Nasa scientists find unlikely tool as rising temperatures bleach corals: a phone app

Without the app, mapping reefs usually involves high amounts of data and low-quality photos, which leads to slow analysis

Less than 1% of the ocean floor consists of coral reefs. But more than one-quarter of marine animals live in them. With rising temperatures bleaching corals across oceans, Nasa scientists turn to an unlikely tool: a smartphone app.

A team of Nasa scientists in Silicon Valley has developed NeMO-Net, a game to classify corals, into a tool for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa).