{
  "id": 15442073,
  "title": "Scientists discover a way to reverse coral bleaching at record speed",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/scientists-discover-a-way-to-reverse-coral-bleaching-at-record-speed",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-18T16:00:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-10-scientists-reverse-coral.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Scientists have discovered a method to rapidly restore bleached corals using brief contact with healthy clones. In a study published in Science Advances, researchers observed that bleached corals could fully recover within seven weeks when in contact with healthy corals. This is the fastest recovery time documented to date. The findings could inspire new methods to restore corals, which are at risk of disappearing within a few decades due to climate change and marine heat waves. When waters warm, corals expel algae that provide them with energy, leaving them pale and vulnerable. While bleached corals are not dead, they take months to years to fully recover. Lead author Danny Collins, a Stanford Ph.D. student, wanted to know if there was a way to help bleached corals regain their health. He discovered that when bleached corals came into contact with healthy corals, the color returned to the bleached corals, indicating the return of beneficial algae. The study found that microchannels in coral tissues align after contact, allowing nutrients to flow from healthy to bleached fragments. The beneficial algae within bleached corals then doubled every four days, significantly faster than in wild corals. While the healing potential of physical contact is promising, the approach requires genetically identical healthy corals, which is not feasible at the scale needed for reef restoration. Researchers plan to explore alternative ways to deliver beneficial algae to bleached corals that don't require continuous contact.",
  "summary": "For the first time, scientists have observed bleached corals on the brink of death fully recover through brief contact with healthy clones. Ghostly white corals returned to full health in a laboratory setting within seven weeks, the fastest documented recovery to date, according to a study published in Science Advances.",
  "key_points": [
    "Bleached corals can recover in seven weeks using healthy clones.",
    "Contact with healthy corals restores algae and color to bleached corals.",
    "Study finds microchannel alignment facilitates nutrient flow during recovery."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}