Super Facts

Superfluid Liquids are Like Magic

Super fact 60 : Superfluids such as liquid Helium cooled below -455.58 Fahrenheit exhibit some very strange characteristics such as it flows right through many solids, it climbs walls, it has near zero viscosity, it exhibits circulating flows that never stop despite no energy being added. It is a Macroscopic Quantum Phenomenon.

When gases are cooled far enough, they will turn into liquids and eventually typically to solids. For example, Oxygen becomes a liquid when its temperature drops to -297 Fahrenheit, which is -183 Celsius, or 90 degrees Kelvin. Kelvin is 0 at absolute zero, the coldest possible temperature, and in addition it uses Celsius for the scale. So, 90 degrees Kelvin is 90 degrees Celsius above absolute zero or 162 degrees Fahrenheit above absolute zero. When Oxygen becomes a liquid, it turns into a pale blue liquid. Oxygen becomes a solid at 54 Kelvin, or −218.8 Celsius, and −361.8 Fahrenheit (at normal pressure). It becomes sky blue ice.

Helium stays a gas until very extreme temperatures. Helium becomes a liquid at 4.2 kelvin or -269 Celsius, or -452.11 Fahrenheit. If the temperature is reduced further by almost half to 2.17 Kelvin, or -270.98 Celsius, or -455.8 Fahrenheit, then Helium suddenly becomes a superfluid, exhibiting macroscopic quantum phenomena. It is so different from normal liquid Helium that it is called Helium II. Its heat conductivity (speed of heat/cold transfer) suddenly increases by one million, and the temperature will become the same throughout the liquid instantly. Even a big pool of liquid helium would almost instantly get the same temperature throughout, and the atoms will start behaving in unison. Regular bubbles can no longer exist (atom sized electron bubbles can exist though).

The liquid starts behaving in bizarre ways. If you place an open metal container of Helium II in a closed room the Helium II would climb out of the container and escape, and a thin film of Helium II would climb the walls and the ceiling. If the floor was made of metal or glazed tile the Helium II would remain on the floor. If the floor was made of unglazed tile or stone, it would leak right through the floor as if the floor was a sieve. If you get a whirlpool or fountain going it will keep going forever without any energy loss. In addition, it would also exhibit many quantum effects that are out of scope for this post.

Superfluid Liquids are Like Magic — Unlike ordinary liquids, helium II will creep along surfaces in order to reach an equal level; after a short while, the levels in the two containers will equalize. The Rollin film also covers the interior of the larger container; if it were not sealed, the helium II would creep out and escape. From : Hampel, Clifford A. (1968). The Encyclopedia of the Chemical Elements. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. pp. 256–268 (referenced by Wikipedia). Design: Aarchiba; SVG rendering: Júlio Reis, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

I consider this a super fact because this is a strange, surprising and not a well-known phenomenon. It is a quantum effect that you can observe with your own eyes. It is important because the discovery of superfluidity and its twin effect superconductivity are very important for science and might lead to revolutionizing energy transport in the future. It is no doubt that the phenomenon is real (true), and it has been documented by numerous experiments and papers. It is described in thousands of textbooks, and I’ve observed the phenomenon with my own eyes (that is next).

Our Experiment with Superfluid Helium

During my first class in Quantum Physics, we performed experiments with liquid Helium. We started out by cooling helium using liquid nitrogen (colder than -196 Celsius or -321 Fahrenheit). Then using vacuum pumps, we kept cooling the Helium until it became liquid. We continued cooling it and we could see lots of bubbles and boiling as we kept going, and then it boiled extra much, and then very quickly the bubbles vanished, and the content of the entire glass container settled down and then stood perfectly still.

As 2.17 Kelvin was reached the viscosity (flow resistance) was instantly lowered with about one million times, and non-microscopic bubbles could no longer exist. The heat conductivity (the speed with which temperature spreads) increased by one million times. It means that the heat of a drop falling in one end of a swimming pool of Helium II would spread throughout the swimming pool in a second. Except, we only had a glass container in which sameness reigned throughout the liquid.

