Scientists at Stanford University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have discovered how heart cells in fish are damaged by toxic chemicals in crude oil. They published a paper in Science, on February 14, 2014, describing the cellular mechanisms that cause decreased heart contraction, slower heart rate, and irregular heartbeats that lead to the death of fish. Their research is part of an ongoing Natural Resource Damage Assessment of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.