https://kidzsearch.com/news A place where kids can share and discuss cool things with others. Thu, 26 Feb 2026 10:30:00 PST en https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/antarctica-faces-a-green-and-weedy-future/ https://www.snexplores.org/article/warming-antarctica-green-weedy-future





If you want a glimpse of the future of Antarctica, look at King George Island. It sits at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. This finger of land, which reaches toward South America, is the warmest part of the continent.



Thick ice blankets most of this island. But a rare oasis sits on its western edge. During summer, melting snow reveals rocky ground covered by a mushy green carpet. Its mostly moss and lichens, with a few other plants sprinkled in.



As our climate warms, this islands ice will shrink, expanding the green oasis. This will allow alien species from other parts of the world to take root. Human visitors are already unintentionally bringing in non-native species. These invaders could steamroll native plants and animals, transforming the landscape.



This thick ice sheet on King George island is in danger of melting away.Cyril Gosselin/Moment/Getty Images Plus



Within 200 or 300 years, scientists worry, the northern Antarctic Peninsula will likely look a lot different.



The biggest threat is that well get something that will look like South American [grassland], says Stef Bokhorst. A terrestrial ecologist, he works at Vrije University Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He envisions an open scrubland of miniature trees, like whats found in Patagonia, at the bottom tip of South America.



Since 1850, Earth has warmed by around 1.44 degrees Celsius (2.60 degrees Fahrenheit), on average. But the Antarctic Peninsula is currently warming nearly twice as quickly. Summer snows are slowly turning to rains, says Steven Chown. A biologist, he studies the conservation of polar species at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.



Most of Signy Island, near the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, is covered in thick ice or barren rocks. But vegetation does cover some of the low-lying spots, as seen here.A.P. Taylor & S. Adlard, British Antarctic Survey (CC BY 4.0)



And Antarcticas warmer, wetter climate might not be good for its natives.



Vegetation at the south end of the world is very unique, notes Bokhorst.



Plants and animals found in the extreme north the Arctic resemble those elsewhere. The warmest parts of Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard Island (to their east) bustle with grasses, flowers, butterflies and bees. Rodents and foxes creep about.



Why Antarctica and the Arctic are polar opposites



Antarctica, in contrast, has been far more isolated, for 30 million years. It plunged into a far deeper cold than the Arctic. And its simple ecosystems look very different from those in the Arctic.



Across all of Antarctica and its islands, only two species of insects naturally exist. Both are flies, though one of them a midge lacks wings.



Antarctica hosts greenery only in a few places. Most of it is moss and lichens that creep over rocks. Across the whole Antarctic continent, youll find only two native species of vascular plants (those with roots, stems and leaves). One is a wispy hair grass. The other, a pearlwort, resembles a puffy green pincushion with tiny yellow flowers.



Antarctic hair grass and pearlwort (forming a green cushion above the grass) are the only two vascular plants native to Antarctica. These were found growing on Livingston Island, near the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.Gerald Corsi/iStock/Getty Images Plus



You will not find [this sparse ecosystem] anywhere else on the planet, says Bokhorst. And its now threatened by climate change and invasive species. Within two or three centuries, alien species could replace many of the natives. Parts of the Antarctic Peninsula may look lush and green during summer.



Polar biologists dont welcome this.




As this map shows (exploded from globe at lower right), the Antarctic Peninsula and its islands are not far from the southern tip of South America. Many species are poised to hitchhike south on planes and ships as a warming climate melts what had been the Antarctics deep, permanent ice cover. See the full, expandable and navigable map here: South Shetland Islands and the Northern Antarctic Peninsula.Tom Patterson/U.S. Library of Congress (https://lccn.loc.gov/2024586062)




Vanished forests



Today, its hard to imagine parts of Antarctica turning green. After all, ice up to four kilometers (2.5 miles) thick now blankets 98 percent of the continent. Most of the rest is bare gravel and rock a frigid polar desert. Seals, penguins and seabirds (such as skuas and petrels) inhabit only the outer coastal fringes.



But it wasnt always that way.