We continued doing experiments such as watching the Helium II climb walls inside the experimental setup, and of course the famous fountain. Insert a little metallic straw and watch a Helium fountain start to flow, by itself. Without any energy or pressure added, it just kept going by itself because no energy was lost either.

I can add that it was more of a demonstration than an experiment that we actively participated in because playing with extreme temperatures high or low is dangerous. If you’ve read this blog for a while you might remember when I put a Cesium-137 sample (800 times more radioactive than Plutonium-239) in my jeans pocket instead of back into its lead brick container and walked around with it a whole day. Or that time when I replaced a fuse for a 380 volt three phase powered laser with my finger because I was curious what would happen if I put my finger in there, and I was shocked, and it hurt. Students shouldn’t play with dangerous stuff.

Below is a one minute and forty four second YouTube video of a Superfluid / Helium II experiment showing an eternal fountain.

Below is a four minute explanation of a superfluid / Helium II experiment.

I can add that Helium II (super cold helium) is not the only superfluid but the easiest one to achieve.

Other Physics Related Superfacts

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More Science Books for Babies

This is my second and last post covering books from the Baby University series. There are 44 of them. I think the Baby University series books are quite interesting for children. They may not really be for babies, but they appear to me to be great for young children. The point of the books is not to make young children understand complex scientific concepts but to introduce them to scientific vocabulary and build their curiosity. We bought 10 of these books for our soon to be born first grandchild (due date September 17). We also bought other books for him. If you want to see my post for the five first books, click here.

Below I am presenting five books in the series, Evolution for Babies, Nuclear Physics for Babies, Astrophysics for Babies, Quantum Entanglement for Babies, and Newtonian Physics for Babies. For each of the books I am providing my review for the book and a link to my review as well as a link to the book on Amazon and a photo of the front cover.

Evolution for Babies

This is the Amazon link for Evolution for Babies.

My Review for Evolution for Babies

Natural Selection as Simple as Possible

This simple board book just shows different kinds of balls falling through a hole until one ball doesn’t. It’s too big for the hole. That’s the surviving ball. Balls like that ball will be the survivors. That is Natural selection. It is very simple, but I guess it is to the point. I guess anyone can understand that. Even a baby.

Nuclear Physics for Babies

This is the Amazon link for Nuclear Physics for Babies.

My Review for Nuclear Physics for Babies

The Blue Balls Keep the Red Balls Together

This book is about red balls called protons. They have a positive charge, and they repel each other. There are also blue balls called neutrons. If you put a blue ball between two red balls, the two red balls will not repel and will not fly apart. The more red balls there are, the more blue balls we need. The red and blue balls are at the center of the atom. If the number of red balls and blue balls is not right the nucleus becomes unstable, and it releases energy. That is radioactive decay. The book explains half-life. So that’s the story. It is simple and fun, and your baby can start working on his PhD in nuclear physics when he turns one years old.

Note: I would like to add one thing that I did not note in my review. The neutrons would not be able to hold together two protons just by being neutral. What the baby book is not mentioning is that neutrons (and protons) have a force that acts like glue, called the strong nuclear force. The strong force, color charges, quarks and gluons is what my previous post is about.

Astrophysics for Babies

This is the Amazon link for Astrophysics for Babies.

My Review for Astrophysics for Babies

Stars and Planets are Balls. The Sun is a Star

Earth is like a ball, and the sun is like a ball, and the earth orbits the sun. The sun is a star that looks big because it is close. Other stars look tiny because they are far away. Stars are heavy balls of hot gas. Inside stars atoms squeeze together. Smaller atoms squeeze together making bigger atoms and releasing energy in the process. The exploding stars spread bigger atoms across the Universe. The book is colorful and simple reading, but it features the Periodic table, which is not for babies, but ignoring that, this is a simple and fun book for young children.

Quantum Entanglement for Babies

This is the Amazon link for Quantum Entanglement for babies.

