Dive into the ocean's hottest water to explore hydrothermal vents

A look at hydrothermal vents, where barophiles and hyperthermophiles survive boiling water

Discovered in 1977 during an exploration of the Galapagos Rift, these seafloor openings spew hot magma and chemicals that heat seawater to hundreds of degrees. Without the sunlight found at depths of less than 1,000 meters (3,281 feet), extremophiles in these environments convert released chemicals into energy to survive, alongside surviving extreme pressures.

Explore the deepest parts of the ocean

The deeps of the Earth's oceans are some of the most extreme environments on the planet. Take a trip 36,000 feet to the deepest parts of the sea in this informative, 10-minute animated video.

Explore the animals that populate the depths of the ocean, from fish and coral in the first few hundred feet, all the way down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

The 10 most amazing deep sea creatures

In this video, researchers from the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium discuss the most fascinating deep sea creatures, and how they developed some of their strangest features.

Learn about endoliths, the polyextremophiles that thrive inside rocks

These organisms include species that live in Antarctica, where they perform photosynthesis using light and water that makes it through pores in sandstone. Others residing in Earth's crust can survive temperatures reaching 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) while generating energy through chemical reactions involving nutrients and gases trapped in rocks.

How water pressure affects the body

The extreme conditions of the deep sea include increasing amounts of pressure as explorers and organisms descend into its depths. The major danger for both fish and humans is the way pressure changes how body tissues absorb chemical molecules...

Search for psychrotolerant and psychrophilic microorganisms found in Antarctica

Developed following a five-week expedition to the southern continent, "Life Under the Ice" allows users to examine a petri-dish-like microscopic world and uncover recordings of organisms that can withstand, or even thrive, in the harsh environment.

Can coral live in cold water?

Dive deep beyond the sunlit coral reefs, and you'll discover a world of deep-sea corals. This article from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) explores the ecosystems of deep-sea corals found way below the water's surface....

Europa's deep ocean may hold the conditions needed to support alien life

Beneath its frozen crust, Europa hides a salty ocean heated by tidal forces from Jupiter. This environment may resemble Earth's deep-sea hydrothermal vents and have allowed for the development of life over billions of years.

How we know what’s deep inside the Earth, despite never traveling there

We'll likely never see the Earth's core, but we can make educated guesses about what it's like down there. Nearly as hot as the sun's surface and under impossibly high pressure, the inner Earths extreme conditions make it impossible to explore. Yet, seismic waves during earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and light waves from the sun provide fascinating insights about our planet’s mantle, crust, and core.

Watch David Attenborough’s documentary on bioluminescent creatures

Sea creatures can make their bodies glow to camouflage themselves by mimicking the appearance of the night sky as seen from underwater. Species without this ability can form a symbiotic relationship with bioluminescent bacteria or eat other organisms with relevant biochemicals.

The Southern Ocean's powerful circular current isolates organisms in its environment

The spiralling current churns up nutrients across the frigid waters, leading to the evolution of fantastical organisms, including century-old starfish and colossal squid, and unique adaptations, including the icefish's clear blood and organic antifreeze, over the past 30 million years.

Ranking the 10 hottest places on Earth

Death Valley in California often gets the press for the hottest recorded air temperature in the world. What about the runners-up? This list compiles the rest of the Earth's hottest spots, from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to Kebili in Tunisia.

A Death Valley shrub optimizes its cells' organelles to photosynthesize in extreme heat

Examining the cellular structure of the plant under heat, scientists observed the formation of novel, cup-shaped chloroplasts and mitochondrial relocation, which shifted the plant's optimal photosynthesis temperature to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) as it tripled in mass over 10 days. Engineering these mechanisms in crops may help optimize them for hotter environments.

Journey through Norway’s frozen frontier

This 44-minute video takes viewers through the Arctic landscapes of Norway, as they learn about the area’s life and challenges. Viewers can observe the wildlife that thrives in this harsh setting—from reindeer and polar bears to red foxes. They...

