Michigan School District Calls for Ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas War

Fani Willis Drops a Bombshell‚ but It Is a Dud

'Tis the season for colds and flu‚ and with a hefty dose of COVID-19 and other viruses thrown into the mix‚ chances are you or people you know are feeling pretty rough right now. When you’re struck down with the sniffles‚ it’s usually not long before a well-meaning person advises you to “feed a cold‚ starve a fever.” But before you grab that thermometer or go ladling copious amounts of soup down your neck‚ we thought it worth asking: is there any science behind the saying?Should you really “feed a cold”?While it is perfectly fine to eat if you have a cold‚ it likely won’t have any magical curative powers – although a small study back in 2002 did suggest that eating could have a positive impact on the adaptive immune system. Until more definitive research is performed‚ however‚ experts tend to agree that it’s more important to keep an eye on your fluid intake than to worry about what you’re eating.“Both fevers and colds can cause dehydration‚” explains Dr Rachel Dawkins from Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.The body uses more water than usual when you have a cold – all that mucus stuffing up your nose has to come from somewhere. It’s important that you replenish that by drinking more. Something like hot water with a touch of lemon and honey can be soothing if your throat is sore‚ and if you fancy a change with some fruit juice occasionally that’s fine too. Even tea or coffee in moderation is okay – whatever helps keep your pee a lovely pale yellow color.If you have an appetite‚ eating some nutritious food won’t do you any harm when it comes to recovering from a cold. Many people throughout history have touted the benefits of chicken soup when you’re under the weather‚ and there’s a surprising amount of science to back that up. That said‚ a vegetarian or vegan alternative will also provide you with a lovely nutrient hit‚ and if you’re not a fan of soup at all there are plenty of other good options. As registered nurse Brandi Jones wrote for VeryWell Health‚ foods that contain key vitamins and minerals‚ proteins‚ omega-3 fatty acids‚ and antioxidants can all help keep your energy levels up while you’re sick. The main thing is to try and keep your diet as balanced as possible‚ and let your immune system do its work.And don’t overlook over-the-counter remedies. Acetaminophen or ibuprofen can help with a headache or general aches and pains‚ and your pharmacist might also be able to recommend a cough medicine or throat lozenges. Should you really “starve a fever”?Fevers are not a common symptom of a cold‚ but it’s more likely that you’ll have a high temperature if you’ve come down with the flu.According to BBC Science Focus‚ the idea of starving a fever dates back to the Ancient Greeks‚ but there’s no good scientific evidence that it’s necessary. Eating may be the last thing on your mind when you’re running a temperature‚ but if you do feel hungry there’s no medical reason to deprive yourself of food. If you’ve been off your food for a while or are experiencing nausea‚ diarrhea‚ or vomiting‚ it might be best to start with bland foods like plain toast.However‚ the advice about hydration applies more than ever. “One of the main reasons why patients get admitted to the hospital in the setting of a flu or a virus infection is for dehydration‚” epidemiologist David B. Banach told Vice. Replenishing lost fluids is even more important if you’ve been sweating due to a fever‚ or if you’re unlucky enough to have some of the unpleasant gastrointestinal symptoms that can sometimes accompany the flu. In those cases‚ you may even want to consider an electrolyte powder or drink. And again‚ there are numerous over-the-counter medications that can help with all your symptoms.To eat or not to eat? While we shouldn't always be so quick to dismiss grandma's pearls of wisdom‚ this one pretty much comes down to how you feel. If your fave snack makes you feel a little better‚ go for it. If you don’t fancy any food for now‚ just be sure to keep that water bottle handy.But either way‚ there’s nothing you can eat or drink that will have a miraculous effect on your recovery. All you can really do is prevent things from getting worse while you ride it out. Which‚ we appreciate‚ is probably not the news that those of you currently fighting off the dreaded lurgy were hoping for.All “explainer” articles are confirmed by fact checkers to be correct at time of publishing. Text‚ images‚ and links may be edited‚ removed‚ or added to at a later date to keep information current. The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice‚ diagnosis‚ or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions. 