My Review for Quantum Entanglement for Babies

Quantum Entanglement Using Balls

We bought this book for our future grandchild who will soon be born. It is a very short board book which takes one minute to read. It is about balls, like most of the “for babies” books. There are two red balls and two blue balls. Hide them in boxes. We know the colors, but Alice and Bob do not. However, in quantum physics the balls have a special bond. We put the tangled balls in two boxes. When the boxes are opened, both balls are blue or both balls red. What’s the point?

I am an adult who knows a little bit about Quantum Entanglement, and I did not understand what they meant. How is a baby going to understand it? It is a nice colorful board book but I wish they’ve taken a different approach.

Newtonian Physics for Babies

This is the Amazon link for Newtonian Physics for Babies.

My Review for Newtonian Physics for Babies

Newtons Laws and a Ball Explained to the Very Young

We bought this book for our future grandchild who will soon be born. It is a very short board book which takes one minute to read. The book is about a ball. A ball feels the force of gravity, and it is pulling it down. When the ball is on the ground the ball still feels the force of gravity but the ground pushes back with an equal force and the ball is at rest. If there is a net force the ball moves.

At the end the book lists the three laws of motion. 1. If an object has zero net force, it does not change its motion. 2. The net force is equal to mass times acceleration. 3. For every force, there is an equal force in the opposite direction. It is very simply expressed, and the illustrations are fun, but I still think this book requires the child to be a bit older for him to understand, maybe 3-4 years old rather than a baby. However, I think the book can evoke an interest in science and physics at an earlier age. Despite it being one of the tougher books in the series, I think it seems to be a pretty good book.

To watch a woman read Astrohysics for Babies. Click on the YouTube video below.

To see the Super Facts click here

Electric Charge is not the only type of Fundamental Charge

Super fact 59 : Most people have heard of electrical charges, positive and negative. However, in nature there are also color charges—red, green, and blue—which are analogous to electric charges. In addition, there are anti-red, anti-green, and anti-blue charges.

Esther’s writing prompt: 10th September : Charge

Click here or here to join in.

As you may know, atoms consist of particles. Electrons surround the nucleus of the atom. The nucleus of the atom is in the middle of the atom and it consists of protons and neutrons. Electrons have a negative charge. Protons have a positive charge. Neutrons do not have an electrical charge. Electrons are so called elementary particles. They are not composed of other particles. Protons and Neutrons, on the other hand, are not elementary particles. They are composite particles consisting of quarks, gluons and quark pairs called mesons.

The picture shows a Hydrogen atom consisting of one proton and one electron, one Carbon atom with six electrons, six protons and six neutrons, an Oxygen atom with eight electrons, eight protons and eight neutrons, and a Nitrogen atom with seven electrons, seven protons and seven neutrons | Electric Charge is not the only type of Fundamental Charge — Four elements with a nucleus and electron shells. The number of electrons, protons, and neutrons is shown. The green particles circling the nucleus are electrons. The red particles in the nucleus (middle) are protons and the blue particles in the nucleus are neutrons. The colors of the particles in this picture have nothing to do with color charges. The four elements are Hydrogen, Carbon, Oxygen, and Nitrogen. There are 118 elements. These elements can combine into millions of different kinds of molecules that make up everything. Asset id: 1555863596 by OSweetNature.

Quarks have electric charges, just like an electron and a positron, which is why a proton has an electric charge, a positive electric charge. However, in addition quarks have something called color charge. Unlike electric charges, which come in two forms, negative and positive, they come in three forms red, green and blue and in anti-red, anti-green, and anti-blue (well six forms actually). I should say that the color charges, red, green and blue, are not real colors. They are just names. Just electric charges are associated with electric forces; color charges are associated with the nuclear strong force. The strong force is even stronger than the electrical force.

If you take an equal amount of positive and negative electric charges you get something that is electrically neutral. If you take an equal amount of red, green and blue you get what is called white, or neutral. If you take an equal amount of red and anti-red you also get white. Any other mix gives you a net color charge.

vector illustration of up and down quarks in proton and neutron on white background. The proton (left) is a red and blue up quark and a green down quark. The neutron is a red and green down quark and a blue up-quark. — The proton and neutron each consist of three quarks. Protons consist of two up quarks and one down quark. Neutrons consist of two down quarks and one up quark. Both protons and neutrons have a net white charge. The yellow squiggly lines are gluons transporting color charge between the quarks. Asset id: 2333679305 by KRPD.