Forty million years ago, Antarctica was much warmer than today. The Antarctic Peninsula was inhabited by frogs, ponds and forests of southern beech trees. Fossils of extinct frogs, mammals, birds, trees and plants are still found there today.S.P. Barrette & J.G. de Puerto Montt/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0), and Mats Wedin/Swedish Museum of Nat. Hist.



Forty million years ago, forests of southern beech trees covered much of Antarctica perhaps even the South Pole. Furry marsupials, similar to modern-day possums and badgers, prowled the undergrowth.



It was a warmer, more pleasant climate, says Byron Adams. A polar biologist, he works at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. That ancient climate, he says, was more like South Americas modern-day Patagonia.



Until 35 million years ago, Antarctica was linked to South America. Then the two continents started drifting apart.



South America still hosts southern beech trees and marsupials. But Antarctica, isolated at the bottom of the world, plunged into permanent cold. Thousands of its species died off, including trees and mammals.



Antarctic rocks hold fossils of beech trees, water lilies, frogs, mammals and other creatures. Only a few types of land animals all quite small have survived.



Turn over a rock and you may find insect-like critters called springtails. Each is no larger than a comma on a page. Some soils harbor microscopic tardigrades, mites and worms. Mosses and lichens sparsely dot rocky sites that get water and direct sunlight in summer. But oases that are lush with native grass, pearlwort and flies exist only on the northern Antarctic Peninsula.



Some moss clumps have grown there for thousands of years. Scientists have studied their layers, like tree rings and discovered something alarming.



Bumpy moss and lichen covers the rocky ground on Ardley Island (next to King George Island), at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. This is the warmest area of Antarctica, where vegetation can grow for two to three months each year, once snow and ice cover has melted.Dan Charman/University of Exeter



An ominous growth spurt



For a long while, the mosses had grown at a slow, even rate. But as the Peninsula started warming around 1950, their growth started to spurt. By 2010, they were growing two to four times faster than before.



We were surprised, says Thomas Roland of these findings. This speedup, he notes, is unprecedented in the last 4,000 years. A paleoecologist, Roland works at the University of Exeter in England.



A more recent study found something similar on Signy Island. It lies 650 kilometers (400 miles) northeast of King George Island. Nicoletta Cannone is a botanist at Insubria University in Italy. Shes studied the expansion of Antarcticas native grass and pearlwort. And between 1960 and 2018, the area covered by these two plants roughly tripled. Her team reported the finding in 2022.



Hair grass (panels A and C-G) and pearlwort (panels B and H-M) are the only vascular plants native to Antarctica. They only grow on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula or on islands off its coast. Here, theyre seen on King George Island.L. Cavieres, Univ. de Concepcin, Chile



Most recently, Roland and Oliver Bartlett studied satellite images. They used color to analyze extent of vegetation over a wide swath of the Antarctic Peninsula. Bartlett is a remote sensing scientist at the University of Hertfordshire in England. The pairs analysis suggested that green areas on the Peninsula expanded rapidly from 1986 to 2021.



Such data suggest Antarcticas sparse greenery is already responding to a climate-related fever of just 1 to 2 degrees C (1.8 to 3.6 degrees F). By 2100, total warming on the Antarctic Peninsula will likely reach 2.3 to 6.1 degrees C (4.1 to 11 degrees F). Thats according to new projections published February 20 in Frontiers in Environmental Science. Even if warming happens more slowly, its possible that by 2300, the Peninsula could warm by 4 to 8 degrees C (7.2 to 14.4 degrees F). It will depend on how much more greenhouse gases humans produce.



Warmer seas trigger skyrocketing ice loss in 3 Antarctic glaciers



That much warming could have huge effects. Right now, the average summer temperature on King George Island is around 1.5 C (34.7 F). But by 2300, its average summer temperature could hit 5 to 9 C (41 to 48 F). Thats similar to some cities in northern Siberia, in Russia, where trees line the streets.



Warm summers are already causing hundreds of Antarctic glaciers to melt and retreat. One study estimates that within 75 years, ice-free sections of the northern Peninsula could nearly triple to 19,000 square kilometers (7,300 square miles). Thats an area larger than the state of Connecticut.



Even then, ice will still cover most of the Antarctic Peninsula. But retreating glaciers will leave thousands of ice-free patches along coastlines. Green landscapes could take root in these.



