Latest news with #deepsea
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Science
- Washington Post
Submersible explores the crash site of a sunken submarine
National Submersible explores the crash site of a sunken submarine June 25, 2025 | 4:42 PM GMT Deep sea submersible from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution explores the crash site of USS F-1 submarine, which was accidentally rammed and sunk by another sub in 1917.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Was THIS the fatal flaw that doomed Titan? How 'peanut butter' glue used to join 22ft sub together was never certified to work in deep seawater
Glue used to hold the doomed Titan submersible together was never certified to work in deep seawater, it can be revealed today. Henkel, the German adhesive giant which manufactured the resin in question, said it was only ever marketed for the aerospace sector. Although it admits the glue can safely be used 'in other applications', Henkel 'does not certify its products for various uses'. A spokesperson said: 'It is the end user's responsibility to test their design to ensure proper performance.' Sources from inside Henkel had no idea their glue was even used on Titan until MailOnline told them, and confirmed it was 'not specified for usage under water'. Questions are now being asked as to whether the choice of glue was partly to blame for the 22ft sub's catastrophic implosion on June 18, 2023. All five passengers onboard were killed near instantaneously when the vessel caved in on itself. Cruising 12,500ft beneath the Atlantic Ocean, they were just minutes away from getting a glimpse of the Titanic's wreck. One world leading expert said he would never have advised OceanGate, the firm which operated Titan, used the Loctite EA 9394 Aero resin to bond the carbon fibre hull and titanium sections of the submersible together. Loughborough University's Dr Christian Stone, who specialises in corrosion, said it effectively turned the sub into a giant battery. The paste, listed online as possessing 'excellent strength' and having 'improved wet properties', contains between 30 and 40 per cent powdered aluminium. By using the metallic-based glue, OceanGate's CEO Stockton Rush, who died in the implosion, may have introduced a fatal flaw into his 'experimental' submersible. Titan's maintenance log noted on June 17 a problem with 'unsightly' sealant joining the titanium to the carbon fibre. The crew 'ground off bumps' to make a 'smooth surface'. Dr Stone, whose expertise is in galvanic corrosion – an electrochemical process where one metal will, when placed in certain environments such as seawater, sacrifice itself on behalf of another, said this should have been seen as a major red flag. He told MailOnline: 'If you put two metals together and they're connected electrically to a media which conducts electricity like seawater you make a battery. 'One side of that battery will corrode and give up ions. The other side will actually be protected. 'At the corroding side, we call this the anode and that makes acid. The other side is the cathode in which case in our case that will be carbon fibre or titanium and that will make alkaline. 'How quickly that anode side, the corroding side, corrodes depends in part on how conductive the environment is.' The wreckage of Titan showed that much of the five-inch thick carbon fibre hull delaminated and pulled apart into different layers as well as losing its bonding to the crucial titanium ceal Dr Stone said the 'unsightly' area on the joint could have been evidence of aluminium oxide – the result of the corrosion. Without testing, he cautioned it is difficult to determine how big an effect this would have had on the Titan's structure. Dr Stone warned that 'in the most extreme circumstances', this might have potentially triggered a 'very small amount of honeycombing'. Any gaps would have weakened the hull's structure and left it vulnerable to the extraordinary force exerted by the ocean. He said this reaction would begin once Titan was exposed to any salty air but would 'accelerate once they are within the water'. Dr Stone added: 'This will be especially potent when they are going in and out of the water many times because then it will also get exposed to oxygen as well as water, which is good for corrosion.' Dealing with the unsightly sealant by grinding it off was also unwise. He said: 'If they were repeatedly cleaning that kind of sealant, they may have actually done more damage cleaning it than would have occurred due to the corrosion. 'The use of vibrating tools on brittle materials such as epoxy (resin) can have a damaging effect on the stress cycle of these things. It all depends on what the engineering margins are in these extreme environments.' Lower safety margins would result in a greater danger of failure. Ultimately, Dr Stone told MailOnline that the product they used was designed for high altitudes and not the deep sea. He said: 'I would have advised them to use a filler material that was inert and does not conduct electricity.' Dr Stone said OceanGate should have spent more time testing, including the use of accelerated corrosion and stress testing. He added: 'I would also recommend preventive measures such as anodizing the titanium, coating the carbon fibre, and coating the sealant as well just to remove any chance of any of them interacting to make a cell and a battery.' When building his submersible, Rush appeared in a promotional video showing his team applying the glue to craft using large plastic spatulas. He said the product was 'like peanut butter' and thicker than Elmer's glue. Showing absolute confidence in his problem-solving skills and ability to think independently, Rush told the camera that attaching carbon fibre to titanium 'is pretty simple, but if we mess it up, there's not a lot of room for recovery'. A US Coast Guard investigation into the June 2023 tragedy is expected to publish a report into the disaster before the end of the year. As part of the investigation, experts at the National Transportation Safety Board examined the wreckage which was recovered from the scene. Examining the crucial joint, the NTSB found: 'Most of the adhesive originally used to bond the hull to the titanium segment had disbonded from the machined end of the hull piece, but there was an approximately 3.5-inch-long patch where some adhesive bits were still attached.' The glue had failed to hold the sub together, although it is not thought to be the underlying factor behind the implosion. Donald Kramer, senior materials engineer of the NTSB, wrote: 'The aft dome, aft segment, aft portions of the hull, and rails were located together in a comingled mass. The forward dome was located by itself.' The sub had failed at the front, investigators believe. Much of the imploding sub behind the very front was sent hurtling towards the rear dome, hitting it with such force it twisted the titanium ring which was glued to the hull, and ripped out several of the heavy duty bolts screwing the two parts together. OceanGate has suspended all exploration and commercial operations following the disaster.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
