Scientists discover what looks like an underwater road

What revisiting a 1979 experiment reveals about ecosystem recovery after deep-sea mining

A 2023 study co-led by the National Oceanography Centre and the Natural History Museum, London, found that tracks made by the mining vehicle remained largely unchanged since 1979. Small animals, such as amoeba-like xenophyophore, were seen in the cleared areas, but sightings of larger animals known to live in the region were much rarer. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

An interactive of the deep sea

NASA explores Earth's deepest oceans to prepare for space

By studying extreme environments in Earth's hadal zone—the deepest part of the ocean —NASA tests technologies, probes life under crushing pressure, and gathers clues about potential oceans and possible life on worlds like Europa and Enceladus.

Scientists explore innovative solutions to protect coral reefs

As coral reefs are under increasing stress due to climate change, pollution, and other factors, scientists are employing creative solutions to save these crucial marine ecosystems. This National Geographic article explores the various scientific...

The weather time machine

A fun interactive on how old ships’ logs are giving scientists new insights into the past and future of the Earth’s changing climate (w/maps and pictures).

Atlantis and the apocalypse: the world of fringe archaeology

A Netflix series called "Ancient Apocalypse" claims that a thriving civilization was wiped out during the ice age by comets and floods, but left humanity with science and technology. Experts call this “pseudo-archaeology.” This hour-long podcast...

How the ocean is the new frontier of innovation

Space has been called the final frontier of innovation and investment for decades. Many innovators say the ocean is the new space, the vast majority of whose hidden depths remain obscure. In this podcast episode, business-minded experts discuss the opportunities founders see in the ocean, including seagrass restoration, underwater cable networks, and more.

Take a virtual tour of the Royal Research Ship named after David Attenborough

Operated by the British Antarctic Survey, the RRS Sir David Attenborough and its onboard tools and laboratories have investigated the biogeochemical cycles of the Southern Ocean, the stability of Greenland's ice shelves, and the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems. One of the ship's autonomous underwater vehicles was named Boaty McBoatface based on the results of a naming poll from the Natural Environment Research Council.

View a gallery of animals found on abyssal plains, hydrothermal vents, seamounts, and other deep-sea habitats.

Explore coral reefs in Google's "street view"

Expanding its mission to map the world, Google Maps partnered with The Catlin Seaview Survey to introduce the first-ever underwater panoramas, making oceanic marvels like the Great Barrier Reef accessible to everyone. With Google Maps, the public...

Watch a diving expedition through the world's longest coral colony, which spans more than a football field and whose exact location is kept secret for its protection.

In 2022, a piece of Challenger was discovered on the ocean floor

While searching for World War II wreckage near Cape Canaveral, Florida, for a documentary, divers discovered debris on the seafloor that NASA later confirmed to be a piece of Space Shuttle Challenger wreckage. The piece is at least 15-by-15 feet in size and partially buried under sand.

A new scan of the Titanic reveals details about its final hours

Using over 700,000 images captured by underwater robots, researchers created a highly detailed 3D "digital twin" of the Titanic. The analysis gives us new insights into the life of the ship that lays 3,800m down in the icy waters of the Atlantic. Emerging details from close-up images, such as a smashed porthole likely caused by the iceberg, match the eye-witness accounts of what happened. Read for more insights into the devastating wreck.

Take an interactive dive and see the animals that populate the oceans, from fish and coral near the surface to the cusk eel and hadal snailfish on the way down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

History finds of 2021

The year’s most exciting discoveries include a Viking “piggy bank,” a lost Native American settlement and a secret passageway hidden behind a bookshelf

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.

Data-packed infographic on Earth's oceans

Did you know more than 200 million people live on land that could be flooded by rising sea levels? Learn fascinating facts about the ocean from this data-filled infographic from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

Underwater nighttime photos capture the ocean's diversity

Self-taught photographer Steven Kovacs explores Palm Beach's ocean after sunset, capturing tiny sea creatures in deep waters. Over eight years, he's dived into Florida's eastern coast, drifting from 0 to 100 feet, photographing rarely seen larval fish. Lacking formal marine biology training, Kovacs collaborates globally to identify species like cusk eels and the female blanket octopus, known for its revealing membrane. Check out his photos here.

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.

Researchers discover a massive Lake Superior shipwreck

A 292-foot Whaleback ship, Barge 129, was found in Lake Superior 120 years after a storm sank it, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society said.

Take a 3D underwater trip near the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, comprising more than 900 islands and almost 3,000 individual reefs. This video lets you tag along with divers as they explore the reef off the southern coast of Lady Elliot Island in full 3D (use the direction buttons in the upper left of the video, or your keypad).

Travel through deep time with this interactive Earth

Explore key moments in Earth’s transformative history as continents drift and climate fluctuates over 4.6 billion years. The Smithsonian presents a series of interactive snapshots of the earth. From its toddler years during the Hadean period, when its surface was mostly molten, to the mostly unidentifiable landmasses of the future earth, 100 million years from now.

Mapping the Tongan eruption impact

A team of scientists—with the help of an uncrewed boat remotely controlled from the UK—join forces to produce one of the clearest pictures to date of what took place underneath the water as an enormous volcano erupted near the Tongan mainland.

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.

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.

Enter the Mayan underworld through this 3-mile cave

Discoveries in Belize's Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) cave suggest the cave was once a significant site for sacred Mayan ceremonies in antiquity. New research reveals how the Mayans conducted rituals to re-enact a specific creation myth, often staged in desperate times and aimed to invoke the gods for a "rebirth" amid drought and turmoil. Read more on the enigmatic research here.

Possible globster sighted on the Oregon coast.