Ecology Glacier on King George Island has already retreated 800 meters (half a mile) since 1985. The newly exposed ground is strewn with rocks and sand. Soil will have to form before most plants and animals can easily take hold.



But that can happen in just decades, says Adams at Brigham Young.




Ice-free future

















Even in the relatively warm Antarctic Peninsula, glaciers (seen here in the vicinity of Barilari Bay) still cover most land. Within 75 years, however, the area of ice-free land could nearly triple to about the size of Connecticut. This would provide new areas where plants and animals can take hold, including invasive species.











All: D. Fox






Stinky fish and penguin poo



Adams has studied the return of life in other places where glaciers have retreated.



At first, single-celled microbes chew on rocks. They release nutrients, such as phosphorus, iron and calcium. That allows lichens and moss to move in, followed by Antarctic grass or pearlwort.



Plants accelerate soil-forming, Adams says. Theyre actually physically cracking rocks open with their roots.



Seabirds, penguins or seals may form new summer colonies. This could further speed the arrival of plants, says Juliana Souza-Kasprzyk. She works at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. A biologist, shes spent several summers studying these colonies on King George Island.



The future of Antarctic mainland could one day resemble this grassy meadow full of king penguins on the subantarctic South Georgia Island.Cindy Kassab/The Image Bank/Getty Images Plus



In these areas, Souza-Kasprzyk says, you have more vegetation. And that makes sense. Birds and seals hunt fish and krill in the ocean, then poop on land. Their wastes ferry tons of fertilizing nutrients from ocean to land each year. They are enriching the soils, she explains.



In 200 years, the Antarctic Peninsula will be significantly greener, Peter Convey predicts. A polar ecologist, he works for the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, England.



Invading species may contribute to that greening.



Already, thousands of scientists and tourists visit Antarctica every year. Stray seeds, insects and other critters hitchhike along on their ships and planes.



Lets learn about Antarctica



There are already quite a lot of [species] that could survive [here] year-round, says Convey. At least 18 non-native species now live in Antarctica. Three are spreading quite quickly on the Peninsula.



An invasive grass, Poa annua, is growing on King George Island, Signy Island and a dozen other places. In experiments, it outcompetes the native grass and pearlwort. On King George, it is already taking hold in the bare rocky spaces that emerge as Ecology Glacier retreats.



Poa annua is hardly some special, rugged pioneer. This annual bluegrass is the same turf sometimes used on golf courses, notes Chown. You find it in the cracks of the pavement in cities across Europe and North America.



The winter crane fly, shown here, is native to Europe. Now its spreading on King George Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula.O. Volonterio/Sec. Zoologa de Invertebrados/Univ. de la Repblica, Uruguay



Boom town growth



Two species of fast-growing invasive flies are also spreading on King George Island: the winter crane fly and the moth fly. Both took hold in the sewage systems at research stations on the island. The flies are now spreading, gorging on stinky seal carcasses, penguin poo and rotting plants.



These invaders exhibit a fast-growing, boom town lifestyle. And that makes them a threat to Antarctic natives.



At first glance, Antarcticas native plants and creepy-crawlies seem tough. You can send them to space, you can put them in liquid nitrogen at -196 C (-320 F), and they survive, says Claudia Colesie. Shes a polar plant ecologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. In some cases, retreating glaciers have revealed mosses buried under ice for 600 years that can revive and grow.



But Antarctic species are also surprisingly vulnerable. Many of these mosses, springtails, worms and other critters spend most of their time dried out, in suspended animation. They only wake to grow when conditions are good. But the growth rates of the local species are very, very slow, explains Colesie. That allows them to survive in soils with few nutrients.



Coming warmer, wetter summers might favor the invaders. Species that live and grow faster, says Colesie, can outcompete some of the local species.



Worst of all, those invaders could change the environment in ways that give them an even greater advantage.



Invasive species could enrich the nutrient-poor soils. For instance, an invasive midge has been spreading on Signy Island. Its larval maggots live in soil. They have strong mouthparts and can eat tough, dead plant matter that native critters cannot. As they poop out digested material, the nutrients in it will fertilize plant growth.



