Ocean

Scientists have discovered 230 new giant viruses (girus) found to be the unseen engineers of marine ecology, impacting global carbon cycling and energy flow across the world’s oceans.

The oceans are losing their light – and with it, possibly their life. A new study reveals more than 20% of the Earth's ocean, an area larger than Asia, has darkened over the last two decades.

China is going full Jules Verne as it prepares to go where no drill has gone before. As part of its Deep Ocean Drilling Program, the special-built Meng Xiang (梦想号, "Dream") drill ship is gearing up for a multi-year effort to pierce the Earth's crust.

For ages, Earth has been known as a blue planet, a vision largely shaped by the vast oceans that cover three-quarters of its surface. But what if this wasn't always the case, and our oceans used to be green?

Literally a century after it was first discovered, we now have footage of the colossal squid alive in its natural habit for the very first time for your viewing pleasure. In fact, you can see a juvenile transparent specimen here.

Deep sea mining has been off limits because it's awfully hard, and because governments haven't yet firmed up regulations around extracting minerals offshore. That might soon change with The Metal Company's latest move – perhaps sooner than it should.

What has 14 legs, lives at the bottom of the sea, and looks like Darth Vader? It's a newly discovered species of supergiant isopod, and should you happen to be in Vietnam sometime soon, you can buy one and eat it.

If you're setting out to build an underwater robot that's speedy, maneuverable and versatile, why not just copy what already works in the natural world? That's exactly what Beatbot has done, with its bio-inspired Amphibious RoboTurtle.

Filter-feeding mollusks respond to water pollution in a very detectable and measurable manner. With that fact in mind, scientists have created a water-quality-monitoring system that uses electronically augmented live mollusks as its sensors.

A technique originally developed to combat acid rain has the potential to pull an enormous amount of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere – while helping to deacidify oceans, restore rivers and boost biodiversity and fish populations.

Geologists have drilled deeper than ever into material from the Earth’s mantle – more than three quarters of a mile. The sample gives a glimpse into the geology and even life in a deep world normally beyond our reach.

Researchers have prototyped sensor-packed robot bugs that mimic biological digestive systems to meet energy needs, employ a Janus interface for a steady supply of nutrients and move on the water's surface like a water strider.