Algae

Re "Muck Runs Amok," Sept. 8: Algae overgrowth may not be high on our list of concerns, but it is a problem that could be addressed by each of us. Without waiting for the EPA to remove toxic items from store shelves (big business would not allow it, and yes, most fertilizers are toxic), we can stop buying products that contribute to this problem. Organic gardeners have long known that lawns don't need any more fertilizer than they get naturally by leaving the lawn clippings where they fall.

Newt Gingrich, whose well-developed sense of sarcasm always goes over well with his Republican supporters, was on a roll Monday evening as he regaled a ballroom of supporters near Knoxville with his account of President Obama's energy plan, and his own vow to reduce gasoline prices to $2.50 a gallon, which has evolved into a campaign slogan. On the eve of Super Tuesday, with Gingrich's presidential campaign potentially in the balance, the former House speaker has been campaigning hard in the South, particularly in his adopted state of Georgia, which he expects to win tomorrow.

To many, algae is little more than pond scum, a nuisance to swimmers and a frustration to boaters. But to a growing community of scientists and investors in Southern California, there is oil locked in all that slimy stuff, and several dozen companies are racing to try to figure how best to unleash it and produce an affordable biofuel. The companies and several research labs have set up shop in the San Diego area, many of them in an area nicknamed Biotech Beach. There, around 200 biotech companies of all kinds are clustered near La Jolla on the mesa above Torrey Pines State Beach.

Continental Airlines flight 1403 made history when it landed at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Monday, becoming the first revenue passenger trip in the U.S. powered by biofuel. The Boeing 737-800 burned a "green jet fuel" derived partially from genetically modified algae that feed on plant waste and produce oil. In completing the flight from Houston, parent company United Continental Holdings Inc. won by two days the competition to launch the first biofuel-powered air service in the U.S. On Wednesday, Alaska Airlines started 75 passenger flights along with its sister airline, Horizon Air, that will take place over the next few weeks using a biofuel blend made from recycled cooking oil. The 20% biofuel blend the planes will use will reduce carbon dioxide emissions 10%, Alaska Airlines officials said.

How would you like to don a pair of "moon shoes" and do your best Michael Jackson imitation? Or get in touch with your inner Picasso while finger-painting with algae? Those are some of the activities at the annual San Diego Science Festival, a weeklong event that will culminate Saturday in Expo Day at Petco Park in downtown San Diego . Organized by UC San Diego in collaboration with science and engineering organizations, the family-friendly festival aims to provide interactive learning experiences.

Just as France's holiday season reaches its peak, the carcasses of wild boars are appearing on Brittany's celebrated coastline, raising fear that a potentially lethal algae is at work that could threaten the health of humans as well. The bodies of more than 30 of the animals have been found in the sea or on the slimy, seaweed-covered beaches around the bay of Saint Brieuc, where some coastal areas have been sealed off. Environmentalists believe the potentially fatal algae is the result of a buildup of nitrates from fertilizers used by the region's farmers, many of whom raise pigs, seeping into the sea. July and August are the busiest months for France's seaside resorts as the country's schools close for vacation.

Scientists have discovered toxic algae blooms off Catalina Island, confirming suspicions that a neurotoxin that induces crazy behavior in animals and inspired Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds" is linked to the recent deaths of dolphins and sea lions. A federal lab also detected high levels of telltale domoic acid in urine samples in two of the 31 dead dolphins that have washed ashore on Southern California beaches in the last two months.

Tap water in the Central Los Angeles area, as well as the San Fernando Valley, might smell a little musty for the next week due to an unusually high growth of algae in the water systems, water officials say. "The water is safe to drink," said Bruce Kuebler, director of water quality for the Department of Water and Power. "This is strictly an aesthetic problem."

Legislation by a Huntington Beach assemblyman that bans the import, sale and possession of "killer algae"--a destructive alien species that has invaded local waters--has been signed into law by Gov. Gray Davis. The banned algae--Caulerpa taxifolia--originates in the Caribbean and is a popular plant in home aquariums. But if tank water containing just a sliver of the algae is dumped into a storm drain, the algae can get into local waterways and quickly crowd out native habitats and marine life.

Officials are warning people to avoid contact with Klamath River water because of dangerous algae blooms. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board said water samples from the Copco and Iron Gate reservoirs just south of the California-Oregon border show high levels of toxic blue-green algae. Mats of algae also have been found as far as 125 miles downstream on the Klamath River below the dams that create the reservoirs.