Underwater volcanoes significantly contributes to marine extinctions during the Triassic period

An analysis of ocean basins in the Tibetan Plateau helped identify three major periods of volcanism—250-248, 233-231, and 210-208 million years ago—which released significant amounts of greenhouse gases, altering ocean chemistry. The low-oxygen conditions may help explain half of Earth's Triassic extinctions.

Watch this octopus win every single Escape Room challenge

Octopuses are famously intelligent, solitary creatures covered in hundreds of chemical-sensing suckers. They're also pretty fascinating pets, and even enjoy playing. The crew at OctoLab put one of its more playful mollusks into four different Escape Room-like cages to see how long it would take for it to escape. Watch this video to see the brilliant, if a bit unsettling, methods the animal uses.

Biosphere 2 is the largest Earth science experiment ever built

The vivarium—an enclosed system including animals and plants—is sealed from below with 454 metric tons of stainless steel liner and includes an ocean habitat with more than 700,000 gallons of seawater. B2 is visited by 100,000 people yearly, including more than 10,000 K-12 students.

Learn all about different types of extreme weather

Find out in more detail about different types of extreme weather, from flooding to thunderstorms, from tropical cyclones to sandstorms, and more (w/ helpful videos).

Watch the first-ever footage of a ghost shark

In 2009, the pointy-nosed blue chimaera was filmed swimming in the deep sea. That same year, researchers first observed them off the coast of California and Hawaii, after they had previously been found only in the Southern Hemisphere.

The best photos of scientists at work in 2025

The winners of Nature's 2025 photo competition capture the essence of scientific fieldwork in diverse and challenging environments. From a biologist battling waves for whale research to ice core drilling in polar night conditions, this gallery details the research being each winning photo.

How a deadly antarctic expedition turned poisonous

A deadly 1912 scientific expedition to the Antarctic took a turn for the worse when the expedition team's leader turned to man's best friend to fuel their journey. This 21-minute podcast episode provides a glimpse into the real-life dangers of...

Evidence suggests the first cells on Earth were bacteria

About 4 billion years ago, these single-celled organisms harvested carbon dioxide and sunlight to produce their own food and oxygen, setting the stage for the evolution of oxygen-breathing life forms. Archaeabacteria, which thrive on inorganic molecules in extreme habitats on Earth today, were also among the earliest organisms.

Tardigrades have not been shown to survive all space conditions at once

A 2007 mission launched several species into low-Earth orbit, exposing them to microgravity in temperature-controlled modules. Survivability rates were high for microgravity exposure alone, but plummeted when combined with exposure to the full UV spectrum and the vacuum of space.

A look at the Kidd Creek Mine in Canada, which houses the world's oldest isolated water

The mine sits on the Precambrian Canadian Shield—an ocean floor dating back 2.7 billion years. Exhibiting a musty smell, the water is 10 times saltier than seawater and offers insights into Earth's ancient seabed.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Massive blooms of microscopic plankton called dinoflagellates produce the neon blue light seen in glowing tides.

The Devil's Hole pupfish can be found in only one place in the world

The critically endangered fish species can be found in only one cave in the middle of the Mojave Desert called Devil's Hole. In 2016, three men broke into the protected area to purposefully harm the fish.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

The deadliest aspect of volcanic eruptions is often not lava, but pyroclastic flows—avalanches of ash, gas, and rock that can move more than half the speed of sound.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus remains extremely rare, so the 2026 hantavirus cruise ship outbreak doesn't mean we're facing a COVID-style pandemic risk.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

The first image of a black hole was captured by creating an Earth-sized virtual observatory from a network of eight radio telescopes.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

The animatronic shark from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' the first modern blockbuster, was a complex underwater apparatus called 'Bruce.'

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

Track the location of the Voyager probes, currently between 13 and 15 billion miles away from Earth.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

Indefinite cloning of some endangered species may not sustain their longevity because cloning success rates decrease as genetic mutations accumulate.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by more than 1.5 million Muslims each year.

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.