There’s a city in California where a community of people are living longer‚ healthier lives than the US average. Known as Loma Linda‚ it was recognized as one of five shining examples of longevity across the globe‚ so what are they getting so right?In You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment‚ the Netflix show highlights how people in Loma Linda eat differently from neighboring communities. Here‚ there is plenty of access to plant-based and whole foods‚ while elsewhere in the region‚ people experience “food deserts” where access to nutrition isn’t a given.Loma Linda is one of the world’s “blue zones”. What this means is that it’s an area where residents have high longevity‚ living longer and staying healthier into old age‚ and it’s a concept that was founded by explorer‚ journalist‚ and author Dan Buettner. Buettner named Loma Linda in California as one of the five original blue zones across the globe‚ joining Okinawa‚ Japan; Sardinia‚ Italy; Nicoya‚ Costa Rica; and Ikaria‚ Greece‚ as a place of exceptional longevity. What makes Loma Linda especially interesting is that it’s a city within San Bernardino County‚ and yet its 9‚000-strong community lives around 10 years longer than those outside the city‚ with men reaching around 89‚ while women can expect to live to 91.A map of Earth's "blue zones" where communities have high longevity.Image credit: Dimitrios Karamitros / Shutterstock.comThe blue zone “Power 9®” suggests that there are nine key contributors to long life‚ and it could be that Loma Linda’s religious beginnings count towards the “Belong” and “Right Tribe” categories. However‚ another key contributor is diet.The Loma Linda diet is linked to the faith of the region‚ as the Seventh-day Adventists promote plant-based eating‚ exercise‚ community‚ and reduced stress as a lifestyle. The “twin experiment” reference in the Netflix series title is out of Stanford University‚ and it too found that plant-based diets are good news for longevity.“Our study… suggests that anyone who chooses a vegan diet can improve their long-term health in two months‚” senior author Christopher Gardner‚ a professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center‚ said in a statement.“Based on these results and thinking about longevity‚ most of us would benefit from going to a more plant-based diet. A vegan diet can confer additional benefits such as increased gut bacteria and the reduction of telomere loss‚ which slows aging in the body.”Plant-based is good‚ and beans are super.Image credit: Goode Imaging / Shutterstock.comIf you’re wondering where’s a good place to start‚ nutritionally speaking‚ you could do worse than to begin with beans.“In every Blue Zone‚ they're eating about a cup of beans a day‚" Buettner said to Insider. "I believe the only superfood there is in the world is beans.""Americans don't have a clue on how to make beans taste delicious‚" he said. "People in Blue Zones‚ their great genius is they know how to make beans sing — on the way in‚ not on the way out!"Singing beans is one thing‚ but as Buettner discovered while he explored the world’s Blue Zones‚ there’s no one silver bullet for longevity. “I discovered it was really a silver buckshot‚” he explained. “Lots of little things‚ but the same little things.”

The Underwater Photography Guide has revealed the winners of their 12th annual Ocean Art competition‚ showcasing some of the finest underwater photography you’ll see this year.The Ocean Art 2023 competition featured 14 different categories‚ ranging from Portrait and Marine Life Behavior to Underwater Conservation and Black &; White. They even have a category dedicated solely to nudibranchs‚ the colorful and desperately photogenic “sea slugs” that inhabit the planet's oceans.The top prize was swooped by Suliman Alatiqi for their portrait of a crab-eating macaque swimming through the ocean near the Phi Phi Islands‚ Thailand."Aquatic Primate" won the Best in Show prize and the Portrait category.Image credit: Suliman Alatiqi/Ocean Art 2023Originally submitted to the Portrait category‚ the judges picked the image as the "Best in Show" winner as the shot took months of planning to document‚ which they said in a press release seen by IFLScience “represents the zeal and commitment needed to capture the world’s best underwater image.”“During fieldwork at Phi Phi Islands‚ Thailand‚ spanning several weeks‚ I focused my efforts on documenting the maritime behavior of the Crab-eating macaque with particular focus on their water forages‚” Alatiqi said in a statement explaining the winning photo. “The macaques have adapted very well to living around the sea and will venture into the water for various reasons including transportation‚ scavenging‚ cooling down and playing. Highly efficient swimmers‚ they can dive for up to half a minute and can cover short distances faster than most humans. This photo offers a rare glimpse of the swimming movement of a male macaque‚” Alatiqi added."Cavalluccio" won first place in the Macro category.Image credit: Alberto Casati/Ocean Art 2023This year’s competition saw the judges – renowned underwater photographers Tony Wu‚ Mark Stickland‚ and Marty Snyderman – sift through thousands of images from over 90 countries. This year’s competition also featured new rules that banned generative AI imagery in the primary categories‚ meaning these photos are 100 percent real.A total of $120‚000 in prize