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Due to a regular surface structure on the mussel "Adamussium colbecki" ice adheres to it only very weakly and can be easily washed away by currents. Credit: Max Planck Institute for Polymer ResearchAntarctic waters have conditions in which objects and living creatures can freeze even under water. This is a major problem for marine travel in polar regions. So-called supercooled water has a temperature just below the freezing point. Due to the high salt content, water in Antarctica has a freezing point of about -1.9 °C, but is about 0.05 °C colder. The smallest disturbances such as grains of...

(CNN) - The devastating heat wave that ravaged British Columbia last week is being blamed for a massive die-off of mussels, clams and other marine animals that live on the beaches of Western Canada. Christopher Harley, a professor in the zoology department at The University of British Columbia, found countless dead mussels popped open and rotting in their shells on Sunday at Kitsilano Beach, which is a few blocks away from his Vancouver home. Harley studies the effects of climate change on the ecology of rocky shores where clams, mussels and sea stars live, so he wanted to see how...

Update: 7.25pm: Gardaí believe three men wearing balaclavas were involved in today's shooting in Coolock. They understand that the three left the scene in a silver Toyota Avensis with a registration number 04-D-71806, which was found burnt out in the Castletymon Gardens area of Coolock at around 3.45pm. The scene has been preserved for a forensic examination and a post mortem will take place tomorrow.

A man was blasted to death on Tuesday afternoon at the family home of a pal murdered last week. Hamid Sanambar, in his 40s, and originally from Iran but living in Ireland for several years, was blasted in the head by a gunman. He was standing in the garden of the Little home on Kilbarron Avenue in Dublin’s Coolock, when he was struck by a hail of bullets.

An Iranian man who got political asylum in Ireland met three Cork men through road bowling in the county and they got together for a raid on a brothel in the city. Hamid Sanambar, aged 38, with an address at Dominic St, Cork, at the time pleaded guilty to robbing one woman of a laptop, phone and cash to the amount of €1,060 and £250 sterling at the premises on Cove St, Cork, on September 2, 2012. He also admitted robbing a laptop, phone and €3,000 from another woman, and robbing €100 from a man at the premises and entering...

Scientists at the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife have found that mussels in Seattle's waters are testing positive for opioids. The finding suggests "a lot of people" are taking oxycodone in the Puget Sound, researchers say. Scientists used mussels as a way to test pollution in Seattle's waters and discovered high enough oxycodone levels for the shellfish to test positive. Mussels do not metabolise opioids, but some fish can become addicted. Mussels are filter-feeders, which means they filter water for nutrients to nourish themselves. In the process, they end up storing pollutants in their tissues, which makes them...

One of the most remarkable examples of mimicry occurs in some North American freshwater mussels in the genus Lampsilis. Their young go through a parasitic stage, in which they must attach to the gills of fish and suck their blood before later dropping off and resuming a normal mussel-ish life on the stream bottom.

Samantha Garvey is one teenage girl who would rather read something called The Journal of Shellfish Research than Glamour magazine. "What I'm doing is the American dream," she says. The 17-year-old high school senior maintains a 3.9 grade point average at her Brentwood, N.Y., high school, studies Italian and plays the violin. She also has an unusual interest that has recently caught some attention: On Wednesday she was named one of 61 Long Island semifinalists in the national Intel Science Talent Search because of her work studying the effects of predators on ribbed mussels. "I get so excited to tell...

An invasive species of mussel called quagga has recently begun eating its way through the phytoplankton population of Lake Michigan, which could have dire effects on the lake's ecosystem, scientists now warn. A giant ring of phytoplankton (microscopic plants such as algae) was discovered in Lake Michigan in 1998 by Michigan Technological Universitybiologist W. Charles Kerfoot and his research team. The "phytoplankton doughnut" is formed when winter storms kick up nutrient-rich sediment along the southeastern shore of the lake. The disturbed sediments begin circulating in a slow-moving circle with the lake's currents, which provides a massive supply of food for...

Today is my own contribution to raising funds for Free Republic - "Musselman Challenge 2010"! For those of you who are wondering what it is: In 2003, I urged FReepers far and wide to pledge any amount they wished for every mussel I ate. Some pledged a nickel. Some pledged a quarter. Some pledged a dollar. In the end, I managed to down 101 of the little shellfish, and Free Republic won too. To see the history of the original Musselman Challenge: Musselman Challenge 2003 For more info on this year's challenge: Musselman Challenge 2010 In about an hour and...

LOS ANGELES Federal, state and local officials are on the hunt for an invasive mussel that has been spotted in California for the first time ever and could clog water supply pipelines. Quagga mussels were found earlier this month at Lake Mead in Arizona and at Lake Havasu near the Whitsitt intake facility for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The discoveries launched a wider search for infested reservoirs and pipelines in California that are connected to the Colorado Aqueduct. The aqueduct delivers water to an estimated 18 million people in urban Southern California, including Los Angeles and San...

Excerpts: "What we captured in 2001 was the loss of those mussels and implications for an entire ecosystem," said Brown University ecologist Andrew Altieri, who with biology professor Jon Witman wrote the study published in the March issue of Ecology. "That's instructive for what historic and future losses might be for the Chesapeake." Altieri calculated that the [mussel] reefs were processing the [Narragansett] bay's entire water volume once every 20 days, even though they covered less than 1 percent of the bay floor. Within days, a hypoxic episode triggered by warm weather, low wind and the usual nutrients contributed to...

Mussels have been found growing on the seabed just 1,300 km (800 miles) from the North Pole in a likely sign of global warming, scientists said on Friday. The blue mussels, which normally favor warmer waters like off France or the eastern United States, were discovered last month off Norway's Svalbard archipelago in waters that are covered with ice most of the year. "The climate is changing fast," said Geir Johnsen, a professor at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology who was among experts who found the bivalves. Mollusks were a "very good indicator that the climate is warming,"...

Yep, it's TODAY! Later this afternoon, I will be making my promised trip down to the local Chinese restaurant, and will attempt to eat 100 or more mussels. Why? To raise money for Free Republic, of course! You can still help, too. Here's how. So far, dozens of FReepers have pledged to donate a set amount to FR for every mussel I eat. Some have pledged .10 cents a mussel, some .25 cents, $1.00, and more. What can you pledge? To date, I believe we have a total of $16.05/mussel. If I reach my goal today of 100 mussels, that...

I'm EATING my way to FReedom self | 01/25/03 | dware Posted on 01/25/2003 8:00 PM EST by dware That's right, I'm eating for FReedom. And I need your help. I know, the FReep-a-thon is over, and was a huge success. I extend my personal gratitude to everyone that contributed to help keep the lights on here at Free Republic. You are a force to be reconned with. Now, here's the deal: I have been doing research into the funding of the leftist extremist organizations (such as ANSWER) that have been supporting and even organizing the anti-war and pro-terrorist efforts...

That's right, I'm eating for FReedom. And I need your help. I know, the FReep-a-thon is over, and was a huge success. I extend my personal gratitude to everyone that contributed to help keep the lights on here at Free Republic. You are a force to be reconned with. Now, here's the deal: I have been doing research into the funding of the leftist extremist organizations (such as ANSWER) that have been supporting and even organizing the anti-war and pro-terrorist efforts here. One thing is certain - they have more than enough funding to 'keep the lights on'. In fact,...