I can add that gluons are elementary particles that in many respects are like photons. Light consists of photons. It is because of the photons that we can see. In addition, the photons transport electrical charge. Photons are massless elementary particles with the intrinsic spin of one, and they belong to a group of elementary particles called Bosons. Gluons transport color charge, and they are massless and have an intrinsic spin of one and belong to the same group of elementary particles called Bosons. Unlike photons, they are stuck inside the nucleus and unlike photons they never get to see the light of day. The pun was intended.

Matter, light, and electrical charges are all part of our daily life. We can touch matter, see light, and we come across electrical charge when we touch something that is charged or when we see lightning. However, we do not come across quarks, gluons, and color charges in our daily life because they are hidden at the center of the atoms. Yet they are fundamental to the existence of matter, of us. We know color charges exist, the existence of color charges is an important fact, and yet it is not a well-known fact and often a big surprise to people. Therefore, I think it is a super fact.

The 118 Elements and the 3,500 Isotopes

There are 118 known elements. Why not 500, or just 4 or 5, like the ancient Greeks believed? Each element is defined by it having a certain number of protons and the same number of electrons if it is to be electrically neutral. The problem with having more than one proton in the nucleus is that protons all carry a positive charge and therefore want to push each other away. Same charges repel and different charges attract. What saves the nucleus from blowing apart are the neutrons and the associated strong nuclear force (protons & neutrons) which is guided by the color charges. The quantum model for electricity is called Quantum electrodynamics or QED. The quantum model for color charges is called Quantum chromodynamics or QCD.

As you add more protons it becomes increasingly more difficult for the nuclear forces (strong and weak) to hold the nucleus together. The positive charge of the protons is pushing too hard. That’s why there are only 118 Elements. Another thing to note is that the number of neutrons does not have to be the same as the number of protons. This means that for each element there are several kinds of so-called isotopes. For example, carbon has six protons and six electrons (if the atom is electrically neutral) but the carbon atom / element can have six neutrons, seven neutrons, or eight neutrons. You call them carbon-12, carbon-13, and carbon-14, where the number represents the number of protons plus the number of neutrons.

The picture shows a Carbon-12 isotope, a Carbon-13 isotope, and a Carbon-14 isotope | Electric Charge is not the only type of Fundamental Charge — Three natural isotopes of Carbon Stock Vector ID: 2063998442 by zizou7

Bohr model representation of the uranium atom, number 92 and symbol U. Conceptual vector illustration of uranium-238 isotope atom, mass number 238 and electron configuration 2, 8, 18, 32, 21, 9, 2. — This is a simplified Bohr model of the Uranium atom. There are 92 little blue balls circling a nucleus in the middle of the atom. Those are electrons. In the nucleus there are 92 protons. Those are the red balls with plus signs. In addition, there is a yellowish smudge around the protons in the nucleus. Those are the neutrons. Depending on the isotope, there are 143 neutrons for U-235, 146 neutrons for U-238 and 142 neutrons for U-234. Shutterstock asset id: 1999370450 by Patricia F. Carvalho

It is the electrons that determine the chemical properties of an element, and therefore isotopes with a different amount of neutrons are chemically identical. However, they are different with respect to properties that relate to he nucleus, such as radioactivity/stability, and of course weight. Also, when atoms combine into molecules their chemical properties change drastically, but again that is due to the rearrangement of the electrons. There are around 3,500 known isotopes, most of them radioactive.

What is a Quark?

To learn more about Protons, Neutrons, Quarks, Gluons, Color Charges, and Quantum Chromodynamics you can watch this 10 minute video below.