money was awarded to this year’s category winners‚ while many others won prizes gifted by top scuba diving resorts‚ liveaboard dive yachts‚ and underwater photo gear manufacturers.A curated selection of this year's winners (and some of our favorites) can be seen below."Mahi-Mahi Bloom": Honorable mention in the Wide Angle category.Image credit: Fabien Michenet/Ocean Art 2023"Backlit Blenny": Honorable mention in the Macro category.Image credit: Greg Sherman/Ocean Art 2023"Bunk Buddies": First place in the Wide Angle category.Image credit: Suliman Alatiqi/Ocean Art 2023"Afternoon Acrobatics": Second place in the Black &; White category.Image credit: Jon Anderson/Ocean Art 2023"Massacre": Second place in Underwater Conservation.Image credit: Yinan Liu/Ocean Art 2023"After the Wedding": First place in the Nudibranch category.Image credit: Peter Pogany/Ocean Art 2023"The Birthday": First place in Marine Life Behavior.Image credit: Kenji Sato/Ocean Art 2023"Spinner Stampede": Second place in the Wide Angle category.Image credit: Ines Goovaerts/Ocean Art 2023"Squid Hunting" won first place in the Blackwater category.Image credit: Keigo Kawamura/Ocean Art 2023If this kind of photography is your thing‚ be sure to check out the previous winners of the Ocean Art competition here and here.

An eight-year-old has broken new ground in two questions most Australians have pondered at some time: why do magpies swoop‚ and how do they pick their targets? What started out as a modest school project went viral and received tens of thousands of responses. While some of the survey’s associated questions might not be what an experienced scientist would ask‚ Emma Glenfield may have produced some significant advances in understanding the issue.In Australia‚ the rest of the world is convinced‚ everything wants to kill you – even the trees. In reality‚ deaths from snake or spider bites‚ let alone lethal leaves‚ are exceptionally rare. For many‚ the greatest wildlife fear comes from magpies in springtime.Barely related to the northern hemisphere birds of the same name‚ Australian magpies are extremely intelligent‚ playful‚ and promiscuous. They also have razer-sharp beaks‚ and every spring a small proportion of the males take to swooping humans who pass through their territory‚ sometimes deploying beak to head in the process. Possibly in cahoots with the car lobby‚ swoopers are particularly aggressive towards bike riders‚ which can lead to nasty accidents as panicked cyclists take their eyes off the road. The Australian Academy of Science even provides guidance on what to do.Blue Mountains Grammar School has a magpie on site whose name‚ Mr Swoopsalot‚ tells the story. Emma‚ then in Grade 3‚ wondered at Mr Swoopsalot’s motivation. She also noticed his targets were not random. "He's been coming to school for a long time and he's been swooping all the dads‚" she told the ABC.After Emma posed some questions about the topic‚ her teacher encouraged her to turn it into a project in mathematics‚ her favorite subject. With help from her mother‚ Kirsty‚ Emma created a survey and used flyers with a QR code to encourage fellow students and strangers to fill it in. The survey went viral‚ attracting 31‚432 responses‚ a far larger sample size than any research done on the topic by professional scientists. It became so popular a third of the submissions came from outside Australia. Kirsty Glenfield told IFLScience that while she largely let Emma run the project‚ she contributed by removing all submissions from foreign URLs‚ given the likelihood they referred to unrelated magpies of the corvid family.Kirsty took to Reddit to report the results last year. Even most people who have been swooped and hurt by magpies still love them.Image courtesy of Emma GlenfieldThe key finding was that baldness is a risk factor. “Men who are “bald on top” are twice as likely (30%) to have been swooped in the preceding twelve months than people with other hairstyles (15%)‚” Kirsty reported.Other danger factors include height‚ with those over 183 centimeters (6 feet) also twice as likely to have been swooped in the previous year as those under 160 centimeters (5 feet 3 inches). Unsurprisingly‚ given these factors‚ men were more likely to have been swooped recently than women‚ but Emma did not test the effect of gender when height and hair were controlled for.Tall and bald being an unusual combination in primary school‚ only one of Emma’s fellow students reported being swooped‚ she told IFLScience. However‚ this didn’t stop many of them from being frightened of their local bird‚ having seen fathers and teachers alike fall victim.Magpies are also apparently somewhat fatphobic‚ with high BMI posing a modestly increased risk.More people had been swooped while walking than riding‚ but allowing for how frequently each is practiced in Australia‚ it is clear cyclists are at the greatest risk.Emma had never used Excel – when asked‚ she told her mother she thought it was a size for pants – and Kirsty opted not to teach her. Instead‚ Emma produced bar graphs out of Lego. Kirsty noted to IFLScience that this turned out to offer advantages Microsoft might want to consider in future releases. “Physically handling and construction is very helpful for children‚” Kirsty said. “They really get a sense of how much more red than blue there is on a question.”Percentage recorded in Lego‚ not Excel. Each button indicates 1 percent