Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Jun 21, 2023

If the missing titanic submersible is found, how could the passengers be rescued?

Editor's Note: The U.S. Coast Guard has confirmed that debris found near the Titanic's wreck are those of the lost Titan submersible, they said at a press conference on Thursday (June 22). All five men on board died when the Titan experienced a catastrophic implosion. Read Live Science's coverage. Periodic...

Jun 22, 2023

Missing Titanic submersible: What do we know about OceanGate's Titan sub disappearance?

Editor's Note: The U.S. Coast Guard has confirmed that debris found near the Titanic's wreck are those of the lost Titan submersible, they said at a press conference on Thursday (June 22). All five men on board died when the Titan experienced a catastrophic implosion. Read Live Science's coverage. A...

Jun 22, 2023

Titanic sub was lost due to catastrophic implosion, US coast guard says

The U.S. Coast Guard has confirmed that debris found near the wreck of the Titanic was part of the lost Titan submersible. The sub suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing the five men inside, the U.S. Coast Guard said at a press conference Thursday (June 22). The debris, remnants of the...

Jul 2, 2023

Do the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean mix?

A handful of videos on YouTube and TikTok have been racking up likes by showing a strange line in the ocean, with dark water on one side and light water on the other. Lines like this often appear where rivers or glaciers feed the ocean. But these popular videos also...

Nov 1, 2023

Pristine coral reefs discovered near Galápagos Islands are thousands of years old and teeming with life

Ocean explorers have discovered two pristine, deep-sea coral reefs near the Galápagos Islands and put two uncharted seamounts off the coast of Ecuador on the map. The larger of the two cold-water reefs is over 2,600 feet (800 meters) long, according to a statement. Both reefs sit 1,000 feet (300...

Dec 27, 2023

10 mind-boggling deep sea discoveries in 2023

The deep sea is an enigmatic, alien world. But every year, scientists make discoveries about the ocean's depths that help to fill in parts of the puzzle, and this year was no different. From gigantic seamounts and the deepest-dwelling fish to a mysterious golden orb and puzzling methane leaks, here...

Jan 24, 2024

World's largest deep-sea coral reef found lurking beneath the Gulf Stream 'right on the doorstep' of US coast

The world's largest deep-sea coral reef, which spans an area roughly the size of Vermont, has been uncovered right on the doorstep of the southeast U.S. coastline, new seafloor maps reveal. The dark-dwelling, ghostly corals likely support a wide variety of marine creatures that we didn't know were there, researchers...

Feb 8, 2024

City-size seamount triple the height of world's tallest building discovered via gravitational anomalies

Researchers have discovered four gigantic seamounts towering above the seafloor surrounding South America after detecting gravitational anomalies given off by the massive underwater mountains. The tallest rises more than 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) from the seafloor, making it three times taller than the world's tallest building. Scientists aboard the Schmidt...

Feb 8, 2024

Colossal underwater canyon discovered near seamount deep in the Mediterranean Sea

Scientists have discovered a giant underwater canyon in the eastern Mediterranean Sea that likely formed just before the sea transformed to a mile-high salt field. The canyon formed around 6 million years ago, at the onset of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC), when the Gibraltar gateway between the Atlantic Ocean...

Feb 9, 2024

'We are approaching the tipping point': Marker for the collapse of key Atlantic current discovered

Scientists have discovered a key warning sign before a crucial Atlantic current collapses and plunges the Northern Hemisphere into climate chaos. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) carries warm water north from the Southern Hemisphere, where it releases heat and freezes. The freezing process concentrates salt in the non-frozen portion...

Feb 19, 2024

'More unzipping of the landscape': Arctic permafrost could crumble into rivers, unleashing devastating feedback loop

Permafrost isn't just a feature of Arctic landscapes — it actually shapes those landscapes by directing the flow of water. And as global temperatures increase, this permanently frozen ground could give way to create new rivers and expand existing ones, which would release huge quantities of carbon into the atmosphere,...

Mar 12, 2024

Every 2.4 million years, Mars tugs on Earth so hard it changes the ocean floor

Mars' gravitational pull on Earth may be influencing the climate on our planet, new research hints. Geological evidence tracing back more than 65 million years and taken from hundreds of sites across the world suggests that deep-sea currents have repeatedly gone through periods of being either stronger or weaker. This...

Mar 15, 2024

Sleeping subduction zone could awaken and form a new 'Ring of Fire' that swallows the Atlantic Ocean

A subduction zone below the Gibraltar Strait is creeping westward and could one day invade the Atlantic Ocean, causing the ocean to slowly close up, new research suggests. The subduction zone, also known as the Gibraltar arc or trench, currently sits in a narrow ocean corridor between Portugal and Morocco....

May 28, 2013

Tiny Sensor Promises Better Monitor for Environment

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. Researchers are developing a device that they hope will allow real-time, onsite detection of water and air pollutants in an inexpensive and environmentally friendly manner. Professors Juejun Hu and Chaoying Ni of the University...

May 30, 2013

Air Pollution May Contribute to Childhood Obesity

Exposure to air pollution while in the womb may increase a child's risk of obesity, a new study suggests. Pregnant women exposed to high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons had children who were 1.8 times more likely to be obese at age 5, and 2.3 times more likely to be...