 100,000 seamounts, yet despite best efforts less ...

Study gets measure of how best to prevent blood clots

2010-09-20
Treating hospital patients with thigh-length surgical stockings, rather than knee-high socks, can reduce life threatening blood clots, a new study suggests. Researchers found that knee-high stockings, which are similar to flight socks, do little in stroke patients to prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a life threatening form of blood clot that can travel up into the heart and lungs, . The CLOTS (Clots in Legs Or sTockings after Stroke) study from the University of Edinburgh highlights that the clot rate in stroke patients was higher among those fitted with the shorter ...

The Amazon rainforest -- a cloud factory

The Amazon rainforest -- a cloud factory
2010-09-20
The forest in the Amazon Basin produces its own rain. During the wet season, aerosol particles, which serve to condensate clouds and precipitation here, mainly consist of organic material. These aerosols are released by the rainforest itself. This has been demonstrated by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, who are now able to draw conclusions about the mechanisms of this ecosystem: the high content of organic material indicates that the Amazon Basin acts as a largely self-contained biogeochemical reactor during the rainy season. The results ...

Vigilant camera eye

Vigilant camera eye
2010-09-20
»Goal, goal, goal!« fans in the stadium are absolutely ecstatic, the uproar is enormous. So it's hardly surprising that the security personnel fail to spot a brawl going on between a few spectators. Separating jubilant fans from scuffling hooligans is virtually impossible in such a situation. Special surveillance cameras that immediately spot anything untoward and identify anything out of the ordinary could provide a solution. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT in Sankt Augustin have now developed such a device as part of the ...

Image sensors for extreme temperatures

Image sensors for extreme temperatures
2010-09-20
More and more car manufacturers are equipping their vehicles with image sensors – e.g. to register the presence of pedestrians or vehicles in the blind spot or to detect obstacles when parking. The sensors must be able to function in extremely high temperatures and in blazing sunlight. If they are installed behind the rear view mirror or on the instrument panel, for example, they can get very hot. The Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS in Duisburg has developed a CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) image sensor for an industrial ...

Taking the pulse of coral reefs

Taking the pulse of coral reefs
2010-09-20
Healthy reefs with more corals and fish generate predictably greater levels of noise, according to researchers working in Panama. This has important implications for understanding the behaviour of young fish, and provides an exciting new approach for monitoring environmental health by listening to reefs. Contrary to Jacques Cousteau's 'Silent World', coral reefs are surprisingly noisy places, with fish and invertebrates producing clicks and grunts which combine to produce cacophonies of noise. Each reef is subtly different depending on the size and composition of the ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Tarlatamab with anti-PD-L1 as first-line maintenance after chemo-immunotherapy for ES-SCLC demonstrates acceptable safety profile and unprecedented overall survival

GLP-1 RAs and cardiovascular and kidney outcomes by body mass index in type 2 diabetes

Ambient air pollution and the severity of Alzheimer disease neuropathology

Ocean warming puts vital marine microbe Prochlorococcus at risk

Nicotine pouches may offer path to reduced tobacco harm, Rutgers study finds

Duke-NUS study reveals how dengue rewires the immune system, reshaping vaccine response

Dr. Gianluca Ianiro wins a prestigious grant from the European Research Council (ERC)

‘Rogue’ DNA rings reveal earliest clues to deadly brain cancer’s growth

Clinical study deepens understanding of mesothelioma and opens the door to potential treatment options

New study and major data updates expand the Kids First data ecosystem

Seaweed snare: Sargassum stops sea turtle hatchlings in their tracks

Scientists uncover key to decoupling economic growth from pollution in developing countries

Frailty fuels gut imbalance and post-surgery gastrointestinal risks

BMS-986504 demonstrates durable responses in MTAP-deleted NSCLC, including EGFR and ALK-positive tumors

Phase III trial finds hypofractionated radiotherapy with chemotherapy offers comparable survival and lower toxicity to conventional schedule in LS-SCLC

Lung cancer screening benefits adults up to age 80 if surgical candidates, UK study finds

Video assisted thoracoscopy surgery reduces mortality by 21 percent compared to lobectomy

NADIM ADJUVANT trial suggests benefit of adjuvant chemo-immunotherapy in resected stage IB–IIIA NSCLC

EA5181 phase 3 trial finds no OS benefit for concurrent and consolidative durvalumab vs consolidation alone in unresectable stage 3 NSCLC

Training to improve memory

Are patients undergoing surgery for early-stage cancer at risk of persistent opioid use?

Black youth, especially Black girls, use mental health services less than their White peers

Canada must protect youth from sports betting advertising

First-in-human trial shows promising results for DLL3-targeted antibody-drug conjugate SHR-4849 in relapsed small cell lung cancer

Ifinatamab deruxtecan demonstrates high response rate in previously treated extensive-stage small cell lung cancer: Phase 2 IDeate-Lung01 trial

Higher blood pressure in childhood linked to earlier death from heart disease in adulthood

AI helped older adults report accurate blood pressure readings at home

High blood pressure in childhood and premature cardiovascular disease mortality

Zidesamtinib shows durable responses in ROS1 TKI pre-treated NSCLC, including patients with CNS disease and ROS1 G2032R mutations

Crizotinib fails to improve disease-free survival in resected early-stage ALK+ NSCLC

[Press-News.org] Magnetic attraction for fish, crabs?
Study examines if magnetic fields from aquatic power sources affect animals