Technology

LATEST TODAY'S CATCH

From Sea Sponge to HIV Medicine

Mar 26, 2013 - 9:40AMTectitethya crypta (formerly known as Cryptotheca crypta) is a large, shallow-water sponge found in the Caribbean. It was first studied for medical purposes in the 1950s when few scientists or doctors thought to look for...
Mar 14, 2013 - 10:40AM
The spiral-tufted bryozoan (Bugula neritina) is being studied for a...
Jan 25, 2013 - 11:21AM
In 2012, the long-elusive giant squid was finally filmed live in its natural...

SPOTLIGHT

Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP)

The TOPP program brought together scientists from seven countries to explore the lives of large mid-water animals such as...
Jan 6 2011 - 10:09am
Scientists use a multinet to collect Arctic zooplankton samples from different depth layers in the water column.  
Science in a Time of Crisis  Sampling the Source
May 10 2011 - 2:27pm
Part 3 of a 6-part series describing Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's efforts to understand the scope and impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "Sampling the Source" describes successful efforts by WHOI scientists to obtain the only samples of oil and gas directly...
Aug 16 2012 - 1:45pm
Deploying ARMS (Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures) is tricky in the deep sea, where SCUBA divers can't place and secure them to the floor with their hands and a hammer. Researchers with DROP (Deep Reef Observation Project) had to redesign the methods for deploying and retreiving ARMS, using...
Jul 2 2012 - 2:38pm
You’re out to sea on a 355 foot platform, and suddenly one end begins to slowly tip underwater. Should there be a call for evacuation? Are you sinking? Not if you’re on FLIP – the FLoating Instrument Platform – owned by the Office of Naval Research and operated by Scripps Institution of...
Dec 8 2010 - 7:04pm
Students from Baiona, Spain surround the Scarlet Knight in front of the television cameras.
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Dr. Clyde Roper prepares to dive thousands of feet to a giant squid habitat off the coast of New Zealand in a one-person submersible.
Oct 23 2012 - 3:01pm
Most scuba divers scour coral reefs looking for colorful fish, natural beauty, and maybe even the perfect underwater photo. Shirley Pomponi, a biologist at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, however, seeks new medicines by collecting sponges.
Mar 26 2013 - 9:40am
Tectitethya crypta (formerly known as Cryptotheca crypta) is a large, shallow-water sponge found in the Caribbean. It was first studied for medical purposes in the 1950s when few scientists or doctors thought to look for medicines in the ocean. But in the sponge, scientists isolated two chemicals--...
Scientists Discuss their Submersible Experience
Dec 15 2009 - 6:00pm
Scientists talk about the experience of exploring the ocean in this excerpt from the Deep Ocean Explorers video. More about deep ocean exploration can be found in our Deep Ocean Exploration featured story.
Quest for the Giant Squid
Nov 20 2009 - 5:17pm
Watch a Discovery video on Smithsonian squid expert Clyde Roper’s search for giant squid in Kaikoura Canyon off the coast of New Zealand. More about giant squid can be found in our Giant Squid featured story.
Jul 29 2010 - 10:58pm
Using a deep-diving ROV, the crew aboard Oceana’s research vessel Ranger were surprised to discover large colonies of deep-sea white coral in the Western Mediterranean Sea in July 2010. Most of the Mediterranean’s deep-sea coral reefs are already gone as a result of destructive fishing techniques...
Jul 5 2011 - 9:40am
Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean is the site of the Smithsonian's Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP). Researchers are using a submarine to study and collect specimens from the hard-to-reach deep reefs. Read more about the research in the "Summer in a Sub" blog series.
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
The remotely operated vehicle ROPOS recovers a volcano monitor from NOAA’s New Millennium Observatory on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, off the coast of the Northwest United States. The station was set up to study geological, chemical, and biological interactions along the mid-ocean ridge system. ROPOS...
May 12 2011 - 7:43am
Woods Hole scientists operate an ROV to sample the oil spewing from the ruptured Macondo Well.  After the April 20, 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) administrators and investigators were among those...
Jan 6 2011 - 11:05am
Scientists use remotely operated vehicles, ROVs, equipped with collection devices and cameras to aid in deep-sea ocean exploration in the Arctic and in other regions of the world.  It is unoccupied and is maneuvered by a pilot aboard the vessel at the surface of the water.
Dec 8 2009 - 3:19pm
Filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer James Cameron on March 25, 2012, became the first human to complete a solo submarine dive to Challenger Deep, an undersea valley in the Mariana Trench of the Pacific Ocean known as the deepest surveyed spot on the planet. Cameron piloted the one-person...