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[Ether_Snake]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/07/pictures/110725-algae-china-beaches-qingdao-swimming-science-environment-world/?source=link_fb20110725news-algae

That kid's face is hilarious. :x

Children swim through algae-choked waters off the coast of Qingdao, in eastern China's Shandong Province, on July 17.

An algae bloom, or "green tide," has clogged nearly 7,700 square miles (20,000 square kilometers) of the Yellow Sea (see map), Chinese authorities said Sunday, according to the state-run media outlet Xinhua.

The algae blanketing the beaches belongs to a species of marine plankton known as Enteromorpha prolifera, found in waters all around the world. In the right conditions, the algae can explode into so-called macro-algal blooms, Steve Morton, a marine biologist at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told National Geographic News in 2010.

Such massive blooms require warm ocean temperatures and waters rich in the elements phosphorus and nitrogen, which are found in fertilizers and can be carried to the coasts by water runoff. While the algae aren't toxic, big blooms can create oxygen-poor "dead zones" in the water and leave an unpleasant odor on beaches.

More photos at the link.

 

[spiderman123]

Poor fishy

 

[Jangocube]

Definitely wouldn't be swimming in it....

 

[badcrumble]

Ouch. I feel absolutely terrible for any fishermen living in Qingdao; their livelihoods basically just vanished without a trace.

 

[AceBandage]

Why aren't we using this as fuel yet...

 

[spiderman123]

Ouch. I feel absolutely terrible for any fishermen living in Qingdao; their livelihoods basically just vanished without a trace.

If your quick enough, you can pass it off as fresh!!

 

[emomoonbase]

I bet lightning caused it.

 

[Acerac]

Ooh, I wonder what is the animal that typical feeds on this stuff. Should be good times for them, as long as you know, they don't require oxygen in the water.

 

[SUPREME1]

Lightning yo

 

[Holmes]

Erm... wouldn't swim in that shit.

 

[ezrarh]

Why aren't we using this as fuel yet...

lol exxonmobil

Spoiler

I have no idea on whether algae is a viable fuel source or not

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I bet lightning caused it.

well played.

 

[spiderman123]

Erm... wouldn't swim in that shit.

What if Scarlet Johansson was stuck on an island in the middle of all that algae. Added she IS naked and horny btw. Would you still?!

 

[Guevara]

World War Z is a documentary.

 

[Alrus]

Why aren't we using this as fuel yet...

It's probably gonna happen some day.

 

[BorkBork]

Delicious!

 

[thespot84]

lol exxonmobil

Spoiler

I have no idea on whether algae is a viable fuel source or not

Algal biofuels are under heavy R&D right now with both very big and small players, and there are a number of problems with it keeping it from viability that everyone is trying to solve.

Algae creates lipids (READ: oil) in vacuoles in the cell in order to affect it's buoyancy, allowing it to move up or down in the water column to collect more/less sunlight. Some strains of algae produce many small vacuoles of oil, which are hard to extract, and some produce one large vacuole. Once the algae has been grown to high concentrations (a problem within itself, balancing nutrient loads and light distribution) the algae has to be de-watered, which involves removing the algae from the water it's in and is unfortunately not as simply as just straining it.

After all of these problems are 'surmounted', the algae harvested has to be processed and the lipids refined into something that can be burned for fuel. Best current estimates (my company did a white-paper on the subject) peg's produced algal oil at roughly $30/gallon given all the inputs. It will be a while before algae makes viable fuel, but it's not a bad thing to be working on...

EDIT: If you look you'll see figures pegging algae harvesting for oil at closer to $1.60/gal. Our study took into account more of the supply chain to get to the $30 figure.

 

[elrechazado]

If this were japan, they'd eat it, like they did with the jellyfish invasions.

 

[xbhaskarx]

I bet lightning caused it.

lol

 

[Utako]

Algal biofuels are under heavy R&D right now with both very big and small players, and there are a number of problems with it keeping it from viability that everyone is trying to solve.

Algae creates lipids (READ: oil) in vacuoles in the cell in order to affect it's buoyancy, allowing it to move up or down in the water column to collect more/less sunlight. Some strains of algae produce many small vacuoles of oil, which are hard to extract, and some produce one large vacuole. Once the algae has been grown to high concentrations (a problem within itself, balancing nutrient loads and light distribution) the algae has to be de-watered, which involves removing the algae from the water it's in and is unfortunately not as simply as just straining it.

After all of these problems are 'surmounted', the algae harvested has to be processed and the lipids refined into something that can be burned for fuel. Best current estimates (my company did a white-paper on the subject) peg's produced algal oil at roughly $30/gallon given all the inputs. It will be a while before algae makes viable fuel, but it's not a bad thing to be working on...

EDIT: If you look you'll see figures pegging algae harvesting for oil at closer to $1.60/gal. Our study took into account more of the supply chain to get to the $30 figure.

Interesting; thanks for sharing.

Erm... wouldn't swim in that shit.

The Chinese don't care about that kind of thing.