NEMO is an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that can reach 500 meters deep carrying various instruments for marine exploration. Its open architecture will allow carrying out tasks in different areas of marine science: marine resources, geological risks, underwater archaeology, conservation of marine habitats or monitoring natural reserves.

A study by the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) shows that areas where fishing is prohibited are contributing to the recovery, in just a few years, of species such as hake, one of the most commercially interesting in the Mediterranean. According to the study, the effect of the reserve especially favours juvenile individuals, but it also contributes to an increase in their catches around the area where fishing is not allowed.

The molecule, developed and patented by the CSIC, reduces the amount of chemicals needed to bleach paper and provides an environmentally friendly alternative.

Scientists at the IDAEA-CSIC have developed the first method that allows double screening to detect the presence of six polymers and 29 additives from a single sample. This cutting-edge methodology has been validated in the Ebro Delta, where they have analysed water samples from the river and from the sea. They are now working to apply this method to other environmental and human samples.

Scientists at the CSIC have developed biocatalysts that work as biotech tools for the aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation of o-phtalate (PA), a persistent organic pollutant detected in the environment, and its bioconversion into value-added biodegradable polymers. The invention consists in the generation of recombinant genetic cassettes and bacterial host cells to contain them.

The EU-funded project FutureMARES, which is funded by H2020 programme and seeks to provide socially and economically viable solutions based on ecosystems and the services they provide for the adaptation and mitigation of the effects derived from climate change in marine ecosystems, started on September 1.

Scientists from the Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Seville, in collaboration with the Technische Universität Berlin, have used rice husk, a waste product from rice cultivation abundantly produced in Spain, as a filter for the removal of organic contaminants in water treatment plants. The process generates more efficient filters than the commercial activated carbons used nowadays.

A group of experts from the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM) of Barcelona has designed a biodegradable device to fish tuna that could eventually replace the plastic devices currently used for this aim. The initiative is part of a project carried out in collaboration with the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) that seeks to make fishing practices more sustainable.