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Scientists Successfully Freeze Great Barrier Reef Coral

Assorted reef fish swim above a staghorn coral colony as it grows on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo
Assorted reef fish swim above a staghorn coral colony as it grows on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo
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Scientists Successfully Freeze Great Barrier Reef Coral

Assorted reef fish swim above a staghorn coral colony as it grows on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo
Assorted reef fish swim above a staghorn coral colony as it grows on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

Scientists working on Australia's Great Barrier Reef have successfully trialed a new method for freezing and storing coral larvae they say could eventually help rewild reefs threatened by climate change.

Scientists are scrambling to protect coral reefs as rising ocean temperatures destabilize delicate ecosystems. The Great Barrier Reef has suffered four bleaching events in the last seven years including the first ever bleach during a La Nina phenomenon, which typically brings cooler temperatures.

Cryogenically frozen coral can be stored and later reintroduced to the wild but the current process requires sophisticated equipment including lasers. Scientists say a new lightweight "cryomesh" can be manufactured cheaply and better preserves coral. In a December lab trial, the world's first with Great Barrier Reef coral, scientists used the cryomesh to freeze coral larvae at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS). The coral had been collected from the reef for the trial, which coincided with the brief annual spawning window.

"If we can secure the biodiversity of coral … then we'll have tools for the future to really help restore the reefs and this technology for coral reefs in the future is a real game-changer," Mary Hagedorn, senior research scientist at Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute told Reuters from the AIMS lab.

The cryomesh was previously trialed on smaller and larger varieties of Hawaiian corals. A trial on the larger variety failed.

Trials are continuing with larger varieties of Great Barrier Reef coral.

The trials involved scientists from AIMS, the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, the Great Barrier Reef foundation and the Taronga Conservation Society Australia as part of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program.

The mesh technology, which will help store coral larvae at -196C, was devised by a team from the University of Minnesota’s College of Science and Engineering, including Dr. Zongqi Guo and Professor John C. Bischof. It was first tested on corals by researcher Nikolas Zuchowicz.

“This new technology that we’ve got will allow us to do that at a scale that can actually help to support some of the aquaculture and restoration interventions,” said Jonathan Daly of the Taronga Conservation Society Australia.

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Typhoon Exposes Centuries-old Shipwreck Off Vietnam Port

People stand next to a centuries-old shipwreck uncovered in the aftermath of Typhoon Kalmaegi on a beach off the Hoi An coast in central Vietnam, on November 10, 2025. (Photo by Tam Xuan / AFP)
People stand next to a centuries-old shipwreck uncovered in the aftermath of Typhoon Kalmaegi on a beach off the Hoi An coast in central Vietnam, on November 10, 2025. (Photo by Tam Xuan / AFP)
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Typhoon Exposes Centuries-old Shipwreck Off Vietnam Port

People stand next to a centuries-old shipwreck uncovered in the aftermath of Typhoon Kalmaegi on a beach off the Hoi An coast in central Vietnam, on November 10, 2025. (Photo by Tam Xuan / AFP)
People stand next to a centuries-old shipwreck uncovered in the aftermath of Typhoon Kalmaegi on a beach off the Hoi An coast in central Vietnam, on November 10, 2025. (Photo by Tam Xuan / AFP)

Severe coastal erosion caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi exposed a centuries-old shipwreck in Vietnam, providing a narrow window to salvage what experts say could be a historically significant find.

Initially discovered in 2023 off the coast of Hoi An, the at least 17.4-metre (57-foot) vessel -- whose heavy wood-ribbed hull survived hundreds of years of rough seas almost perfectly intact -- was resubmerged before authorities could reclaim it.

Experts have not yet dated the wreck, but preliminary findings suggest it was built between the 14th and 16th centuries -- when UNESCO-listed Hoi An was at the center of a thriving regional trade in silk, ceramics and spices.

"We are currently preparing to apply for an emergency excavation (permit)," Pham Phu Ngoc, director of the Hoi An Center for the Preservation of World Cultural Heritage, told AFP on Monday after the wreck resurfaced following the passage of Typhoon Kalmaegi last week.

"The discovery of this ancient ship is clear evidence of Hoi An's significant historical role in regional trade," he said, adding more of the ship had been exposed this time "which could provide us with more information.”

