The CCZ is believed to harbor trillions of dollars of valuable minerals and thousands of undiscovered species

View a map of the distribution of mineral resources on the seafloor

Polymetallic nodules are found in regions near the middle of the Pacific Ocean, along the eastern coast of South America, and along the western coast of Africa, while cobalt-rich crusts span significant portions of the Pacific tropics east of the Philippines. Polymetallic sulfide deposits occur at tectonic plate boundaries, including areas within national jurisdictions.

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.

As of 2025, China has been awarded the most deep-sea mining contracts by the ISA

The International Seabed Authority—established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea—grants 15-year contracts for governments and private companies to legally search for minerals and test seabed mining technologies. China is already the global leader in the processing and refining of critical minerals.

Explaining the engineering challenges of extracting metal-rich nodules from the seafloor

Proposed solutions for collecting these potato-shaped rocks involve lifting a slurry composed of them, organic debris, and water through several kilometers of flexible tubing to a ship on the surface, a process that is more difficult than pumping crude oil. One method would use compressed air, but this method is only 15% energy-efficient.

About 20% of asteroids are metal worlds similar to Earth's core

The biggest of these (that we know of) is 16 Psyche. Measuring 140 miles across, its iron and nickel content is potentially worth 10,000 quadrillion dollars. NASA’s mission to Psyche—reaching the asteroid in 2029—will study it to learn about its formation.

The Ring of Fire is the most geologically active zone on Earth

Spanning 40,000 kilometers as it circles the Pacific Ocean, the region experienced about 90% of the world’s earthquakes and contains over 70% of its active volcanoes. The horseshoe-shaped belt features convergent, divergent, and transform plate boundaries.

Earth's core is leaking precious metals, including gold

Earth's core, containing 99.999% of all known gold, is leaking trace amounts of precious metals into the mantle. Advanced isotopic methods have detected this leakage at volcanoes in Hawai'i, providing new insights into the movement of material beneath Earth's surface.

The world's largest garbage patch, explained

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world and is located between Hawaii and California. Scientists of The Ocean Cleanup Foundation have conducted the most extensive analysis ever of this area.

The world's largest coral, as seen from space

The world’s largest individual coral colony—measuring over 100 feet wide and 100 feet long—was discovered in the Solomon Islands. This coral is so large it can be seen from space, and is estimated to be between 300 and 500 years old. The coral's size and health provide hope amidst a global coral bleaching crisis, wherein three-quarters of coral reefs have experienced significant bleaching in recent decades. See the photos from space and learn more here.

Explore a series of articles on the costs of critical mineral extraction

The acquisition of critical minerals—essential materials for clean energy technologies—has often been accompanied by harm to water supplies, natural ecosystems, and Indigenous lands, raising questions about the overall benefit of these technologies.

The missing continent that took 375 years to find

It took scientists 375 years to discover the eighth continent of the world, which had been hiding in plain sight all along. But mysteries still remain.

The world's quirkiest time zones

In contrast to telling time by physical signs like the sun or stars, cultural time relies on political agreement and standards. The convention of time zones arose due to transportation and communication advancements, and while many work just fine, some are pretty wild. Chief among those is the time zone of the uninhabited Baker and Howland Islands in the central Pacific, which results in a technical 26-hour day.

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.

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.

There's a bitcoin mine in remote Zambia

In Zambia, a small hydropower plant draws water to power a town of 15,000 people—and a bitcoin mine. A shipping container containing 120 computers mining bitcoin—solving complex calculations to win the reward of several bitcoin—was set up near the plant to use its cheap electricity, and share its revenue.

NASA plans to bring down the ISS at a location farthest from land

Point Nemo is located in the South Pacific Ocean at coordinates 48°52.6'S 123°23.6'W, approximately 2,688 kilometers (1,670 miles) from Ducie Island, Motu Nui, and Maher Island. The location has served as an underwater graveyard for hundreds of satellites and is expected to be harbor the International Space Station in 2030.

There is a nature preserve in Korea's DMZ

In almost every way, the Demilitarized Zone is a depressing place, a testament to humans' inability to make peace. There is one surprising upside: Keeping people away has allowed nature to thrive. Recently released images offer a 360-degree view of some of the hundreds of endangered species making a comeback in the DMZ, including white-naped cranes, mountain goats, musk deer, and golden eagles.

The 'Goldilocks zone' is the region around a star where liquid water can exist

Also referred to as the habitable zone, this region varies based on the properties of a planetary system's host star, including its size and luminosity, which measure the rate at which the star radiates energy per unit area.

Supermountains the size of the continental US may have sparked complex life on Earth

Geological records show that the Nuna and the Transgondwanan Supermountains existed around the same time as two major jumps in species complexity on the planet: the rise of large organisms and the Cambrian explosion, respectively. Researchers believe that the erosion of these mountains deposited major nutrients into the oceans and boosted oxygen levels, both of which supported more complex species.

The booming fossil industry on the Jurassic Coast

Ever since the Jurassic Coast was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001, professional and amateur fossil-finders have increasingly set out for its craggly cliffs to discover ammonites, icthyosaurs, and even new discoveries. This photo essay takes a human look at the growing interest and industry in fossil discoveries along the famed 95-mile strip of England.

Fly through the Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system

Stretching farther than the width of the continental US and with depths as much as four times those of the Grand Canyon, the Valles Marineris is believed to have formed when Mars’s crust tore open during intense volcanism in the planet’s past.

View a ranking of the countries with the largest helium reserves, led by the US

Estimated at 20.6 billion cubic meters (727.5 billion cubic feet) as of 2022, US helium reserves are more than double those of Qatar, the second nation on the list. Leading the world in natural gas production, from which helium is recovered, the US also leads global helium production, which helps mitigate shortages resulting from overseas geopolitical tensions.

As of 2025, LUX-ZEPLIN is the world's most sensitive dark matter experiment

The experiment is designed to indirectly detect WIMPs—weakly interacting massive particles and a candidate for what dark matter is made of—by looking for light produced when they collide with xenon atoms. Such collisions would also release electrons, which are then manipulated to produce a secondary light signal that helps rule out background effects.

Coral reefs get their colors from zooxanthellae—microorganisms that line corals' digestive tracts and provide them with sugars in exchange for a home within this protective tissue.

Visit these 'blue zones,' where people live the longest

Blue zones, a term coined in 2004 by National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner, are regions in the world where people live the longest and healthiest lives. Researchers have identified a few key aspects defining the culture of these areas—physical activity, diet, purpose-driven lives, and more. Explore the top five blue zones from across the world here.

The Chernobyl exclusion zone remains a region restricted to public access

It now spans beyond the initial 30-kilometer radius around the nuclear plant to include surrounding areas found to have significant radioactive contamination. Aside from a handful of elderly self-settlers, permanent residency is banned, and access remains tightly controlled due to lingering radioactive contamination.

Waves off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, can reach over 100 feet and are caused by the area's deep underwater canyon geography

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.

How the Montreal Protocol made CFCs the most valuable Miami contraband after cocaine

Following the 1990s production ban, smugglers flooded Miami with illegal chlorofluorocarbons used in air conditioning. A 15-kilogram cylinder bought for $70 in Europe could sell for $242 in the US, fueling multimillion-dollar black-market trade. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

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.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

This real-time tracking of the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak in May 2026 offers a unique glimpse into the global reach of the outbreak and whether the virus sickened passengers and their communities around the world.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

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

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

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

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

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

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.