Environment / Ocean

Earth's Own Underwater Aliens

Marine biologist Edie Widder's underwater spy camera finally gives humans a chance to see the freaky world of deep-ocean bioluminescent animals. 08.27.2009

Earth's Own Aliens: They Light Up & Live in the Deep

Marine biologist Edie Widder's underwater spy camera is an underwater SETI, finally giving humans a chance to see the freaky world of deep-ocean bioluminescent animals. 08.05.2009

10 Zany (or Genius?) Plans for Green Cities of the Future

Floating cities. A building with a million residents. An oil rig turned into a tourist getaway. Some architects are dreaming of a wild green revolution. 05.26.2009

A Shad Situation

The population of American shad rebounded in the 1990s but is again on the wane. 05.17.2009

Can Giant Robots Successfully Mine the Mile-Deep Seafloor?

The economic collapse threatens the long-held dream of underwater mining. 05.04.2009

Visual Science: A Glow Below

Fluorescent coral captured on film 02.28.2009

The Weirdest New Source of Alternative Energy: Underwater Vibrations

Researchers say this longtime bane of offshore drilling is more cost-efficient than wind and solar. 02.25.2009

Amazing IMAX Underwater Photography

First you start with a 1,300-pound 3-D camera… 02.24.2009

Six Sites That Are the Galapagos For Modern Darwins

Researchers see amazing twists of evolution at the biological hot spots. 02.10.2009

Where Every Windmill Is a Gusher: Offshore

Wind power from the sea could provide an alternative-energy breakthrough. 02.01.2009

#4: Slime Is Turning the Seas Into Dead Zones

Pollution, overfishing, and the rise of microbes spell doom for many bodies of water. 12.22.2008

#5: Nations Stake Their Claims to a Melting Arctic

Undiscovered oil and gas reserves below the ice set off a polar gold rush. 12.22.2008

#31: Fish Farming Threatens Wild Salmon

Lice, interbreeding, and contaminants are killing off the species. 12.16.2008

#94: Seaweed Creates Its Own Sunscreen

The soggy brown kelp protects itself with iodides. 12.05.2008

The Ocean's Last Remaining Secrets

Marine biologists in the world's only undersea lab find wonder hidden in the depths. 10.31.2008

Water at Ocean Vents Isn't Water—It's a Gas-Liquid Hybrid

You've heard about the freaky animals at ocean vents. Now check out the freaky water. 10.05.2008

Beach Grass: Savior or Destroyer?

These shore-lining grasses can protect a weak coastline, or harm a thriving one. 08.25.2008

Wind Turbine That Imitates Flippers Could Increase Efficiency

The bumps on a humpback's flipper prevent the beast from stalling as it turns. 08.15.2008

Ocean Acidification: A Global Case of Osteoporosis

Industrial carbon dioxide is turning the oceans acidic, threatening the foundation of sea life. 07.16.2008

The World's Largest Dump: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

In the central North Pacific, plastic outweighs surface zooplankton 6 to 1. 07.10.2008

Water, Water Everywhere, So Let's All Have a Drink

Offshore desalination could turn the oceans into an inexhaustible water supply. 06.11.2008

Whither the Coral Reefs?

Global warming and overfishing are killing reefs while scientists struggle to save them. 06.05.2008

Each Grain of Sand a Tiny Work of Art

Microscopic photos of sand show that it's a lot more than just little tan rocks. 05.01.2008

Funky Life at an Underwater Hydrothermal Vent

At Mothra Field, more than a mile underwater, temperatures reach 600 degrees. 04.15.2008

The Race to Find the World's Biggest Underwater Caves

The 100-mile-long Sac Actun cave is one of the last unexplored places. 04.11.2008

The Robo-Sub That Helps Predict Where the Ocean's Headed

An underwater glider measures parts of the ocean that scientists can't reach. 03.03.2008

4. Arctic Thaw

Rapidly melting ice in the Far North alarms climatologists and lures nations into competition for newly accessible trade routes and resources. 12.12.2007

After the Thaw

Global warming in the once-icy Arctic sets the stage for a modern-day landgrab. 11.21.2007

The Return of the Vikings

61 sailors navigate 2,000 treacherous miles using medieval technology. 11.21.2007

Did a Comet Cause the Great Flood?

The universal human myth may be the first example of disaster reporting. 11.15.2007

Are Jellyfish Taking Over the World?

The brainless blobs are booming. All scientists know is it isn't good. 09.13.2007

Do Jellyfish Rule the World?

The brainless blobs are booming. All scientists know is it isn’t good. 09.13.2007

Arctic Land Grabs Could Cause Eco-Disaster

After nations carve up the fast-melting region, will there be anything left? 08.30.2007

Does Global Warming Really Boost Hurricanes?