A man riding an ATV on the Oregon coast comes across a “sea monster", which is actually likely a decaying carcass of shark or whale.

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.

Lewis and Clark’s journey became a blueprint for future exploration

Combining science, diplomacy, and logistics, the Corps of Discovery created a model for later expeditions—from charting the Arctic to NASA’s space missions.

The history of deep-sea mining and its governance by the International Seabed Authority

The British HMS Challenger research vessel identified metal-rich seafloor rocks between Hawaii and Mexico in the 1870s, but rules governing which nations control which parts of the ocean were not established until 1958 by the UN. It later established the ISA to oversee mineral-related operations in international waters.

View the rainbow effect on the waters at First Landing State Park

The phenomenon results from light interacting with a thin film of natural oils on the surface of swamps and marshes at the site, not unlike the coloration seen in soap bubbles. The oils originate from decaying vegetation or from anaerobic bacteria reducing iron in soil. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

'The urge to explore has propelled evolution since the first water creatures reconnoitered the land. Like all living systems, cultures cannot remain static; they evolve or decline. They explore or expire.'

- Astronaut Buzz Aldrin (1930-present)

Footage from the moments the Titanic wreck was discovered

One of the most famous shipwrecks in modern history, the RMS Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in April 1912. It was discovered on the seafloor in 1985 by a joint US-French research team about 370 miles southeast of Newfoundland.

Historians estimate only 1% of shipwrecks have been discovered

The oldest known shipwreck dates to around 2,700–2,300 BCE, but evidence suggests humans started open-ocean sailing at least 50,000 years ago. Many have completely deteriorated but artifacts aboard the vessels remain, while many lack historical records of the event or location.

Human settlements may be older than previously thought

This narrative article follows an archaeological team as they sift through the remains of Nahal Ein Gev II, an ancient village near the Sea of Galilee in Israel. Abandoned about 12,000 years ago, the site has been investigated for years and...

Aliens may be closer to Earth than scientists have previously assumed

The hunt for extraterrestrial life is often associated with traveling far into the depths of space for clues. But answers could be closer than we think. Modern space missions have demonstrated our capability of sending probes beyond the solar system, making it plausible that other civilizations could do the same.

A case study of how engineers and geologists at Tullow Oil look for oil reserves

An analysis of surface rocks using aerial and satellite imagery can help narrow the search for crude oil by identifying basins where sedimentary layers have compacted—a key process in oil formation. Surveys that look for variations in Earth's gravitational and magnetic fields consistent with specific rock distributions, or that use sound waves reflected off rock layers—not unlike sonar underwater—can also help map subsurface geology.

Records of Earth's magnetic field on the seafloor validated plate tectonics

Matching glacial, fossil, and rock records, mountain ranges, and continental shapes across oceans was insufficient evidence for continental drift. Precise measurements of magnetic minerals on the ocean floor revealed seafloor spreading, which could only be explained by moving landmasses.

Rising sea levels due to climate change may be slowing Earth's rotation

A 2024 PNAS study found that from 2000 to 2020, the length of a day increased at a rate of 1.33 milliseconds per century, an unprecedented amount in the 3.6 million years of day-length changes reconstructed from an analysis of benthic foraminifera fossils. Researchers suggest the slowing comes from changing ice sheets redistributing planetary mass.

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

The Foolkiller: The mysterious submarine at the bottom of the Chicago River

In November 1915, a submarine was found at the bottom of the Chicago River. It had been there for at least 10 years, was 40 feet long, and contained the remains of a man and his dog. To this day, no one knows who built it.

In 2025, AI detected a previously unknown geothermal reservoir

Utah-headquartered startup Zanskar Geothermal & Minerals found it beneath a part of the western Nevada desert using an AI trained on previously known blind sites—reservoirs with no visual evidence for their existence. The discovery represents the first industry-discovered blind site in more than three decades.

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

Explore Lewis and Clark’s 8,000-mile journey in Google Earth

Follow the Corps of Discovery’s full route from St. Louis to the Pacific and back on Google Earth. Explore key camps, Native encounters, and natural landmarks through satellite imagery and on-the-ground photos.

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.

The world’s largest waterfall is hidden underwater

The Denmark Strait cataract is an underwater waterfall in the ocean channel between Iceland and Greenland. It’s also the world’s largest waterfall. Standing 11,500 feet tall, the incredible natural landmark is more than three times the height of Angel Falls, the largest waterfall on land. Discover more about the features of this cataract, which, despite its massive size, is totally undetectable above water.

Archaeologists race to record ancient Nubia

Long ignored by white archaeologists as a mere footnote, modern scientists are now racing to document what’s left of the African civilization. Evidence of ancient Nubia is at risk of vanishing under environmental, societal, and political pressures. This Undark Magazine article walks you through archaeologists' fight to record ancient Nubia.

Pompeii's buried secrets are still being revealed

Despite digging for decades, archaeologists are still uncovering new insights into life before the blast that buried Pompeii. Follow a journalist's footsteps as they explore the ruins of Pompeii in this article. The ruins were discovered in the 1700s, and formal excavations throughout the 19th and 20th centuries revealed temples, mansions, and entire streets, while a third of the city remains to be excavated.

An archive of some of America's most significant shipwrecks

From The Portland—known as New England's "Titanic"—to the Civil War's USS Monitor, this archive from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides overviews of some of the most well-known shipwrecks in US history.

Ancient sunken plates may influence mantle convection and surface motion

Research suggests sunken tectonic plates can collide, assemble, and break apart to form structures called large low-velocity provinces. LLVPs can significantly enrich rising magma plumes with elements commonly seen on Earth’s surface.