Tag Archives: ocean

Understanding the wakes and vortices that jellyfish produce as they swim is crucial, according to Wu, et al. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is a vital tool for studying flow phenomena and biomechanical propulsion. PIV essentially tracks tiny tracer particles suspended in water by illuminating them with laser light. The technique usually relies on hollow glass spheres, polystyrene beads, aluminum flakes, …

A beaming patch of turquoise amidst the Southern Ocean’s blue-grey waters that’s baffled scientists ever since it was first spotted in satellite images in the early 2000s may have finally been deciphered by oceanographers. Mapping concentrations of phytoplankton and biogeochemical compounds has revealed a curious combination of microorganisms that challenges assumptions about the way the frigid waters of the world’s …

Actress Aubrey Plaza has said life is “a daily struggle”, seven months after her estranged husband, film-maker Jeff Baena, took his own life. The writer, director and producer died in January at the age of 47. Plaza spoke about the aftermath for the first time in an interview on her former Parks and Recreation co-star Amy Poehler’s podcast. Asked how …

Aubrey Plaza has described her grief over husband Jeff Baena’s death, likening it to “a giant ocean of awfulness.” The actor spoke on the podcast ‘’Good Hang with Amy Poehler,” telling her former “Parks and Recreation” costar in her most detailed public remarks to date that it’s been a daily struggle to overcome her grief. Writer-director Baena’s January death at …

Victoria Gill, Kate Stephens and Gwyndaf Hughes BBC News Science team Elisenda Balleste The researchers worked from a vessel at a number of locations around the Antarctic Peninsula Why would anyone brave hand-numbing cold, icy winds and rough seas – sometimes working through the night – to dig up mud from the Antarctic seabed? That is what an international team …

A new scientific atlas has just redrawn the map of Antarctica’s seafloor—and what it reveals could alter how researchers model sea-level rise, ocean circulation, and the continent’s past. The study, published in Marine Geology and led by researchers from the University of Barcelona and University College Cork, identifies 332 previously unmapped submarine canyons hiding beneath the Antarctic margin—five times more …

In a groundbreaking study, scientists from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) have uncovered a massive hydrogen-producing hydrothermal system beneath the western Pacific seafloor. This discovery, published in Science Advances on August 8, 2025, provides new insight into a rare and powerful process occurring far beneath the Earth’s surface. The study sheds light on the …

Exploring the depths of the ocean is a captivating and mysterious journey, revealing unexpected wonders that defy human comprehension. One such phenomenon is the “whale fall,” a life-sustaining event that happens when the remains of a giant creature, such as a whale, sink to the ocean floor, creating a temporary oasis for deep-sea organisms. This event was vividly captured in …

Lifelong boat captain George Billiris says he’s lucky to be alive after Vibrio vulnificus, the so-called “flesh-eating” bacteria that lurks in warm coastal waters like those along Florida’s Gulf Coast, nearly killed him. “I started to get chills, feverish, my leg was swelling, burning,” the third-generation sponge fisherman told CBS News. Billiris was wading in the water while fishing with …

Off the volcanic ridges of the Eastern Pacific, deep beneath the surface where sunlight never reaches, a team of researchers has uncovered something extraordinary: a secret network of underwater caves crawling with giant tube worms—some nearly 20 inches long. The discovery, led by scientists from the Schmidt Ocean Institute in Palo Alto, California, revealed a previously unknown ecosystem lurking beneath …