Chris Mooney's book says yes—and we're in trouble. 08.09.2007

Frigid Antarctic Seas Boil Over with Biodiversity

Researchers find 750 new species, including the carnivorous moonsnail. 08.09.2007

Jumbo Squid Invade California Coast

Human-caused environmental changes are a boon for the "red devil." 07.26.2007

Sweeping The Ocean Floor

Strange sea creatures caught on film for the first time 06.13.2007

Ocean's Glowing

Most animals in the deep ocean have some kind of luminescence for communication or defense. 05.09.2007

How to Pinpoint a Pinniped

It's easy—stick a big radio transmitter on their heads. 05.04.2007

Review: Mysteries of the Deep

Amazing photos of animals living in the darkest, deepest ocean 04.24.2007

Creatures of the Abyss

Photos from Claire Nouvian's new book, The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss. 04.24.2007

The Titanic's Revenge

Butterfly effect breaks up the world's biggest iceberg 02.25.2007

Nouveau Cousteau, Part Deux

Jean-Michel Cousteau on the environment, working with family, and how to grab a shark without her noticing. 07.18.2006

Nouveau Cousteau

PBS showcases the latest underwater adventures of our favorite floating French family. 07.11.2006

Charting the Whale Shark Universe

Fingerprints for fish 07.01.2006

Fire Meets Ice

02.20.2006

The Physics of Swimming

Can these sleek mammals of the sea really defy the rules of hydrodynamics? 02.20.2006

The Year in Science: Environment

Siberian methane, the recovering ozone layer, hurricane history in tree rings, and more. 01.30.2006

X [marks the spot]

The Wave Felt Round The World 01.17.2006

The Year in Science: Oceanography

Greenhouse gases turn oceans acidic, and the secret of milky seas. 01.08.2006

Wave Energy

Can a mechanical snake that surfs the ocean squeeze enough watts from water? 12.02.2005

Seafloor Food Source Identified

Seafloor Food Source Identified 10.24.2005

Oceanography

Scientists wire the oceans with data cables, permanent observatories, and robots that can roam for years 10.24.2005

Great Whites Go Far

Meet the first transoceanic shark. 10.21.2005

Is the West Coast Ready for a Tsunami?

Is the West Coast Ready for a Tsunami? 09.09.2005

Discover Dialogue: Meteorologist William Gray

Eight of the last 10 years have been very active—we've never had as much activity. Yet we went from 1992 until last year with no hurricanes coming through Florida 09.09.2005

X

05.01.2005

Our Preferred Poison

A little mercury is all that humans need to do away with themselves quietly, slowly, and surely 03.31.2005

From the Archive: Waves of Destruction

Tsunamis have always been mysterious monsters—mountain-size waves that race invisiby across the ocean at 500 mph, drain harbors at a single gulp, and destroy coastal communities without warning. But now some researchers are trying to take the mystery away. 01.05.2005

Hydrates, Hydrates Everywhere

A geophysicist revisits a provocatively simple—and previously unworkable—process for extracting freshwater from the sea 10.01.2004

Plankton Planet

The world would be a barren place without these ubiquitous plants at the bottom of the food chain 08.02.2004

Ask Discover

07.25.2004

Rogue Waves

The physics of pure hell at sea 07.25.2004

Where Penguins Soar

06.17.2004

Splendor in the Dark

Scientists have discovered that fish in the ocean glow, gleam, spark, and light up like neon signs. Now they want to know how 05.29.2004

A Bridge Too Far

Two miles long, with towers nearly as tall as those of the World Trade Center, the Messina Bridge challenges science's ability to design around wind, earthquakes, and environmentalists 05.29.2004

A New Ice Age: The Day After Tomorrow?

Worried about global warming? Talk to a few scientists at Woods Hole. Oceanographers there are seeing big trouble with the Gulf Stream, which warms both North America and Europe 05.22.2004

Wild Ones

Are gangs of orcas feasting on protected seals, sea lions, and otters because we fished their normal food supply out of the oceans? 04.21.2004

20,000 Microbes Under the Sea

Scientists have discovered that nearly a third of all the life on this planet consists of microbes living under the seafloor in a dark world without oxygen. Many of these tiny creatures make so much methane gas that if even a small proportion of it is released, we might be overwhelmed by huge tsunamis, runaway global warming, and extinctions 03.28.2004

Geology

01.02.2004

Environment

01.02.2004

Blast from the Vast

What's the purpose of nature's most powerful sound? 12.03.2003

Thanksgiving Introductions

Oysters graced the Pilgrims' feast of plenty, but today few remain in the waters off Virginia and Maryland. Can they be brought back? 11.27.2003