of those in that category.Image courtesy of Emma GlenfieldIn a statement‚ Emma said: “It’s been really fun doing this survey. I’ve been amazed that so many people wanted to talk about magpies and get involved. I hope my project helps people understand magpies better‚ and that people will understand that magpie dads are just looking after their babies. If you take time to make friends with magpies before swooping season‚ they will learn that you are not dangerous but are their friend. Thank you for your help.”After being put in touch with behavioral ecologist Professor Darryl Jones of Griffith University‚ Emma is working on a paper for submission to scientific publication. Both Jones and Kirsty Glenfield stress that‚ while they are helping on such matters as showing Emma how to do a literature review‚ decisions on which questions to ask and prioritize for analysis are all Emma’s. Jones is co-author of a seminal paper on the topic rebutting the belief testosterone makes magpies swoop. A broader review may include the less rigorous study that concluded red hair is the most effective swooping deterrent.Emma’s leadership showed up in a question of how much people like magpies‚ which‚ as Kirsty noted to IFLScience‚ few professional scientists would have asked. Nevertheless‚ the results were revealing. Overwhelmingly‚ Australians love magpies. It won the bird of the year contest the first time it was imported from New Zealand‚ and its song recently gained recognition as the nation’s favorite animal sound. Most respondents to Emma’s survey rated them 10 out of 10 on a scale of hate to love. Nevertheless‚ 14 percent of the recently swooped reported hating them‚ compared to just 4 percent of those who had never been swooped.Men are more likely to have been swooped than women‚ but is this just because they are taller on average and more likely to be bald?Image courtesy of Emma GlenfieldEmma is considering potential topics for follow-up studies if her work achieves publication‚ but when IFLScience asked if she wished to become a professional scientist when older she responded: “Maybe an inventor.” Either way‚ we have high hopes.[H/T: The ABC]

Quasicrystals are very interesting entities. They have ordered structures but they do not repeat‚ so they are – as the name suggests – almost like crystals‚ but not exactly. This difference is certainly not a disadvantage‚ since quasicrystals often showcase properties your common-or-garden material could only dream of. And this is the case for a truly unusual quasicrystal that is being studied by researchers in Japan.This is the first time that the magnetic properties of this particular quasicrystal have been explored‚ and the research shows that they are quite unique. The team believes that the breakthrough is pushing the field of condensed matter physics and quasicrystal research into brand new territories. The researchers are confident that it could pave the way for new and more advanced electronic devices‚ and even magnetic refrigeration technologies.The quasicrystal in question is made of gold‚ gallium‚ and terbium. One of the structures is an icosahedron – a 3D figure with 20 faces – as well as an approximant crystal (AC) that is cubic. Both of them are Tsai-types. These kinds of quasicrystals and approximants are made of four concentric shells with a tetrahedron at the very center. A tetrahedron is a pyramid shape in which all four faces are triangles.Next up is the magnetism part. These quasicrystals don’t follow the classical Heisenberg model of ferromagnetism‚ and it is expected that their magnetic nano-patterns are whirls or vortices. The pattern for each tiny crystal is like many little magnetic poles winding around a central region. This resembles a tornado or a whirlwind‚ hence why it is described as "whirling magnetism".This might already seem quite complex‚ but we are just getting started. In the immortal words of Samuel L. Jackson in Jurassic Park: "Hold on to your butts". Depending on the number of available electrons per atom (the e/a ratio)‚ the magnetic properties of these quasicrystals are wild. Above a ratio of 1.9‚ the crystal is a so-called spin glass‚ so all the magnetic moments of the atoms are randomly interacting.Below that‚ things get interesting. Around a ratio of 1.8‚ the material has strong whirling ferromagnetism – the magnetic moments all align‚ and the crystal is magnetized and remains so. But if the ratio falls below 1.7‚ a third thing happens. The structure becomes a whirling antiferromagnet. Its magnetic moments all cancel out‚ delivering zero total magnetism.The oddities all happen at just a handful of degrees above absolute zero. It shows that magnetic behavior is far from simple for both the icosahedral quasicrystals (iQCs) and their AC counterparts."These results offer important insights into the intricate interplay between magnetic interactions in non-Heisenberg Tsai-type ACs. They lay the foundation for understanding the intriguing properties of not only non-Heisenberg ACs but also non-Heisenberg iQCs that are yet to be discovered‚" senior author Professor Ryuji Tamura‚ from Tokyo University of Science‚ said in a statement.Quasicrystals such as this are considered potential units for memory storage in future tech‚ so understanding their magnetic behavior is paramount to actually using them for such devices.The study is is published in the journal Materials Today Physics.

