Marine Biological Laboratory

Snoozing Cephalopods May Wear Their Dreams on Their Skin | Marine Biological Laboratory A dog napping on the couch often twitches its feet, flicks its ears and thumps its tail. Watching this behavior, it’s easy to say the dog is lazily pantomiming a vivid dream: He’s chasing a squirrel; ...

A napping dog might twitch her feet, flick her ears, and thump her tail. But cephalopods are even more active. While sleeping, their skin blooms with colors.

 Horst Obenhaus, a 2025 Whitman Fellow, investigates.

Read more: bit.ly/4fpV96o

Dear MBL alumni (that's you!),

What do you wish everyone knew about the MBL?

Share with #MyMBLMoment to enter our giveaway.

A winner will be randomly chosen at the end of the month!

#MyMBLMoment

How do we measure #denitrification in our #saltmarsh ammonium and nitrate treatment plots at @pie-lter.bsky.social? Anne Giblin and Jane Tucker from @mblscience.bsky.social bring the lab into the field for this in situ "push-pull" denitrification measurement.

Emily standing in front of the Marine Biological Laboratory sign.

I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the @mblscience.bsky.social Visual Neuroscience course these past two weeks! The MBL is an amazing place to do science and I learned so much to support my vision evolution research.

Happy #MicroscopyMonday!

The Nikon Small World Exhibit showcases life's beauty and complexity as seen through the light microscope. 1st place went to Dr. Bruno Cisterna and Dr. Eric Vitriol, who photographed mouse brain tumor cells.

Can you guess the magnification of the lens?

MBL has been awarded $200,000 in Massachusetts’ FY25 budget to support our high school education programs, helping open the doors of science to young scholars from across the state.

This will cover tuition for more than 80 high schoolers to attend an immersive science course here at the MBL.

Happy Alumni August!

Check out these photos from one of our advanced research training courses, Physiology classes of 1894, 1971, and 2016.

Share your MBL class photo with #MyMBLMoment to enter our giveaway! A winner will be randomly chosen at the end of the month.

#throwbackthursday #MyMBLMoment

Focus In: MBL Expands Training in Advanced Microscopy | Marine Biological Laboratory

The deadline to register for MBL's fall course, Light Microscopy Bootcamp, is this Friday, August 15!🔬

The course is engineered to empower graduate students to use light microscopy in their own research.

Read more: bit.ly/4e5QA0y

📷 Mark Lessard

The BU Phi-Geo Research Group at the statue of Rachel Carson at MBL with MBL Director of Education Linda Hyman & historian of biology Jane Maienschein

5 grad students wearing face masks holding up gold nobel prize medal.

Aja & Federica examining "mermaid purses" with staff

Phi geo froup on back patio of MBL

One of my favorite #MyMBLMoments was when I took the grad students in my Phi-Geo Research Group down to @mblscience.bsky.social for a behind-the-scenes tour, & they all got to hold a Nobel Prize medal.

Dear MBL alumni (that's you!),

What's your favorite MBL memory?

Share with #MyMBLMoment to enter our giveaway.

A winner will be randomly chosen at the end of the month!

#MyMBLMoment

Course Map - Falmouth Road Race ASICS Falmouth Road Race Course Map

This weekend, ASICS Falmouth Road Race celebrates its 53rd year! Are you running with us?

Check out the race map: bit.ly/46MJc8S

Happy #MicroscopyMonday!

This is a larval sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis. MBL researchers study this species, found in Sippewissett Marsh, for development and regeneration.

Image taken using a polychromatic polarizing microscope.

📷 Michael Shribak and Karen Echeverri

Group photo from the methods in computational neuroscience course

Self of the group

The COVID cabin individuals

A cute axolotl

Throwback to #MyMBLMoment last year at MCN2024, amazing experience with a wonderful group of people @mblscience.bsky.social

Happy Alumni August!

Check out these photos from one of our Embryology classes of 1897, 1956, and 2023.

Share your MBL class photo with MyMBLMoment to enter our giveaway! A winner will be randomly chosen at the end of the month.

#throwbackthursday #MyMBLMoment

Dear MBL alumni (that's you!),

What makes the MBL special to you?

Share your favorite MBL memory with #MyMBLMoment to enter our giveaway.

A winner will be randomly chosen at the end of the month!

#MyMBLMoment

Join us for a celebration of the world-class ocean science happening in Woods Hole!

