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HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
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APRIL 2012
83
BREATHE EASY
Three spas spice up their treatments with over-the-top aromatherapy
THE PROBLEM:
CHEMICAL
FERTILIZERS MAKE
CROPS GROW, BUT
WREAK HAVOC ON
EVERYTHING ELSE.
THE SOLUTION:
REPLACE THEM
WITH ECO-FRIENDLY
MICROBES.
A Michigan State
University professor has
helped devise a cocktail
of 30 kinds of microbes
that might just put an
end to the 180 million
tons of chemical fertil-
izers used every year, as
well as the pollution and
algae blooms caused by
runoff. Called SumaGrow,
it locks naturally occur-
ring nitrogen and other
nutrients into the soil,
protects against disease,
slows runoff (thanks
to microchannels that
the microbes carve into
the soil) and can be
adapted to a range of
products—one of which,
a special formulation for
pasture grasses called
Forage Boost, was
Popular
Science
’s top pick for green
tech innovation last year.
—JENNIFER L. JOHNSON
THE PROBLEM:
CORAL REEFS ARE
BEING DECIMATED
.
THE SOLUTION:
SHOCK THEM
BACK TO LIFE.
As the habitat for a quarter
of all marine species, coral
reefs are a vital source
of food for millions of
people; they also protect
coastlines from erosion
and storm damage. Reef
conservation efforts,
though, have long fallen
short, with scientists
advocating various fixes
with little success. But
beginning in 2000, a
technique that uses low-
voltage electricity to grow
limestone on metal cages
has been giving corals
new energy and stronger
structures on which to
grow. The snazzily dubbed
“Biorock” process can
stimulate coral to grow
five times faster, says
biochemist Thomas
Goreau, who helped
develop the technology.
“Ours is the only method
that accelerates growth
and greatly increases
resistance to stress,” he
says. The results can affect
more than just reefs: In
the Pemuteran Reef off
Bali, the world’s largest
electrified coral nursery
has revitalized the local
economy, too.
—DAVID PAGE
THE PROBLEM:
THE MIGHTY
BLUEFIN TUNA
OFTEN FINDS ITSELF
ON HOOKS MEANT
FOR SMALLER FISH.
THE SOLUTION:
USE
WEAKER HOOKS.
In trolling the Gulf of
Mexico, longline fisher-
men often haul in more
than they bargained for:
namely, bluefin tuna.
The widely overfished
behemoth (averaging
550 pounds, it’s the
largest of all tuna) is
considered a “species of
concern” by the National
Marine Fisheries Service,
which last year called on
the gulf’s longliners to
use special hooks that
straighten under the
bluefin’s weight and allow
it to escape. The beauty is,
the fish that longliners are
actually after, like yellow-
fin tuna and swordfish, are
typically too light to bend
the hook. Possible future
beneficiaries of a “weak
hook” policy? False killer
whales in Hawaii and pilot
whales off North Carolina.
—JENNIFER L. JOHNSON
THE PROBLEM:
ENDANGERED
SPECIES ARE HARD
TO TRACK.
THE SOLUTION:
FOLLOWTHEMON A
SOCIAL NETWORKING
SITE.
University of Florida
researchers have found
that the same algorithm
that helps sites like
Facebook suggest friend-
ships can also help predict
the movement of the
Everglade snail kite, an
endangered bird of prey.
Using data about the kites’
observed movements,
their models proved mark-
edly more accurate than
traditional methods in
predicting which pockets
of wetlands the birds were
likely to frequent.
The old models “over-
estimated how connected
the habitats were,” says
study co-author Robert
Fletcher. Such errors could
be costly, as the ability to
move between habitats
is key for the birds to
avoid extinction. The new
findings promise to aid in
prioritizing habitats for
kite conservation, and
might do the same for
other imperiled critters,
like the Florida panther
and spotted owl—a status
update that’d be hard not
to Like.
—SARAH L. STEWART
PLANTS AND ANIMALS