How specialized oxygen mixtures like heliox enable deep diving without feeling drunk

Why helium mixtures are used in respiratory medicine

Unlike the air near Earth's surface, which is primarily composed of oxygen and nitrogen, heliox is composed entirely of oxygen and helium. Because helium is lighter than nitrogen, the lungs do not have to work as hard to push air, easing the uptake of oxygen via a ventilator, mask, or nasal tube.

Santa Barbara divers helped innovate deepwater diving technology

Divers in the Santa Barbara channel innovated a more efficient type of diving helmet in the 1960s that used helium to allow for longer, deeper excursions for oil surveying, abalone collecting, and more. These innovators have since set the standard worldwide for military and industrial diving.

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...

Deep sea fish rely on a molecular strengthener to prevent being crushed

Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) stabilizes hydrogen bonds and prevents water and proteins within organisms from being misshapen under immense pressure. Compounds called piezolytes protect cellular membranes from being crushed in regions like the Mariana Trench, where pressures are 1,100 times greater than surface atmospheric pressure.

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.

Watch underwater photosynthesis make water look like champagne

In shallow waters where sunlight can reach, photosynthetic reactions absorb water and dissolved carbon dioxide, producing bubbles of oxygen at the surface of plants. As these bubbles rise to the water's surface, a fizzy appearance is created.

Why stories about helium 'running out' indicate market volatility rather than scarcity

Only a few locations on Earth contain natural gas reserves with sufficiently high helium concentrations to make their extraction commercially viable, and geopolitical conflicts in these areas significantly affect helium production. This makes cost a major impediment to helium availability, particularly for scientific research, amid growing demand and ongoing depletion of reserves that took billions of years to form.

Why breathing helium, sulfur hexafluoride, and other gases changes your voice

The speed of sound varies depending on the properties of the material it travels through, including its density. Because helium is less dense than air, sound travels faster, altering the timbre of one's voice to be squeakier by enhancing its higher frequencies. In molecules that are heavier than air, low-frequency sounds are enhanced, producing a deeper voice.

The weight of Earth's atmosphere is equivalent to a 33-foot deep, global ocean

Because air is made up of gas molecules with mass, it is not weightless. On the planet's surface, we are effectively living in what is the equivalent of the bottom of an invisible ocean of these particles pressing against us, just as water molecules do when we are submerged.

Exposed concrete led to oxygen depletion within Biosphere 2

Instead of being absorbed by plants through photosynthesis to produce oxygen, significant amounts of carbon dioxide were taken up by the calcium hydroxide in the concrete, trapping the oxygen in calcium carbonate and water. This concrete was sealed before the start of the second B2 mission.

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 ocean's ability to store carbon long-term is being hindered by marine heatwaves

More than 4,000 robotic floats with biogeochemical data sensors, including oxygen, pH, nitrate, suspended particles, chlorophyll, temperature, and conductivity, have been deployed as part of the Global Ocean Biogeochemical Array. They have identified changes to ecosystem structure affecting the ocean's ability to transport carbon from surface waters into the deep.

Nitrous oxide is the third most significant greenhouse gas made by human activities

Emissions of this molecule increased 40% from 1980 to 2020, with atmospheric concentrations reaching levels higher than at any other time in the last 800,000 years, based on ice core records. Its warming potential is 273 times that of carbon dioxide over 100 years and remains in the atmosphere for more than a century, on average.

An oxygen tank explosion forced Apollo 13 to abort its moon landing

The 1970 mission—intended to be the third lunar landing—forced astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise to focus solely on their survival. They engineered a makeshift filter to handle the carbon dioxide they produced, which exceeded the lunar module's capacity.

Underwater data centers may provide an alternative to energy-intensive air cooling

By submerging electronic hardware into a non-conductive fluid, such as an oil with strong thermal transfer properties, significant thermal energy can be quickly drawn away from a chip and brought to the surface as warm materials rise. Thermal energy can then be removed from the fluid with a heat exchanger before it is recirculated.

Why you have to airlift rhinos upside down

Conservationists in Namibia have found that airlifting rhinos upside down is actually better for their health than lying them down on stretchers. A study by Cornell University found that rhinos have higher blood oxygen levels when upside down, which is critical for their survival during transport. The upside-down position also allows the rhino's spine to relax, which can help to prevent injuries. This new finding could revolutionize the way that rhinos are moved.

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.

Reduced inflammation from cold plunges lacks scientific support

The cold water triggers immediate cold shock, increasing heart rate and blood pressure, and prolonged exposure can lead to cold-water incapacitation and hypothermia. Plungers are encouraged to enter the water slowly and manage their breathing to reduce the risk of shock. Warm baths post-plunge are discouraged, and exercise is generally better for recovery.

Some claim breathwork can improve mental health, help process trauma, and more

Research shows people who practice breathing exercises see a decrease in depression and stress levels, and that such exercises are about as effective at treating PTSD as conventional approaches. Even something as simple as extending exhales can slow one's heart rate and activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

Longer-duration space missions may amplify astronaut motion sickness

NASA is using the Kraken, a 50-foot-long, 100-ton US Navy research device, to simulate space motion sickness and vertigo and test possible recovery strategies, including testing out different, specific head movements. The Kraken, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, can rotate participants at exposures of up to 3G.

Despite privacy risks, scientists are using DNA in the air to assess ecosystem health

While DNA in soil and water samples has long been used for such analyses, airborne DNA is being incorporated into such efforts to monitor individual species abundance, detect invasive species, measure biodiversity, and determine the success of conservation actions. Future work may include detecting attacks from biological weapons.

The US Navy prohibited sailors from toasting with water

A 1986 manual stated that "Tradition is that the object of a toast with water will die by drowning." The superstition is rooted in ancient Greek mythology, where the dead in the underworld drank from the River Lethe to forget their previous lives. As such, the Greeks believed toasting someone with water to be a way of cursing them to the underworld.

What happens in a dying brain?

Near-death experiences usually happen during death or on the border of life and death when a person isn't understood to be conscious. This article details the science of what's going on with the brain during NDEs.

Stratospheric balloons: a visual guide

In late January 2023, a Chinese high-altitude balloon, believed to be for surveillance purposes, traversed the US and caused a diplomatic stir. The technology itself is established—though typically used for atmospheric measurements. This visual...

Learn why magnets, like statically charged balloons, can deflect water

While the oxygen atom in water molecules strongly attracts hydrogen's electrons—producing an uneven charge distribution that pulls water toward balloons that have been rubbed against surfaces—the presence of a magnetic field alters the path of these electrons, which produce their own tiny magnetic fields. The interaction of these fields repels water away from magnets, making it diamagnetic.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation

Ewen snagged the win for "most balloons blown up in one hour by an individual" in 2011 with 582 balloons, and then reclaimed the title in 2017 with 910 balloons inflated in just 60 minutes.

A guide to making ice cream with liquid nitrogen by flash-freezing dairy

Only existing in liquid form at extremely low temperatures, nitrogen can rapidly freeze cream, coconut milk, and other liquids into small crystals, producing smooth, creamy ice cream. As a safety precaution, liquid nitrogen should be handled in a well-ventilated area with safety goggles and protective gloves.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

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

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

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.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

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.

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

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

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.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

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.

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Watch how algorithms can be designed to train themselves and self-improve without human input, to the point where the optimized code is too complex for programmers to understand.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.