Diving off the coast of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Martínez Quintana took close-up videos of coral reefs, focusing on small square areas of the sea floor called quadrats. The footage, ...

Cousteau hopes that 3D-printed reef skeletons, which are made using calcium carbonate just like natural coral, will entice the polyps to live in them.

And since the tiles interlock, they appear as though the ocean floor has been retiled and renovated. It has in some sense. The reef tile design provides a “structurally complex foundation ...

Coral reefs occupy less than 1 percent of the sea floor, but they underpin roughly a quarter of all ocean life — not just algae and zooplankton, but countless species along the food chain, from ...

Even if environmental factors such as ocean acidification can be addressed, our decimated coral reefs will still need some help growing back. That's where a "Lego-like" system known as 3D Innoreef ...

Reefs protect homes and businesses, breaking up destructive waves from storms. More than 1 billion people depend on coral, which plays an essential role in fisheries, tourism and even medicine.

Measuring 60 cm (23.6 in) across, the tiles are robotically 3D-printed out of conventional terracotta clay, which is then kiln-fired at a temperature of 1,125 ºC (2,057 ºF).

In July 2020, marine scientists deployed the 3D printed terra-cotta “reef tiles” made by the HKU Robotic Fabrication Lab and seeded them with coral fragments at three key sites within the ...

A 3D-printed reef, on the other hand, recreates nooks and crannies, protective space for fish, passageways, doors, and angles that cast shade or light and enable fish to avoid predators or feed.

The MEGA Lab’s 3D-printed art won’t be the first attempt at an artificial reef. All over the world, marine ecologists have tried submerging vessels, statues, and other structures to provide ...

Coral reefs occupy less than 1 percent of the sea floor, but they underpin roughly a quarter of all ocean life — not just algae and zooplankton, but countless species along the food chain, from ...