Antarctica and its neighboring islands have only two native species of insects but are increasingly hosting invaders. One is a wingless fly, called a midge (left), seen on Signy Island. Its young maggots (right) are fertilizing the soils with nitrogen, which could pave the way for more invasive species to arrive.British Antarctic Survey (CC BY 4.0)



On Signy Island, Convey and Jesamine Bartlett have found that soils with this invasive midge have three to five times more nitrogen (a fertilizer) than normal. Bartlett is a polar biologist at the Equinor Research Center in Trondheim, Norway.



Bokhorst at Vrije University has done experiments showing that one species of wood louse (often called a roly-poly, or pill bug) would have similar effects if it took hold in Antarctica. (So far it has not.) But the invasive moth fly on King George Island might enrich soils there. If it does, these invasive insects could pave the way for fast-growing invasive plants to take over.



Invaders on a sugar high



My biggest concern, says Bokhorst, is that a new insect and plant invade as a team. As the insect enriches the soil, the invading plant will grow taller and faster. These traits would let them start enhancing each other, he says. In short order, he worries, their changes could spiral out of control.



Enriched soils would allow even more invasive plants to take hold. Bokhorst believes this could occur more easily than most people realize.



Several years ago, Bokhorst ran some lab experiments. These looked at how 26 non-native plant species would do if their seeds landed on a typical Antarctic soil.



After six months of simulated winter at -5 C (23 F), he warmed them to a summer temperature of 2 C (36 F). Eighteen species sprouted and grew. After a second winter and summer, 15 were still growing. Concludes Bokhorst, Antarcticas current climate conditions are already suitable for a lot of plants from other places.





Return of rodents … and trees?



A few islands north of King George Island show how this might play out. These subantarctic islands are cold, rocky, treeless and weather-beaten. They have penguin colonies. Some host glaciers. All are warmer than the Antarctic Peninsula but colder than Patagonia.



People have visited them since the 1800s, initially to hunt seals and whales. Dozens of non-native species now inhabit these islands. On South Georgia and Kerguelen islands, entire hillsides shimmer in summer with dandelions yellow blooms. Its the same weed that pops up in U.S. lawns and playgrounds. Bokhorst found that this flower can already grow and survive winters in Antarctic soils.




Make a wish?



Ashley Cooper/Corbis/Getty Images Plus
Dandelions growing on South Georgia, a subantarctic island. The non-native weed has spread rapidly and begun outcompeting native species. Dandelions arrived when Norwegian whalers insisted on putting soil from Norway atop the grave of a shipmate who had died on the island.





Anything that is already established in the subantarctic, we could plausibly regard as a risk [for invading the Antarctic Peninsula], says the British Antarctic Surveys Convey.



This is why Chown at Monash University worries about mice. A lot.



While working on subantarctic Marion Island, he saw evidence of house mice. After arriving from Europe in the 1800s, these rodents devoured native insects. By the 1980s, when Chown was there, they were preying on local seabirds called wandering albatross. They killed chicks and chewed on the heads of adult birds.



These wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) stand near their nest South Georgia Island. This bird naturally inhabits several of the subantarctic islands. It is threatened on at least one of them (Marion Island) by invasive mice, which kill chicks and injure the adult birds.Paul Souders/Stone/Getty Images Plus



Says Chown, that would just be a nightmare on the Antarctic Peninsula. Rodents could attack local seabirds, including penguins.



At least one dead rat has been found on King George Island. It probably hitchhiked there in a shipment of lumber. The little buck-toothed fellow didnt survive the cold. But by the 2080s, parts of the Peninsula might be warm enough for mice or rats. And thats not far off, Chown notes.



Some invading species on the Peninsula might be returnees. Fossil wood, leaves and pollen from southern beech trees have been found across Antarctica. Beeches may have grown on King George Island as recently as 20 million years ago. Forests of them still live close by, in Patagonia.




The past could be the future













This fossil (above, left) shows the leaf of a southern beech tree that grew on the Antarctic Peninsula 20 million years ago. Closely related trees (right) still live at the tip of South America, which was once connected to Antarctica. These trees grow in cold, mountainous areas of South America (below).