Nearly 75 percent of the US – an area that’s home to hundreds of millions of Americans – is at risk of experiencing earthquake damage over the next 100 years. That’s according to new maps and data released by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).The areas at the highest risk are California‚ Alaska‚ and the Big Island of Hawai‘i. The chance of damaging earthquake shaking in the next century is over 95 percent across a significant part of these seismically active states.The new model has upped the risk for Hawai‘i as having greater potential for shaking in light of recent volcanic eruptions and seismic unrest on the islands.Recent data has also brought some “noteworthy changes” to the possibility of more damaging earthquakes along the central and northeastern Atlantic Coastal corridor‚ which could impact the cities of Washington DC‚ Philadelphia‚ New York‚ and Boston.Earthquakes are notoriously tricky to predict‚ but this huge‚ multi-year research project has aimed to understand where the risk lies using seismic studies‚ historical geological data‚ and cutting-edge data collection technologies. As part of this effort‚ USGS identified 500 additional fault lines that have the potential to produce damaging earthquakes."Earthquakes are difficult to forecast but we’ve made great strides with this new model. The update includes more faults‚ better-characterized land surfaces‚ and computational advancements in modeling that provide the most detailed view ever of the earthquake risks we face‚" Mark Petersen‚ USGS geophysicist and lead author of the study‚ said in a statement.Map showing the likelihood of damaging earthquake shaking in the United States over the next 100 years.Image credit: USGSEarthquakes are caused by the movement of the tectonic plates that form the outer layer of the planet. As these plates interact – crashing into each other and grinding past one another – the built-up stress can exceed the strength of the rocks‚ leading to a sudden rupture and the release of energy in the form of seismic waves that shake the ground.The US is relatively seismically active for a country. Much of this activity is concentrated on the West Coast and within the Pacific due to the influence of the Ring of Fire‚ a horseshoe-shaped zone that encircles the Pacific Ocean and is known for high seismic activity.However‚ earthquake activity has been documented further afield. During the last 200 years‚ 37 US states have experienced earthquakes with a magnitude of 5 or higher.The deadliest on record is thought to be the 1906 San Francisco earthquake‚ which killed some 3‚000 people and destroyed the vast majority of the city‚ leaving half the population homeless. It was caused by a rupture in the San Andreas Fault – an incident that could happen again in the future.Geologists believe that the San Andreas Fault causes significant earthquakes every 200 years or so. It’s not a matter of “if” another earthquake will strike the area‚ but “when.”This hypothetical earthquake has been dubbed the “Big One". If it were to occur today‚ a magnitude 7.8 earthquake stemming from the southern San Andreas Fault could lead to more than 1‚800 deaths‚ displace millions‚ and cost $200 billion in damage.