Find a dark spot on the San Diego County coastline after nightfall and you might be treated to a spectacular neon-blue light show. Bioluminescent waves, glowing electric blue as they crash ashore, have been dazzling nighttime beach visitors this week. People have been snapping photos of the otherworldly surf as it has increased in intensity over the last few days. The blue glow is caused by an algae bloom commonly referred to as a red tide. The organisms, phytoplankton called Lingulodinium polyedrum , have bloomed since late August, turning the water brownish-red in the daytime, according to UC San Diego scientists.

Just as France's holiday season reaches its peak, the carcasses of wild boars are appearing on Brittany's celebrated coastline, raising fear that a potentially lethal algae is at work that could threaten the health of humans as well. The bodies of more than 30 of the animals have been found in the sea or on the slimy, seaweed-covered beaches around the bay of Saint Brieuc, where some coastal areas have been sealed off. Environmentalists believe the potentially fatal algae is the result of a buildup of nitrates from fertilizers used by the region's farmers, many of whom raise pigs, seeping into the sea. July and August are the busiest months for France's seaside resorts as the country's schools close for vacation.

How would you like to don a pair of "moon shoes" and do your best Michael Jackson imitation? Or get in touch with your inner Picasso while finger-painting with algae? Those are some of the activities at the annual San Diego Science Festival, a weeklong event that will culminate Saturday in Expo Day at Petco Park in downtown San Diego . Organized by UC San Diego in collaboration with science and engineering organizations, the family-friendly festival aims to provide interactive learning experiences.

Researchers have measured critically low oxygen levels in King Harbor after a massive die-off in the Redondo Beach marina. Brent Scheiwe, program director at the SEA Lab in Redondo Beach, said he took dissolved oxygen level readings in the harbor after the first reports of the dead fish came in Tuesday morning and found them at almost zero. "The levels were critically low," he said. "There was pretty much no oxygen in the water. " Scientists are working to determine what caused oxygen levels to drop so steeply that fish estimated to be in the millions suffocated and deposited a silver sheen of carcasses, many of them sardines, among the rows of docked boats.

Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 horror flick "The Birds," in which feathered maniacs attack the residents of Bodega Bay, Calif., over the course of several days, never explained the birds' homicidal intent. But marine scientist David Garrison of the National Science Foundation has a theory about the real-life events that may have inspired the legendary film. FOR THE RECORD: "The Birds": An article in the Jan. 8 Section A about unusual bird behavior and the film "The Birds" quoted marine scientist David Garrison of the National Science Foundation speculating that Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 movie was inspired by an actual event.

Part animal, part plant! This may sound like a tabloid headline, but scientists say that a green sea slug has managed to incorporate enough algae parts to easily live off of sunlight, just as a plant does. Scientists already knew that a few slugs could eat algae but save the algae's chloroplasts from digestion and feed off of their energy. Chloroplasts are where the photosynthesis process of turning light into energy occurs. But this was not a self-sustaining system, since most slugs cannot make their own chlorophyll, a green pigment that fuels the chloroplasts.

A preliminary experiment suggests that "fertilizing" the southern oceans to enhance algae growth could reduce atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, tempering the greenhouse effect, researchers report in today's Nature. Growing algae would remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and, when the plants die, send it to the ocean floor. But the algae need added iron to grow.

Marine experts are requesting $100,000 in emergency state funds to fight the highly invasive seaweed known as "killer algae" found in a saltwater pond alongside Huntington Harbour. The discovery marks only the second time that the bright-green seaweed has been found on the west coasts of North and South America. Government officials in July announced the first occurrence of Caulerpa taxifolia in Carlsbad's Agua Hedionda Lagoon, 35 miles north of San Diego.

Walking, cellphones a risky mix Using a cellphone while driving is known to be risky. So perhaps it's not surprising to discover that talking on a cellphone while walking carries its own risks. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers directed 36 subjects, some using cellphones or iPods, to walk on a treadmill in an environment that simulated a busy street. The study, published in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention, found that the cellphone talkers were much more distracted, crossed the street more slowly and didn't look around as much as the other subjects.

What's that smell? That's what the people of Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita wondered as a rotten egg odor started wafting in thick pockets last week into their yards, garages and living rooms. Some in the south Orange County suburbs called Public Works to report a sewer backup. But that wasn't the problem. Others called the Fire Department, suspecting a gas leak. False alarm. They were baffled. What was making the evening air hang heavy with that overwhelming stench?