Top left: M. Leppe, H. Mansilla, C. Trevisan/Antarctic and Patagonia Paleobiology Laboratory/Chilean Antarctic Institute-INACH/Punta Arenas, Chile (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0); Top right: Goddard Photography/iStock/Getty Images Plus; Bottom: emicristea/iStock/Getty Images Plus




On the Antarctic Peninsula, there are probably some sweet spots where they will already be able to grow, says Bokhorst. He imagines a rare north-facing cove with summer sunlight and water melting off a nearby glacier. The trees would be small and stunted, like bushes. And at first, they wouldnt easily spread beyond these isolated spots.



But if rapid warming continues for centuries, says Convey, all bets are off.



A return of southern beech forests to the Antarctic Peninsula would not restore the continent to its distant, lush past. These trees would lack the other species that filled those ancient ecosystems. They would mingle instead with many of the weeds and pests inhabiting cities and farms across the globe. Moth flies and mice might flit around penguin colonies. Dandelions and bluegrass could sprout from rocky meadows.



That mishmash of weeds and wildlife would replace current landscapes. And that would be a real shame, says Bokhorst. The unique ecosystem that took 30 million years to evolve could vanish in a few short centuries.






]]> Thu, 26 Feb 2026 11:30:00 PST kidzsearch Other 1 1 0 https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/antarctica-faces-a-green-and-weedy-future/ https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/lets-learn-how-to-make-a-sports-ball-soar/ https://www.snexplores.org/article/lets-learn-how-sports-ball-soar-physics



A basketball players smooth, nothing-but-net shot. A softball pitchers wicked curveball. A football quarterbacks beautiful spiral toss. These arent just athletic spectacles. Theyre feats of physics.



Making a ball take a specific path through the air is difficult, no matter the sport. Thats because the tiny details of a balls shape and spin can have a big impact on how it interacts with the air and therefore its motion.



See all the entries from our Lets Learn About series



Some physicists study these nit-picky details to give athletes an edge in their game. For example, scientists are trying to use physics to help football players improve their spirals. Engineers, meanwhile, have gone different routes. Some have redesigned balls. While others have applied some of this knowledge to design better vehicles.



For instance, a ball or other object flying through the air experiences a type of friction called drag. This force acts against an objects motion, slowing it down. But adding dimples to the surface of an object like those found on a golf ball allows air to flow around the ball more smoothly and reduces drag. Engineers recently borrowed this concept to design dimpled surfaces that could help vehicles cut through air and water more easily.



A balls path through the air also depends on how it spins. Thats because a balls spin causes air to flow differently around different sides of it. Softball and baseball players harness those effects to pitch balls that curve in various directions. These airflow affects also impact how other balls, including basketballs, arc through the air. Such effects could be used to improve the spinning cylinders that help power cargo ships.





Want to know more? Weve got some stories to get you started:



Precise tee placement can improve golf driving, teen finds This middle-school engineer built a golf-ball-hitting machine out of a clay-pigeon launcher. (2/10/2026) Readability: 6.0



How to make a pitched ball curve to your will Pitchers have many tricks up their sleeves. Physics explains how they work. (9/18/2025) Readability: 6.1



Holey basketballs! 3-D printing could be a game-changer An airless design makes Wilsons new basketball quieter and puncture-proof. (7/1/2024) Readability: 7.2





This video shows how a physical phenomenon known as the Magnus effect impacts spinning balls and could be used for better boat design.



Explore more



Scientists Say: Force



Explainer: What is friction?



Pickleballs inspire a new way to reduce drag on vehicles



Aerodynamics involved in shooting hoops can make vehicles greener



Due to global warming, major league hitters are slugging more home runs



Researchers reveal the secret to the perfect football throw



These young researchers take aim at sports



Activities



Word find



Want an excuse to play around at the gym or outside while you do science? Check out our experiment from Science Buddies investigating where a basketballs energy goes as it loses its bounce.  




