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# The Mean, Green, Water-Cleaning Machine

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The Algal Turf Scrubber (ATS) is one of the marine ecology field’s best-kept secrets. Invented by Smithsonian scientist Dr. Walter Adey in the 1980s, the ATS harvests algae from large bodies of water and converts it to biomass that can be used to fuel cars, to treat illnesses, and, perhaps someday soon, to even power your cell phone. So why aren’t more people using the ATS system?

Are you curious about the ins and outs of Dr. Adey’s Algal Turf Scrubber (ATS)? Adey’s work began at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, where he was able to build entire miniature ecosystems in the building’s basement! Did you know that the original ATS is still fully functional? You can see it in action down on Florida’s east coast at the Smithsonian’s Marine Station in Fort Pierce. Check out this short video to learn more about Biosphere 2, the “bubble” that tested human life within a closed system! 

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**By Topic**
- Art & Design
- History & Culture
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      Subscribe        From the Collections-  Scientist Walter H. Adey Inspects a Created Coral Reef at MNH 
-  Robert Redford Comes to SI 
-  Tugboat at Fort Pierce 
-  Dr. Raymond B. Manning and William D. Lee Using a "Slurp Gun" 
-  Diving Into French Polynesia's Shark Infested Waters 
-  Coral Reefs: 60 Seconds of Science 
-  Diane and Mark Littler at work 
-  Portraits of G. Arthur Cooper, Samuel T. Suratt, and Walter H. Adey 
-  Fresh Water Biology 
-  Aerial of Ft. Pierce 
-  Distichopora irregularis 
-  Florence E. Meier in the Division of Radiation and Organisms Laboratory 
-  Lithothamnion lemoineae W.H. Adey 
-  Dictyosphaeria sp. 
-  Dictyosphaeria sp. 
-  Peyssonnelia sp. 
-  Peyssonnelia sp. 
-  Padina pavonica (L.) Thivy 
-  Taonia sp. 
-  Taonia sp. 
-  Lobophora sp. 
-  Lobophora sp. 
-  Dictyota sp. 
-  Dictyota sp. 
-  Sargassum sp. 
-  Batophora sp. 
-  Halimeda discoidea Decne. 
-  Ernodesmis sp. 
-  Halimeda goreaui W.R. Taylor 
-  Caulerpa elongata Weber Bosse 
-  Acetabularia sp. 
-  Filming in an Aquarium Filled with Water, with Marine Biologist Nancy Knowlton, Panama, STRI 
-  Atlantic Coral Reef Feeding Frenzy 
-  Coral Reefs - A Delicate Balance of Life at the National Museum of Natural History 
-  Feeding Frenzy in our Atlantic Coral Reef! 
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