Other Physics Related Superfacts

To see the other Super Facts click here

Science Books for Babies

I think that one of the most interesting series science books for beginners that I’ve come across is the Baby University series. I bought it for our soon to be born first grandchild Jack, but I couldn’t help but go through them myself. It is a great series for those who hope to put their one-year-old toddlers in a PhD program. But seriously, these books explain science concepts as simply as it is possible to do. The books may still be a little bit tough for babies, but I think 2–3-year-olds might get something out of them. The point of the books is not to make young children understand complex scientific concepts but to introduce the vocabulary and build curiosity.

Below I am presenting five books in the series, General Relativity for Babies, Electromagnetism for Babies, Artificial Intelligence for Babies, Quantum Physics for Babies, and Organic Chemistry for Babies. I am providing my review for the book and a link to my review as well as the book and a photo of the front cover.

General Relativity for Babies

This is the Amazon link for General Relativity for Babies.

My Review for General Relativity for Babies

General Relativity as Simplified as Possible

We bought this board book for our not yet born grandson. This book simplifies the General Theory of Relativity as far as you possibly can. It uses simple language and colorful illustrations to give the reader an idea of what is going on. Different sized masses are different sized balls, space-time curvature is illustrated using a distorted grid, and objects orbiting larger masses, such as a star, are shown as small balls having their paths curved by a warped grid. There are simple explanations for what a black hole is and what gravity waves are.

A baby would not understand this book but maybe someone who is 3-4 years old would. But your expectations need to be realistic. It should also be noted that even if you understand the book, the explanations are too simplistic for you to really understand General Relativity, but the explanations are not so simple that they are wrong. The book will just give you an idea of what is going on. However, I was impressed by the fact that the author and illustrator were able to present such an abstract theory in a way that makes it possible for a child to at least have a clue. I think that the most important aspect of the book is not whether the child understands General Relativity but the interest in science that it may evoke.

Electromagnetism for Babies

This is the Amazon link for Electromagnetism for Babies.

My Review for Electromagnetism for Babies

Electromagnetism Simplified for Young Children

We bought this short and colorfully illustrated board book for our not yet born grandson. I don’t think a baby will understand it but maybe when he is 2-3 years old. The book explains in simple terms and with colorful simple illustrations the basic concepts of charges, and attraction between negative and positive charges, and repulsion between two positive balls/charges and two negative balls. It explains about electrical and magnetic fields, and the fact that charges rotate around magnets. I believe this book can spur a child’s interest in science and engineering.

Artificial Intelligence for babies

This is the Amazon link for Artificial Intelligence for babies.

My Review for Artificial Intelligence for babies

Artificial Intelligence for Small Children

We bought this board book for our not yet born grandson. He will not be able to understand it until he is at least one years old, but that is OK. The book explains the difference between a dog, a live thing, and a computer. It does this in very simple terms that I believe a young child could understand. According to the book, a computer can do some things that are impressive, such as complex calculations, and you can teach it certain skills, but it is not adaptable like a dog. I think that is about what you can make a very young child understand. Naturally, there are no neural networks or AI algorithms in the book. However, I think it sells artificial intelligence short, since artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly adaptable.

Quantum Physics for babies

This is the Amazon link for Quantum Physics for babies.

My Review for Quantum Physics for babies

Quantum Physics for Young Children and Adults who Detested Physics Class

We bought this board book for our not yet born grandson. We may need to wait until he is 2-3 years old before it makes sense to read it to him. In the meantime, it is also a good book for adults without a solid science education. The book talks about colorful balls with energy and presents a simplified version of the Bohr model of the atom. There are blue balls called electrons and red balls called protons in the middle (the nucleus). The electrons travel in circular orbits around the middle. Light can change the energy of electrons causing them to jump between the orbits.

My daughter made the comment that a baby is only going to understand that an electron is a blue ball and a proton is a red ball, which isn’t a correct description of electrons and protons. Protons and electrons don’t have specific colors, not to mention that a simplified Bohr model for the atom is quite different from the more realistic Schrödinger’s model of the atom with quantum waves and probabilistic electron clouds. However, I am still very impressed by how simple the author and the illustrator succeeded in making this abstract topic. It is a good start for budding physicists.

Organic Chemistry for babies

This is the Amazon link for Organic Chemistry for babies.

