David Levin

Engineers are still using techniques from the 1970s to disperse oil. Now scientists are studying how dispersants affect the microbes.Engineers are still using techniques from the 1970s to disperse oil. Now scientists are studying how dispersants affect the microbes.

5 million barrels of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico when BP's Macondo well exploded in 2010, and some oil remained suspended in the water. New research in Hamburg, Germany is examining why the oil behaved in such an unexpected way.

The marine environment in the Gulf of Mexico is still suffering three years after nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil gushed from the blown out Macondo well. Scientists from the Center for Integrated Modeling and Analysis of the Gulf Ecosystem, C-IMAGE, are studying the effects on the tiny life forms at the base of the food chain.

Just three years ago, the Deep Water Horizon oil spill poured 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Now, a team of chemists, engineers, and biologists is attempting to assess the damage to the Gulf ecosystem.