{"id":722394,"date":"2026-08-01T07:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T07:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/722394\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T07:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T07:40:14","slug":"how-scientists-finally-confirmed-rare-pink-seaweed-as-new-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/722394\/","title":{"rendered":"How scientists finally confirmed rare pink seaweed as new species"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Seaweeds are one of the most ancient forms of life &#8211; having developed more than 1bn years ago &#8211; and many provide a critical food source for fish and a haven for them to lay their eggs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">For humans, the abundant minerals and anti-inflammatory properties of certain seaweeds have seen their extracts used in medicines from treating acid reflux to wound dressings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;We really have to look after seaweeds, we really have to love them,&#8221; Prof Juliet Brodie, a leading seaweed expert, explains in the vaults of the Natural History Museum surrounded by a collection of seaweed pressings the new species is joining.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Finding a new species, although exciting in itself, plays an important role in keeping an eye on the maerl&#8217;s health over time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;They&#8217;re really precious,&#8221; she adds. &#8220;I&#8217;ve often pondered to myself, what would the world be like without seaweeds? You would be taking away your nurseries for some of your economically important fish. But you would also [remove] the immense diversity that makes our world function.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Seaweeds are one of the most ancient forms of life &#8211; having developed more than 1bn years ago&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-722394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}