When Good Trees Go Bad

Could a massive marine extinction have been caused by . . . trees? 11.18.2003

Fried Ice

Should we torch oil spills off Alaska with napalm? 11.08.2003

Ducks and Buoys

Scientists are relying on buoys and bath toys to map the global oceans. 09.30.2003

Squid Sensitivity

The more electrophysiologist William Gilly learns about these mysterious denizens of the deep, the more they seem like an alien intelligence 04.01.2003

Environment

01.01.2003

Follow Up:

09.01.2002

Neutrinos of the Sea

Scientists hope to find rare high-energy particles in the sea. 09.01.2002

Killing Whales with Sound

Darlene Ketten's fascination with how whales hear has swept her into a storm of controversy 04.01.2002

Sailing the Sea of Life

For centuries the Sargasso was seen as a desert drifting in an ocean. Now scientists are rediscovering it as a nursery of biodiversity 03.01.2002

2001: Year of the Ocean

In July scientists declared once and for all that we're killing the oceans. Then they came up with something even more astounding: a possible fix 01.01.2002

Expedition to the Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea

There's a hot crack in the Earth under the Indian Ocean. Can a shipload of 35 scientists find it, dive on it, make sense of it, and come back with enough to justify the $1.5 million cost? 12.01.2001

Death by Dust Storm

01.01.2001

Dead Zones

03.01.2000

Discover Dialogue

Colorado State University meteorologist William Gray flew into his first hurricane in 1958 and got hooked. He's now one of the leading experts in forecasting the Atlantic hurricane season. 08.01.1999

THE GREAT WHITE'S WAYS

Sharks gather off the coast of California each year and feast on seals and sea lions, but not humans. A new tracking system may help reveal why. 06.01.1999

Drugs from the Sea

There's only one place left to find the next wave of supermedicines. Fortunately, it's where we should have been looking all along 03.01.1999

Drugs From the Sea

There's only one place left to find the next wave of supermedicines. Fortunately, it's where we should have been looking all along 03.01.1999

Ocean Watch: Cod Killers

The cod, haddock, and other fish off New England's coast, pushed to the brink by overfishing, face a new threat: tiny, tentacled killers that eat fish larvae. 06.01.1998

Ocean Watch: Bringing Tube Worms Back Alive

Until James Childress built his unique aquarium, you could find live tube worms only on the ocean floor, at depths of two miles or more. 05.01.1998

The Code Breaker

Instead of patiently unraveling life's secrets gene by gene, we can now read them at breakneck speed—thanks in great part to an ingenious, admired, despised, once aimless and now wealthy biologist named Craig Venter. 05.01.1998

Light Elements: In the Nose of Jaws

Some parasitic copepods have seizedon a unique piece of ocean real estate. 03.01.1998

The Year in Science: Earth 1997

The Salt Sea 01.01.1998

The Year in Science: Environment 1997

The Jaws You Can't See 01.01.1998

Coral Colors

11.01.1997

At Home With the Jellies

The best plan in the open sea is to be gelatinous. Failing that, you should grab onto something that is. 09.01.1997

Their Game Is Mud

05.01.1997

Death by Seltzer

01.01.1997

In Deep Water

Quickly shifting currents can radically alter Earth's climate. 12.01.1996

The Blobs

09.01.1996

Groundwater Secrets

09.01.1996

Shark Therapy

Is shark cartilage just newfangled snake oil? 04.01.1996

A Thousand Diving Robots

The new plan for exploring the ocean: let a thousand robots roam. 04.01.1996

The Seafloor From Space

The world's best map of the seafloor comes from satellites. 03.01.1996

Dead in the Water

01.01.1996

The First Land

12.01.1995

Whale Warehouse

In a modest, nondescript building just outside Los Angeles, researchers are stockpiling a treasure--of organs, bones, and half-digested meals. 08.01.1995

Return of the Blob

07.01.1995

Twilight of the Cod

The sea was thick with them once; they practically jumped into your boat. Since the time of Columbus we've finished for cod--and now, from Cape Code to Newfoundland, they are fished out. 04.01.1995

The Ocean Within

10.01.1994

Between Home and the Abyss

What could be easier than a routine dive, in a sub that's made the trip thousands of times before? But when you're working deep, on the bottom of the sea, nothing is ever easy, and there's no such thing as routine. 12.01.1993

Oceans Divided

11.01.1993

Life in the Deep

The ocean is a menagerie of plants and animals of a diversity we're only beginning to fathom. 11.01.1993

A Gentle Subduction

09.01.1993

Fly Like a Cetacean

09.01.1992