The human-occupied submersible Alvin is ready to return to scientific research at its newly certified maximum depth of 6500 meters (4 miles).
WHOI
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Life Support Systems, Missions & Hardware, People Of Astrobiology, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Human-occupied Submersible Alvin Makes A Historic Dive
Today, the human-occupied submersible Alvin made history when it successfully reached a depth of 6,453 meters (nearly 4 miles) in the Puerto Rico Trench, north of San Juan, P.R. This […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
How Ethane-consuming Archaea Pick Up Their Favorite Dish
U.S. National Science Foundation-funded researchers have discovered ethane-degrading microbes at hydrothermal vents in the Gulf of California’s Guaymas Basin at a water depth of 2,000 meters. The results are published […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Exploring Hot Deep-Sea Vents for Signs of Extreme Life
Microbiology professor Jim Holden, a researcher in the School of Earth and Sustainability, recently received a three-year, $441,219 grant from NASA’s Exobiology Program to study competition between different types of […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report
Draft Genomes of Two Unique Bacteria
Two research teams supported in part by the NASA Astrobiology Program have published draft genome sequences of unique types of bacteria isolated from natural environments.
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Press Release
Slow Living Microbes That Eat Organic Carbon
Far below the ocean floor, sediments are teeming with bizarre zombie-like microbes. Although they’re technically alive, they grow in slow motion, and can take decades for a single cell to […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Evidence of Ancient Life Discovered in Mantle Rocks Deep Below the Seafloor
Ancient rocks harbored microbial life deep below the seafloor, reports a team of scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Virginia Tech, and the University of Bremen. This new […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Making Organic Molecules in Hydrothermal Vents in the Absence of Life
In 2009, scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution embarked on a NASA-funded mission to the Mid-Cayman Rise in the Caribbean, in search of a type of deep-sea hot-spring or hydrothermal […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Europa
First 3-D Images of Underside of Antarctic Sea Ice
A National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research team has successfully tested an autonomous underwater vehicle, AUV, that can produce high-resolution, three-dimensional maps of Antarctic sea ice. SeaBED, as the vehicle is […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Deep-diving Sub Alvin Cleared to Return to Service
After a three-year overhaul and major upgrade, the United States’ deepest-diving research submersible, Alvin, has been cleared to return to work exploring the ocean’s depths. The sub has been out […]