Californian Wreck

Diver on Californian wreck
Hardware covered with corynactis, which decorates the entire wreck of the Californian

The Californian was an American steamship built in 1900, which sank in the Gulf of Biscay, off the coast of France, in 1918, during a WWI convoy. Pascal Henaff has the story.

Dive into Taiwan: Kenting

In the southernmost district of Taiwan lies the Taiwanese Riviera, located in Hengchun Township (also known as Kenting), where divers enjoy the warm waters and plentiful marine life of the sheltered bay of Nan Wan, with its coral cliffs, reefs and pinnacles. Simon Pridmore has the story.

Whales have developed mechanisms against diseases such as cancer.
Whales have developed mechanisms against diseases such as cancer.

Why whales don't get cancer

Cancer should be a near certainty for whales, being the longest-living and largest mammals there are. Across species, the higher the number of cells, the greater the number of cell divisions and the higher the probability of DNA damage and the transformation of a normal cell into a cancerous one.

However, the occurrence of cancer does not show a correlation with body mass. The lack of correlation between body mass and cancer risk is known as Peto’s paradox.