]]> Tue, 24 Feb 2026 09:30:00 PST kidzsearch Other -4 -2 2 https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/lets-learn-how-to-make-a-sports-ball-soar/ https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/why-more-states-are-adding-back-cursive-writing-to-school-lessons/ https://net.kidzsearch.com/why-more-states-are-adding-back-cursive-writing-to-school-lessons/ Mon, 23 Feb 2026 22:02:23 PST kidzsearch Other 1 1 0 https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/why-more-states-are-adding-back-cursive-writing-to-school-lessons/ https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/exploring-ramadan-traditions-and-customs/ https://www.dogonews.com/2026/2/17/exploring-ramadan-traditions-and-customs Tue, 17 Feb 2026 09:31:31 PST kidzsearch Other 1 1 0 https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/exploring-ramadan-traditions-and-customs/ https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/girl-scout-cookies-season-is-here--check-out-the-new-flavor/ https://net.kidzsearch.com/girl-scout-cookies-season-is-here-check-out-the-new-flavor/ Sun, 11 Jan 2026 15:00:53 PST kidzsearch Other 1 1 0 https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/girl-scout-cookies-season-is-here--check-out-the-new-flavor/ https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/proof-we-are-getting-old-in-january-2026/ https://net.kidzsearch.com/proof-we-are-getting-old-in-january-2026/ Fri, 02 Jan 2026 02:17:45 PST kidzsearch Other -2 -1 1 https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/proof-we-are-getting-old-in-january-2026/ https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/humans-used-to-sleep-twice-at-night--why-did-it-stop/ https://net.kidzsearch.com/humans-used-to-sleep-twice-at-night-why-did-it-stop/ Tue, 11 Nov 2025 16:39:12 PST kidzsearch Other -2 -1 1 https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/humans-used-to-sleep-twice-at-night--why-did-it-stop/ https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/wisconsin-fisherman-discovers-historic-shipwreck/ https://www.dogonews.com/2025/6/23/wisconsin-fisherman-discovers-historic-shipwreck Sun, 22 Jun 2025 23:48:13 PDT kidzsearch Other -6 -1 5 https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/wisconsin-fisherman-discovers-historic-shipwreck/ https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/why-we-celebrate-juneteenth/ https://www.dogonews.com/2025/6/13/why-we-celebrate-juneteenth Fri, 13 Jun 2025 00:39:17 PDT kidzsearch Other -6 -1 5 https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/why-we-celebrate-juneteenth/ https://kidzsearch.com/news/other/new-ocean-sanctuaries-house-young-coral-and-even-flee-peril/ https://www.snexplores.org/article/mobile-artificial-coral-reef



Columbus, Ohio Preserving threatened coral reefs is no longer enough. Now, we must help build new ones, say Ja Young Kim, 17, and Jiho Kong, 19. Theyve just designed one new option: robotic nurseries to attract and nurture baby corals.



These modular units start as floating, hexagon-shaped cells. Once deployed in the water, they can link together to make large ocean habitats. These apartment-like structures even monitor for potential dangers. Before turbulent weather might turn young colonies belly-up, robots can propel the coral apartment buildings to safety.



Ja Young Kim and Jiho Kong stand on a beach in Saipan one of the islands making up the Mariana Archipelago.J.Y. Kim and J. Kong



Jiho and Ja Young live in Saipan. Its the largest of the 14 Northern Mariana Islands, a volcanic archipelago north of Australia. The world’s deepest ocean site the Mariana Trench lies just east of this island chain.



Saipan is “a beautiful place that is surrounded by the ocean,” notes Jiho. “I’m a diver.” Just off the white sand beaches here, “there used to be a beautiful coral reef.” A few years ago, the coral here appeared “every different color,” Jiho recalls. No longer. The reef is now bleached white and dead.



Dying coral is “not just a story that we can hear from newsletters or books,” Ja Young says. For her, the problem can’t be ignored. So she and Jiho teamed up to build a fleet of robotic apartment complexes for baby coral. It would provide them homes. And being mobile, they can move when storms threaten.



Their work earned these juniors at Saipan International School a place here, last month, as finalists at the 75th annual Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, or ISEF. Society for Science which also publishes this magazine created ISEF and still runs it. This years 1,657 finalists came from 62 nations or territories. Together, they took home nearly $9 million in prizes.



Singing apartment blocks



Each cell is about the size of a small microwave oven. Individual cells can link up with others, forming platforms that roll with the waves.



For this project, “We created everything, says Ja Young. We 3-D printed everything.” They chose materials that will break down in the ocean over time. That way, they won’t pollute the environment if individual units separate and get lost.