My Review for Organic Chemistry for babies

Your First Book on Organic Chemistry

We bought this board book for our not yet born grandson. We will read it to him when he is 1-3 years old. Right now, we can read it. This book simplifies Organic as far as you possibly can. It uses simple language and colorful illustrations to give the reader an idea of what organic chemistry is. Basically, atoms are balls of different kinds. Atoms make up everything. Atoms can stick to each other, and they can make different shapes. The balls we call carbon (in black) can stick to small white balls called hydrogen and other balls called oxygen. We call those organic molecules, and they make up plants, food, and medicines. I think this is simple enough for a 1–3-year-old to understand, but not a baby. In my opinion, a better name for this series would have been “for Big Boys or Girls” rather than babies, because young children don’t like being called babies.

To watch a woman read Quantum Physics for Babies. Click on the YouTube video below.

To see the Super Facts click here

Threats To Coral Reefs What Can Be Done

I am not a super fact hunter today. This post is about an interesting book that I recently finished reading, “Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs by Juli Berwald”, a prominent marine biologist based in Austin, Texas. Coral Reefs are underappreciated. They are extremely important to the ocean’s ecosystems. A fourth of all marine species depend on the reef at some point in their life. Coral reefs are also very important to us humans for a variety of reasons.

Unfortunately, today’s coral reefs are assaulted by a host of environmental stresses. The largest is climate change, or if you call it global warming, which is warming marine ecosystems even faster than those on land. 75% of the reef building corals in the world have already been damaged by high seawater temperatures. This book is about corals, what they are, how they live and evolve, their DNA, and what is being done to save the coral reefs. The book is heavy on the science at the same time as it is not tough reading. She is a great author as well as scientist.

Life on the Rocks Book Formats

Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs by Juli Berwald comes in four formats. I bought the hardback format.

Hardcover – Riverhead Books (April 5, 2022), ISBN-10 : 0593087305, ISBN-13 : 978-0593087305, 352 pages, item weight : 1.25 pounds, dimensions : ‎ 6.31 x 1.11 x 9.26 inches, it costs $ 3.98 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
Paperback – Publisher : Riverhead Books (April 4, 2023), ISBN-10 : 0593087313, ISBN-13 : 978-0593087312, 352 pages, item weight : 9.2 ounces, dimensions : ‎ 5.19 x 0.91 x 7.93 inches, it costs $ 15.44 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
Kindle – Publisher : Riverhead Books (April 5, 2022), ASIN : B098PWTYLL, ISBN-13 : 978-0593087329, 348 pages, it costs $9.99 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
Audio– Publisher : Penguin Audio (April 05, 2022), Listening Length : 10 hours and 52 minutes, ASIN : B09B83BHH1, it costs $ 15.75 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.

Front cover of hardback format of the book Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs by Juli Berwald | Threats To Coral Reefs What Can Be Done — Front cover of hardback format of the book Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs by Juli Berwald. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the hardcover version of the book.

Amazon’s Description of Life on the Rocks

FINALIST FOR THE L.A. TIMES BOOK PRIZE

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORKER AND BOOKLIST

The story of the urgent fight to save coral reefs, and why it matters to us all

Coral reefs are a microcosm of our planet: extraordinarily diverse, deeply interconnected, and full of wonders. When they’re thriving, these fairy gardens hidden beneath the ocean’s surface burst with color and life. They sustain bountiful ecosystems and protect vulnerable coasts. Corals themselves are evolutionary marvels that build elaborate limestone formations from their collective skeletons, broker symbiotic relationships with algae, and manufacture their own fluorescent sunblock. But corals across the planet are in the middle of an unprecedented die-off, beset by warming oceans, pollution, damage by humans, and a devastating pandemic.

Juli Berwald fell in love with coral reefs as a marine biology student, entranced by their beauty and complexity. Alarmed by their peril, she traveled the world to discover how to prevent their loss. She met scientists and activists operating in emergency mode, doing everything they can think of to prevent coral reefs from disappearing forever. She was so amazed by the ingenuity of these last-ditch efforts that she joined in rescue missions, unexpected partnerships, and risky experiments, and helped rebuild reefs with rebar and zip ties.