A team of experts from the Hoi An preservation center, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City and a local museum surveyed the wreck last year.

In addition to the rough age estimate, they found it had been made from "durable and high-strength timber" and reinforced with waterproofing materials to seal its joints.

"The ship's structure suggests that it was capable of long-distance voyages, likely used for maritime trade or naval operations," the Hoi An center said in an earlier statement.

The relic is at risk of "serious deterioration without immediate conservation actions" given the severe coastal erosion and the ship's frequent exposure to harsh weather conditions, it said.

The wreck was still clearly visible on Monday, with crowds gathered on the beach to view its striking skeletal frame.

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German Bread Could be More Famous Than the French Baguette

According to the bread register of the German Institute for Bread, there are now more than 3,200 officially recognized types of bread in the country
According to the bread register of the German Institute for Bread, there are now more than 3,200 officially recognized types of bread in the country
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German Bread Could be More Famous Than the French Baguette

According to the bread register of the German Institute for Bread, there are now more than 3,200 officially recognized types of bread in the country
According to the bread register of the German Institute for Bread, there are now more than 3,200 officially recognized types of bread in the country

You’ve seen the French sauntering around with slender baguettes under their arms or sporting jaunty berets as they pedal bicycles laden with crusty bread.

Those cinematic scenes are nice, but when you really get down to business — as my countrymen are inclined to do — it’s obvious that the world’s best bread comes from Germany, according to CNN news.

It said Germans have more varieties of bread than most other countries.

According to the bread register of the German Institute for Bread, there are now more than 3,200 officially recognized types of bread in the country. German bread culture was officially added by UNESCO to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2015.

A key German term rests upon those hearty loaves: one of the words for work is Broterwerb, literally “gaining one’s bread.”

Bread is a staple for most meals in Germany: at breakfast, break-time (sometimes called Pausenbrot, or “break bread”) and dinner or Abendbrot, literally the “bread of the evening.”

“It sells like sliced bread” is a German proverb describing fast-selling items.

Bread even stars on TV: a talking loaf named Bernd has become a popular character among German children. The comedy series “Bernd das Brot.” hosted by the titular character, began airing on the children’s channel KI.KA since 2000.

One of the reasons for this immense variety in bread products is the fragmented history of Germany up until the 19th century.

Until then, what is known as Germany now was a cluster of hundreds of small duchies or kingdoms, all with their own distinct culture and dialect, and with their own bread.

So, bread has evolved in Germany from a staple food to a strong symbol of cultural and historical identity, and a source of national pride no less valuable than any of its famous landmarks.

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British University Calls Charles Dickens a Racist

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) 
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) 
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British University Calls Charles Dickens a Racist

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) 
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) 

In a move that sparked widespread debate in academic and cultural circles, the University of Manchester accused Britain's greatest novelist, Charles Dickens, of expressing “racist views” because he wrote an essay in 1851 criticizing the Chinese society.

The University, which has around 9,000 students from mainland China, said Dickens “expresses racist views, particularly against Chinese people.”

It wrote that any undergraduates “concerned” about reading the article are invited to discuss it with the course tutor at the university.

Critics branded the warning “historically illiterate” and accused the university of prioritizing its commercial links with the communist state.

The controversy comes days after it emerged Sheffield Hallam University had stopped one of its academics from investigating human rights abuses in China under pressure from the Chinese authorities, according to the Daily Mail.

The British newspaper said staff from China's National Security Agency are reported to have threatened the university's employees in China in an effort to get Professor Laura Murphy's research stopped.

They also blocked access to the university's websites from China meaning it could no longer recruit students, who pay several times what UK based undergraduates do.

The University of Manchester's warning, details of which have been obtained by this newspaper under Freedom of Information laws, has been issued to students studying an English Literature module called Victorian Rights: Victorian Wrongs.

It applies to an 1851 magazine article entitled The Great Exhibition and the Little One which Dickens co–authored with poet and critic Richard Horne.

The article praised England for maintaining commercial contacts with the whole world and criticized China for “coming to a dead stop.”

To illustrate their point, the authors compared the scientific and technological wonders on display in the Great Exhibition of 1851 with an exhibition of traditional Chinese arts and crafts running concurrently at Hyde Park Place in London.