00:01Scientists at Stanford University discovered a way to prevent bleached corals from dying by
00:07placing them in contact with healthy corals for a few days. When water becomes too hot,
00:13corals expel microscopic algae that provide much of their energy. This is called bleaching. Global
00:20bleaching occurs roughly every five to six years, leaving reefs with less time to recover between
00:26periods of extreme heat. However, scientists found that when a bleached coral touches a healthy,
00:32identical coral, they fuse together. This allows algae and nutrients to pass from one to the other.
00:39While this is a huge breakthrough, scientists say the technique is not ready for wide-scale
00:44applications in the ocean. The corals must be genetically identical for the tissue to fuse,
00:49meaning every damaged coral would need a healthy copy of itself.
00:54Researchers now hope to find a way to deliver algae without requiring direct contact or identical copies.