Life on the Rocks is an inspiring, lucid, meditative ode to the reefs and the undaunted scientists working to save them against almost impossible odds. As she also attempts to help her daughter in her struggle with mental illness, Berwald explores what it means to keep fighting a battle whose outcome is uncertain. She contemplates the inevitable grief of climate change and the beauty of small victories.

My five-star review for Life on the Rocks

Interesting Science an Important Message and the Beauty of Corals

Coral reefs are incredibly important to the ocean and its ecosystems. A fourth of all marine species depend on the reef at some point in their life. Coral reefs are also very important to us humans for a variety of reasons. However, today’s coral reefs are assaulted by a host of environmental stresses. The largest is climate change, or if you call it global warming, which is warming marine ecosystems even faster than those on land. 75% of the reef building corals in the world have already been damaged by high seawater temperatures.

Our burning of fossil fuels also causes ocean acidification. The effects of ocean acidification have not yet damaged corals but will in the future. Add to that, hurricanes (getting worse due to climate change), diseases (SCTLD), pollution, fertilizer and sewage runoff, wild harvesting of corals for export, loss of urchins, illegal fishing, such as using explosives to catch fish (blast fishing), and cyanide. In 2009 70% of all fish in fish markets had telltale scars from explosions and in 2016 more than half the fish in aquarium shops tested positive for cyanide poisoning. The explosives and the cyanide destroy coral reefs. We know what’s causing the loss of coral reefs, but we also know how to solve these things: stop burning fossil fuels, manage fishing, prioritize sanitation, and control pollution.

This book will teach you about corals, that they are marine animal related to jellyfish and sea anemones, consisting of hundreds to thousands of tiny individual polyps that form colonies. That they are in a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae. That the algae power the coral by making sugar and the coral provides the supplies the alga needs to make that power. They are 160 million years old.

You will learn about the history of the oceans pH level (acidity). different species, coral bleaching, hybridization and reticulated evolution. You will learn about the threats to corals and the efforts to save the coral reefs. The author is a distinguished scientist who does a lot of research and scuba diving. She takes you on an underwater (and above water) journey around the world, Florida, Sulawesi, Bali, Dominican Republic, and Australia, like Jacques Costeau used to do.

The efforts to save the corals include coral restoration, which is very difficult and expensive, coral farming, marine protected areas, aquarium hobbyists growing corals, cryobiology/ cryogenics, which is a futuristic technology involving freezing and later restoring corals in a better future. It should be noted that as warming events and coral bleaching events kill corals the ones that survive are better equipped to survive future warming. This is not so much adaptation as evolution by natural selection. Even though this can give you hope, one should remember that the current warming is very fast and even if evolution might save some corals, it changes the composition of coral species.

However, scientists have sequenced coral DNA and are trying to identify the genes that help some corals to survive warming events better than other corals. This could lead to assisted evolution. The author also addresses geoengineering techniques to slow down climate change such as marine cloud brightening, and she discusses the tragedy of the commons.

This book is full of facts and interesting science. However, it is not a difficult read. In addition, she makes it more colorful and personal by discussing her personal opinions on issues, her daughter’s mental illness caused by a lingering strep throat infection, her experiences with covid-19, and as mentioned, this book is organized as a journey around the world. I should mention that I felt that some of her personal opinions and personal stories may have been distractions, especially when I could not agree with what she said. But I thought that was a minor issue. She is a great author who knows how to keep an audience captivated despite all the science. She lists 292 references. It is a very well-written and interesting science book about corals. I learned a lot from reading this book. I highly recommend this book.

Advance Praise for Life on the Rocks and another book by the author called Spine Less, plus more colorful corals | Back cover of hardback format of the book Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs by Juli Berwald. — Back cover of hardback format of the book Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs by Juli Berwald. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the paperback version of the book.

Posts Related to Climate Change

Note: I have updated my previous super fact post Time is a fourth dimension. Now it is much clearer.