This family-friendly event features hands-on activities and opportunities to learn about Woods Hole’s science institutions, the U.S. Coast Guard, and local non-profits.
woodsholesciencestroll.org

Whitman Fellow Designs Genomic Tools to Study Horseshoe Crab Eye Development | Marine Biological Laboratory They may be famous for their striking blue blood, but horseshoe crabs have an award-winning vision system.   In the 1930s, Haldan Keffer Hartline produced the first single-cell recording of a photorec...

Despite their history as model organisms, scientists understand little about horseshoe crabs at the molecular level, and “pretty much nothing" about how their eyes develop, said Gui Gainett, a Whitman Fellow at the MBL.

📷 Dee Sullivan
Read the story: bit.ly/3TS20Me

Looking forward to it!

The deadline to register for MBL's fall course, Light Microscopy Bootcamp, has been extended to August 15!🔬

The course is engineered to empower graduate students to use light microscopy in their own research.

Read about the course and register: www.mbl.edu/news/focus-m...

Take Five with Phil Sharp, Star of "Cracking the Code" | Marine Biological Laboratory "Take Five" is an occasional feature in which we pose five questions to a scientist about their career, dreams, and passions. Here we profile Phillip A. Sharp,  Institute Professor and Professor of Bi...

If you're in Woods Hole this Thursday, join us and Phil Sharp himself for the screening of "Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution."

For a sneak preview, check out this interview with Sharp!

Stay tuned for Alumni August!

Throughout the month, look out for opportunities to engage with former classmates, course directors, and other MBL Alumni.

Post your favorite memories with #MyMBLMoment to enter a giveaway that will be randomly drawn at the end of the month!

📷 Dee Sullivan

MBL Announces Largest Ever Gift for Its Renowned Biological Education and Research Programs | Marine Biological Laboratory Cell Biology Researcher Mark Terasaki’s $25 Million Unrestricted Gift Will Support Operations and Infrastructure Contact: Samantha Cummis scummis@mbl.edu; 973.800.4119

We're thrilled to announce the largest private gift in our 137-year history: a $25 million unrestricted donation from MBL Whitman Scientist Mark Terasaki.

His extraordinary generosity will bolster our renowned research and education programs. 🔬

Learn more: bit.ly/452WL1m

Focus In: MBL Expands Training in Advanced Microscopy | Marine Biological Laboratory

Registration for MBL's fall course, Light Microscopy Bootcamp, closes on July 31!🔬

The course is engineered to empower graduate students to use light microscopy in their own research.

Read about the course and register: www.mbl.edu/news/focus-m...

Can't wait to have you back!

Things are getting busy at Microbial DIversity. Lab on the first day (left) and lab yesterday! @mblscience.bsky.social

John Philip Trinkaus, a student in the 1939 Embryology course, left us with his drawings of 'presumptive regions' in Trout, Fundulus, Dog fish, and Urodele; development of circulatory system of Teleost; and a squid spermatophore.

bit.ly/4eZWxfU

Wonder in basic research changes human lives ✨

This is a small piece I did for @mblscience.bsky.social physiology course wonder project to show how wonder can change lives. I have never done any artwork like this, so I’m super proud of it

#basicscience #science #sciart #art

Comb Jellies Uniquely Evolved  to Sense Their World  | Marine Biological Laboratory In 2023, the ctenophore made a splash, surprising researchers at the MBL with its bizarre biology.    Ctenophores, also known as comb jellies, are gelatinous invertebrates that beat their iridescent c...

Scientists don’t know much about the ctenophore nervous system, but “the more we investigate, the weirder it gets,” Arenas Sabogal said. 

Sabogal peers into the animal's puzzling physiology to determine how the nervous system transforms sensations into behavior.

Read the full story: bit.ly/4nRoD14

In Fire-Stricken California, Beavers Hold the Line | Marine Biological Laboratory What do beavers have to do with wildfires? Jessie Moravek knows. Ten years ago, Jessie Moravek came to the Marine Biological Laboratory as a student in the undergraduate Semester in Environmental Scie...

Ten years ago, Jessie Moravek came to the MBL for Semester in Environmental Science. This spring, she returned to speak at the Ecosystems Center’s 50th Anniversary Symposium. On both occasions, Moravek focused on beavers. 🦫

Read the full story here: bit.ly/3GCRtBA

Gemma Gains New Environmental Sensor | Marine Biological Laboratory

Gemma's got new tech! ⚓

MBL’s research vessel collects squid and other species that MBL scientists use to study development, neurobiology, and more. Seasonal variability has spiked, and new tech might help us figure out why🦑

Read the full story here: bit.ly/44MrteS