Ocean
Shell Is Drilling the World’s Deepest Offshore Oil Well in the Gulf of Mexico
The new well contains around 250 million barrels of recoverable oil total - or just over three percent of the oil used by the U.S. each year
May 09, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
The Deep Seafloor Turns Out to Be a Treasure Trove for Ancient DNA
DNA preserved in the the ocean floor could provide a unique view of ancient animals that aren't represented in the fossil record
May 08, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Feel What It’s Like to Live on an Antarctic Icebreaker for Two Months
In February 2013 Cassandra Brooks, a marine scientist with Stanford University, landed at McMurdo Station, a U.S. research station on the shores of Antarctica’s Ross Sea. For two months she worked on a ship, the icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer, cruising through the Antarctic sea. Brooks documented her life on the ship for National Geographic, and now she’s [...]
May 07, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
Mapping the Routes of Invasive Stowaways
Singapore, Honk Kong, New York, Long Beach, CA, and the Panama and Suez canals are the areas most at risk from invasive species
May 07, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Seahorses Inspire New Armor Designs
The plates that line seahorse tails have to be both flexible enough to grasp and rigid enough to defend themselves from predators
May 06, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
How Bone-Eating Zombie Worms Drill Through Whale Skeletons
The worms use a "bone-melting acid" that frees up the nutrients within both whale and fish bones
May 01, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
PHOTOS: The Mind-Blowing, Floating, Unmanned Scientific Laboratory
Wave Gliders are about to make scientific exploration a lot cheaper and safer
May 2013 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Fish Bladders Are Actually a Thing People Smuggle, And They’re Worth a Lot of Money
One bladder from the totoaba macdonaldi fish can garner $5,000 in the United States, and over $10,000 in Asia
April 26, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
Ancient Australia’s First Settlers Probably Came There On Purpose
Rather some chance encounter with the continent down under, researchers think that the original migrants set out to deliberately colonize Australia
April 25, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Russia’s Cold War Plan to Reverse the Ocean and Melt the Arctic
A giant dam across the Pacific could re-route ocean currents and melt the Arctic, and the Soviets wanted to try
April 25, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
The ‘FlipperBot’ Is Almost as Cute as the Baby Sea Turtles It Mimics
This bio-inspired robot could help conserve and restore beaches as well as teach us about how our ancient aquatic ancestors evolved to walk on land
April 24, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Invasive Lionfish Are Like a Living, Breathing, Devastating Oil Spill
Meet the lionfish - the beautiful, poisonous and ravenous fish that is making its way across the Atlantic ocean like a slowly crawling, devastating oil spill
April 22, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
Lockheed Martin Wants to Pull Electricity from the Ocean’s Heat
A type of renewable energy, first proposed in the 1800s, might finally be ready for prime time
April 22, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
Crowds Help Robots Repair Damaged Coral Reefs
A team of Scottish scientists hopes to raise $107,000 to build coral reef repairing robots
April 19, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
How One Family Helped Change the Way We Eat Ham
The Harris family struck gold when they introduced the ice house to England in 1856, but what were the costs of their innovation?
April 15, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
When an Iceberg Melts, Who Owns the Riches Beneath the Ocean?
The promise of oil has heated up a global argument over the Arctic’s true borders
April 2013 |
By Amy Crawford
James Cameron Decides to Let Scientists Use His Awesome Submersible
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution inherits the submarine, which they will use to built even better submersibles
March 28, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Fast-Melting Arctic Ice Caused Massive Spring Snowstorms
Record lows of Arctic sea ice also accounts for last year's unusually warm spring
March 28, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Setting Sail: the 500th Anniversary of Juan Ponce de León’s Discovery of Florida
The story of Florida isn't as simple as you may remember
March 27, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
On the Menu This Easter in Newfoundland: Seal Flipper Pie
This breaded pie made from seals has been consumed during the Lenten season since 1555
March 27, 2013 |
By K. Annabelle Smith