The duo tested their cells’ ability to link up in a borrowed swimming pool in Korea, says Ja Young. “And then we borrowed this wave-creating machine in order to make sure [their habitat wont] just float away.”



Their system consists of two types of cells. The first offers a safe harbor for coral larvae. They can attach to these coral cells and grow. The second are power cells. These similarly shaped units can drive the coral-housing units. Each power cell has a propeller,” Ja Young points out, and runs on solar energy. So power cells can motor coral cells to the perfect nursery location. Once they arrive, these cells can link together. A tether connects them to the ocean floor. This ensures they won’t drift away.



To advertise the housing units have arrived, the cells sing a song.



This “special soundscape,” Ja Young explains, “can attract the coral larvae onto the structure. Its melody the sound of healthy corals sounds like soft bubbles and gently sloshing water, she says. When larvae hear it, theyll flock to it as they would to a healthy reef.



When deployed underwater, a coral cell (left unit) provides a safe haven for larvae to establish new colonies. A power cell (right unit) can link with that undersea houseboat and propel it to safety when dangerous storms may threaten these accommodations.J.Y. Kim and J. Kong



These can be mobile homes



Once they arrive, the tiny larvae begin setting up a new artificial reef. However, this apartment complex can do something natural reefs cant. It can flee danger.



This could counter a problem seen with other coral-restoration systems. Jiho and Ja Young learned that many werent very successful. Take the type known as coral trees. Once installed on the ocean floor, many of these vanish.



For every 10 coral trees installed, “eight will be missing by the end of the year,” Ja Young says. No one knows what happens to them. “We wanted to fix that,” she says.




Watch this video of the designers of the new coral sanctuary describing what motivated them to create the new tech and how it would work.




Their solution was to build an escape plan into their housing units. For example, Ja Young says, “There could be a typhoon coming.” The undersea waves kicked up by such a storm could destroy the cells. “We cannot make the house not blow away,” she says. But “we can make it run away.”



Their coral-housing units not only can move, but also decide when its time to move.



Jiho spearheaded this part of the project. “I wanted to link my knowledge about robotics and computer science to this project,” he says.



He linked the cells to the internet so they can receive ocean data. These include temperature readings and other weather updates from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They use open-source data, which are freely available for all to use.



Their systems motorized cells use these data to make decisions. If a dangerous storm looms, these cells will know. They can turn on their propellers and head for safer waters. An “algorithm and the website itself can also designate a destination,” says Ja Young.



Even if people do nothing, these cells can execute an escape. Thanks to clever programming, the cells can pick their own destination. They also can calculate the best route. This escape feature sets their technology apart from other coral-transplant systems, says Jiho. Few such technologies can flee danger. And those that do need a lot of human help. Human labor makes them “less efficient in both cost and time,” Jiho says.



Each cell costs about $120 to make, says Ja Young. Thats far less than similar technologies. Most, he says, cost about “a thousand times more.”



The coral apartments must still undergo ocean tests. Simulations show a lot of promise. However, unseen problems could occur.



Ja Young recalls the kaleidoscopic colors of local reefs from snorkeling trips with her dad. “‘It’s pink! Blue! It’s colorful inside,” she remembers. She was in middle school then. Today, waves sweep bleached coral fragments onto the sand. Ja Young hopes their new invention will do more than try to preserve the past. She hopes it will rebuild a more colorful future.










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Columbus, Ohio Todays menu special: giant water bugs (Lethocerus indicus). Some may balk at eating insects. But these meaty big boys one of the biggest members of the family of true bugs add a prized aroma to food, notes Kasidet Srisuk, 16. He likens its scent to green apple mixed with banana. Unfortunately, populations of these insects are falling. Thats why he and two classmates launched a crusade to save these not-so-creepy crawlies.



In Thailand, “we make Nam Prik Mang Da, explains Thunvarat Jaturon, 17. Giant water bugs are the key ingredient in this chili paste. Indeed, theyre “very special in Thailand,” she says. But not just here. From India through Southeast Asia, many people enjoy snacking on this prized, if pricey, protein-rich street food or dining on curries and sauces flavored with mashed water bugs.