Today‚ January 19‚ at 3:20 pm UTC‚ the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has made history – not just for Japan‚ but for the whole world. Its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) successfully soft-landed on the Moon. The goal was to be able to do so within just 100 meters (330 feet) of a specific target area. Never before have humans attempted such precision in landing a spacecraft on another world. It looks like it achieved this but confirmation of the precision is expected next week.With SLIM‚ Japan becomes the fifth nation ever to soft-land on the Moon‚ and the third this century. Two other Asian countries – China and India – also performed the not-so-easy feat‚ joining the previous success of the United States and former Soviet Union from the 1960s and '70s.SLIM is a technology demonstration for high-precision landing. It used observations from another JAXA mission‚ SELENE (also known as Kaguya)‚ to know precisely where it was on the surface of the Moon and move precisely to the target area. In comparison‚ the expected landing site for Apollo 11 was an ellipse 20 kilometers by 5 kilometers (12 by 3.1 miles). Achieving a landing “where we want” rather than “where we can” is a truly incredible feat.However‚ not everything has gone perfectly. After a much-anticipated press conference‚ JAXA confirmed SLIM's solar cells are not charging and generating electricity so it is currently using only its batteries. If SLIM can't charge‚ its mission life could be just a few hours. There is a chance that when the Sun's direction changes it may hit the solar cells and they could start charging‚ but for now JAXA has shut down part of the spacecraft to save power and is prioritizing downloading the landing data and photographs taken. Still‚ the mission has achieved much already‚ including the precision landing and the release of its two rovers‚ which are both communicating with Earth.Both rovers have some interesting experimental designs: the first will move using a hopping mechanism and is equipped with cameras and a few science payloads. The second‚ an extremely light rover weighing just 250 grams (9 ounces)‚ is a shapeshifter that can change shape to best adapt to various conditions it might encounter on the Moon’s surface.Despite the human Moon landings and the several soviet missions from decades past‚ reaching and landing on our natural satellite is fraught with complications – and we are not just talking about the precision reached by SLIM today. Japan has failed before. Back in November 2022‚ JAXA’s OMOTENASHI lander was lost before it reached the Moon while a similar fate was suffered in April 2023 by a Japanese startup attempting to become the first private company to land on the Moon. In August last year‚ Russia attempted its promised return to the Moon. This also ended poorly‚ with the spacecraft crashing on the surface‚ creating a brand new crater that was imaged by NASA. Just yesterday‚ the private US mission Peregrine One also failed to reach the Moon‚ instead burning up as it fell back into Earth’s atmosphere.With many more Moon missions scheduled for this year‚ success is not guaranteed‚ even 50 years after humans walked on the lunar surface. For now‚ Japan has achieved a major milestone today‚ taking us another step forward in Moon exploration. 

Some discoveries are more impressive than others and finding the largest deep-sea coral reef habitat in the world is pretty damn impressive.The team at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has discovered an area larger than the state of Vermont that contains a whole seascape of cold-water coral mounds that had‚ until now‚ remained undiscovered off the southeastern coast of the US."For years we thought much of the Blake Plateau was sparsely inhabited‚ soft sediment‚ but after more than 10 years of systematic mapping and exploration‚ we have revealed one of the largest deep-sea coral reef habitats found to date anywhere in the world‚" said Kasey Cantwell‚ operations chief for NOAA Ocean Exploration‚ in a statement.Data from 31 multibeam sonar mapping surveys‚ as well as 23 submersible dives‚ were used to produce an almost complete map of the seafloor in the area known as the Blake Plateau‚ which is about 161 kilometers (100 miles) from the southeast coast of the USA. The researchers also developed a special system to help them look at the number of coral mound features; using this‚ they identified 83‚908 individual coral mound peak features within the data. The reef habitat is vast – it's nearly the size of Florida. It's thought to consist of nearly continuous coral mound features that span up to 500 kilometers (310 miles) long and 110 kilometers (68 miles) wide‚ with a core area of high-density mounds up to 254 kilometers (158 miles) long and 42 kilometers (26 miles) wide. Blake Plateau is also not uniform‚ with lots of variation in the height and density of the coral mound formation across it.The area‚ aptly nicknamed “Million Mounds”‚ consists mostly of the stone coral Desmophyllum pertusum and has an average water temperature of 4°C (39°F). The area is also deep‚ found roughly 200 to 1‚000 meters (656 to 3‚280 feet) below the surface. No sunlight can penetrate these depths; instead‚ the corals filter-feed on nutrients from the surrounding seawater. Despite this‚ the coral is referred to as an ecosystem engineer‚ as it provides a foundation for other species‚ such as corals‚ sponges‚ invertebrates‚ and fish‚ to live within the mounds.                       "Approximately 75% of the global ocean is still unmapped in any kind of detail‚ but many organizations are working to change that‚" said Dr Derek Sowers‚ mapping operations manager for the Ocean Exploration Trust and lead author of the study."This strategic multiyear and multi-agency effort to systematically map and characterize the stunning coral ecosystem right on the doorstep of the U.S. East Coast is a perfect example of what we can accomplish when we pool resources and focus on exploring the approximately 50% of U.S. marine waters that are still unmapped‚" Sowers added.We can't wait to see what else NOAA and their partners discover next.The study is published in Geomatics.