Red Sea heatwave gives researchers a rare test of coral resilience

JEDDAH: When a severe marine heatwave swept the central Red Sea last summer, researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology changed their plans and entered the water. On a reef that was actively bleaching, the KAUST team found that corals treated with beneficial bacteria retained measurable signs of health that untreated corals lost. Unexpectedly, one treatment made from inactivated bacteria also showed promise. “What made this experiment particularly powerful was that it was