Kasidet Srisuk, Thunvarat Jaturon and Pruttachart Khongsawat (left to right) developed new tools for farming giant water bugs. K.G. Carpenter/Science News Explores



The insects can reach 5 to 8 centimeters (2 to 3 inches) long. In the wild, they dine on tadpoles, small fish and large insects. There used to be lots of giant water bugs to harvest, Thunvarat says. But that’s no longer true.



Pesticides running off the land have been killing giant water bugs. Habitat loss and climate change have hurt them, too, she notes, by reducing their prey.



Insect farmers have stepped in, trying to raise these bugs. However, that hasnt proven easy.



But she, Kasidet and Pruttachart Khongsawat,16, may have found a way to sustainably rear these mini livestock. All three high-school students attend Demonstration School of Khon Kaen University in Muang Khonkaen, Thailand. For a science fair project, they developed a new recipe for bug feed. It greatly boosts the bugs growth.



And thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), the team overcame another big challenge: visually identifying males (the tastier and more valued bugs) from females. That will allow farmers to save those females as brood stock for raising more offspring.





Watch a woman sample a deep-fried giant water bug for the first time. Shes pleasantly surprised. Her conclusion: One might think of them as natural Doritos.



Winner, winner, fish gut dinner



The trio of Thai teens tackled two problems faced by water bug farmers. We tried to solve them one by one, says Thunvarat. The first issue: the insects picky diet.



Some people envision bugs as dirty scavengers. In fact, these predatory bugs like fresh prey, such as tiny shrimp or tadpoles. They get squeamish about dining on something thats already dead. But rearing big populations of fresh prey would complicate the bug-farming process and up its cost.



Live prey has a special [scent], Kasidet says, which hungry giant bugs seek out. The teens found a workaround. They cooked up a new recipe, Kasidet notes, with a similar smell to the live prey. The winning formula: fish guts and gelatin.




K, Srisuk, P. Khongsawat and T. Jaturon
New feed that the teens developed for raising giant water bugs consists of fish byproducts and gelatin. To appeal to the predatory insects, the team shaped their faux prey (see here) to look like the baby catfish that they naturally dine on in the wild.





The protein-rich first ingredient is a byproduct of the fishing industry that would normally be thrown away. The students blended it with a gelatin that could be molded to look like baby catfish.



The carnivorous bugs happily chow down on the new food. Even better, this diet improves their survival rate by 60 percent compared to bugs fed a natural diet.



Overcoming an identity crisis



Giant water bug farming works best with equal numbers of males and females. But diners are willing to pay substantially more for the fruit-scented males. So it helps if a farmer can track the share of male and female bugs.



Thats proven tricky because at first glance, they all look pretty much alike, notes Pruttachart. But three clues helped the teens overcome bug-sex confusion.




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“The female is a lot bigger,” Pruttachart notes. That’s the first clue. Females also have distinctive markings on their abdomens. “It looks like the letter U,” he says. Finally, the ladies are a bit darker than the guys.



Using water bug photos, the students trained an AI program on these clues. In no time, it could count male and female bugs quickly. That’s key, as insect farming involves a lot of bugs.



No one else is doing this type of sex determination of the bugs, says Pruttachart. His team created the first AI app to do this, he says.




Watch the trio of Thai high school students describe why they chose giant water bug farming as theme of their science fair project and what they learned along the way.




Giant water bugs undergo five developmental stages as they grow. The AI can determine sex by their fourth stage, when theyre about a month old. Its not foolproof. But so far, its about 80 percent accurate, Pruttachart says.



Another benefit to that quick ID of a bugs sex: figuring out which ones to send to market. Being fruit-scented, the males sell for twice as much as females, says Thunvarat. That scent explains why many chefs prize males in their cooking.



These innovations could lead to sustainable water bug farming, the teens say. The nutritious, high-protein food also offers to help preserve an Asian cultural heritage of water bug dining. Without help, this culinary tradition might be lost.



For their work, the trio became $1,200 award winners in animal science here in May as part of the 75th annual Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair, or ISEF. Society for Science (which also publishes this magazine) created ISEF and still runs it. This years 1,657 finalists came from 62 nations or territories. Together, they took home nearly $9 million in prizes.










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