51茶馆儿

The Volvo Ocean Race

We arrived in Sandhamn at 10 p.m. on June 15th. It was perfect timing because the Volvo Ocean Race boats were arriving around 11 p.m. The Volvo Ocean Race, formally known as the Whitbread “Around the World Race,” began in Alicante on October 11th 2008 and ends in St. Petersburg on June 25th...

Heading to the Mother Land 鈥� Sweden

After transiting through the Kiel Canal, the waterway that links the North Sea to the Baltic Sea, and welcoming Dr. Venter in a rainy Copenhagen, we embarked for Sweden, my home and one of the main destinations of our 2009 expedition. It was a proud and special moment for me when first mate,...

Sampling in Helgoland 鈥� A warm German welcome for the Sorcerer II

After a little more than two weeks in Plymouth, UK the Sorcerer II set sail on June 3rd. We were sad to say goodbye to our new friends at PLM, but we were grateful for their hospitality, friendship and scientific collaboration. We're looking forward to coming back through Plymouth in the fall....

Cornish Pasties and Jellyfish at the MBA

On Monday we were invited to the Marine Biology Association (MBA) and the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS) for lunch and a more extensive tour of the laboratories and SAHFOS. This was an excellent opportunity for crew members who missed the first tour. A beautiful table...

The Final Plymouth Sample

On Thursday, May 28th the Sorcerer II crew, accompanied by Dr. Jack Gilbert and two of his PhD students, headed out for one final sampling trip. The destination was E-1, a long term research station for PML located about 25 miles off the coast of Plymouth in the English Channel. As we...

First Sampling in Plymouth Reveals Interesting Blooms 鈥� BBC Cameras capture it all!

After a couple of days in Plymouth we were ready for the first of two intense sampling days together with the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML). We had heard rumours about blooms of Phaeocystis, a conspicuous bloom-former in the North Sea and English Channel. When it blooms, it turns the...

Days of Discovery: Plymouth, Sea Urchin Cell Division and More Plankton

After a few days of fairly rough weather and winds up to 50 knots we finally spotted land and made our way to Plymouth. With our social interactions having been restricted to a pod of pilot whales and a few tankers passing through the night, we were excited to see a welcoming committee,...

England, Here We Come!

In calm and clear conditions on May 11 Sorcerer II set sail for Plymouth, England.  We enjoyed our brief stay in the Azores, but we were all excited to get to the U.K. and complete our North Atlantic crossing.  As I mentioned in previous entries, we took samples near areas studied by...

Land Horta! The Sorcerer II on Faial Island, the Azores

We sailed into Horta on the island of Failal Saturday, May 9th around 1pm.  The Sorcerer II crew was excited to visit the island but then again, we were just happy to walk on land and sleep in a bed that was not rolling from side to side! As usual when we arrive in a new port, we cleared...

As the science advances, policy-makers and regulators need to develop responses that reflect the latest developments and the diversity of approaches and applications.

Women in science tell high school girls they, too, can change the world

Artificial intelligence and machine learning will be the keys to unraveling how the human immune system prevents and controls disease

The biggest synthetic genome so far has been made, with a smaller set of amino-acid-encoding codons than usual 鈥� raising the prospect of encoding proteins that contain unnatural amino-acid residues.

By creating a new genome, scientists could create organisms tailored to produce desirable compounds