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Fish Changes Colors When Detecting Pollution

Posted by timothy on from the changing-colors-while-nude dept.

Ant writes: "Say goodbye to Birkenstock sandals and woolly jumpers -- tomorrow's eco-warrior will like nothing better than swimming naked in defense of cleaner oceans. That, at least, is the hope of researchers in Singapore, who are developing a breed of fish capable of detecting water pollutants by changing color."

1 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. This is wonderful, but.... by shpoffo · · Score: 2, Informative

    this is not something that needs to be created/solved through bioengineering. There are many, *many* plants called phytoindicators that change in response to environmental factors. Chinese Maple is a good example, whose leaves change from maroon to green in the presence of lots of nitrogen in the soil. You'll find this a lot when someoen has then in their garden and the fertilize with an artificial fertilizer which doe slittle but burn the soil.....

    this is all 'old knowledge' - as in ~6000+ yr and started mostly with the natives of the American continents. It's a shame that this part of the world seems to be mostly ignored

    -shpoffo