3 new sea spiders discovered on ocean floor are first known species to feast on methane
Even thousands of feet below the water's surface, no arachnophobe is truly safe from spiders. And, thanks to a recent discovery by a team of scientists, three more species have been added to the list of sea-dwelling arthropods — with the special distinction of being what researchers called "methane-powered." Three new types of spiders were recently found in deep-sea habitats, far beyond the reach of sunlight, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Shana Goffredi, the study's lead author and chair of biology at Occidental College in Los Angeles, told USA TODAY that researchers found the first new species in July 2023 off the coast of Del Mar, California, a beach town about 20 miles north of San Diego. Scientists then discovered the other new species off the coasts of California and Alaska, Goffredi said, adding they live between 600 and 1,200 meters below the surface. Some are as large as a grain of rice, according to the professor. Others, much larger. "They belong to an interesting group of sea spiders that have only ever been found at very specialized habitats on the seafloor called methane seeps," Goffredi said. Some species also live at hydrothermal vents, or geothermally heated mineral-rich springs on the sea bottom. "Because they are localized to these specialized habitats, we had a suspicion that they were tied to the high-energy compounds that emanate from the seafloor in those locations," Goffredi continued. "By conducting shipboard experiments, we were able to show definitively that they use methane, through bacterial epibionts that live on their exoskeleton. By farming them, and then consuming them, they take advantage of a nutritional resource that is not common in the animal kingdom." As of Friday, June 20, scientists said they continued to study the spiders' complete role in the ecosystem. "We don't yet know their full role in their ecosystem just yet. It's pretty hard to do behavioral observations in the deep sea," Goffredi said. "But no doubt they are a prey source for other organisms and they probably help distribute organic carbon to other areas of the seafloor." By growing what researchers called "a crop of methane-oxidizing bacteria" that consume methane molecules on their exoskeleton, the spiders help the planet's larger ecosystem by acting as a biological filter to prevent methane from escaping from the deep sea. Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@ and follow her on X @nataliealund. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Scientists discover new sea spider species that eats methane
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Deep-Sea Wonderland Found Thriving Where Humans Have Never Been
A deep-sea expedition to one of Earth's most remote island chains has surfaced stunning pictures of the vibrant ecosystems surrounding hydrothermal vents that scientists didn't even know were there. The 35-day journey aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute's Falkor (too) research vessel was part of the Ocean Census's race to document marine life before it is lost to threats like climate change and deep sea mining. This expedition took an international team of scientists to the South Sandwich Islands, in the South Atlantic near Antarctica, which boasts the Southern Ocean's deepest trench. Despite facing subsea earthquakes, hurricane-force winds, towering waves, and icebergs, the crew was rewarded with a trove of incredible new discoveries. You might have already watched the expedition's world-first footage of a live colossal squid, but some of their other finds deserve a moment in the spotlight. Like this vermillion coral garden thriving on Humpback Seamount, near the region's shallowest hydrothermal vents at around 700 meters deep (nearly 2,300 feet). The tallest vent chimney stood four meters (13 feet) tall, proudly sporting an array of life, including barnacles and sea snails. Like drones in a New Year's Eve sky, a fleet of shrimp whizzed round these submarine skyscrapers. These hydrothermal vents, on the northeast side of Quest Caldera, are the only South Sandwich Island vents explored via remotely operated vehicle (ROV) thus far; we can't wait to see what future expeditions uncover. "Discovering these hydrothermal vents was a magical moment, as they have never been seen here before," says hydrographer Jenny Gales from the University of Plymouth in the UK. But certain specimens deserve a close-up: like this exquisite nudibranch, unspecified, which blackwater photographer Jialing Cai snapped at 268 meters deep in the near-freezing waters east of Montagu Island. Nearby, a slightly more upsetting moment was captured: a grenadier fish with parasitic copepods – likely Lophoura szidati – tucked into its gills like horrid pigtails. And this stout little sea cucumber, recorded 650 metres below the sea surface at Saunders East, with a gob full of what we will informally dub a deep-sea puffball. Now, brace yourself for the first ever image of Akarotaxis aff. gouldae, a species of dragonfish that has evaded our cameras for two years since its discovery. Something else that nobody's seen before? Snailfish eggs on a black coral. Not even marine biologists knew this was a thing, until now. "This expedition has given us a glimpse into one of the most remote and biologically rich parts of our ocean," says marine biologist Michelle Taylor, the Ocean Census project's head of science. "This is exactly why the Ocean Census exists – to accelerate our understanding of ocean life before it's too late. The 35 days at sea were an exciting rollercoaster of scientific discovery, the implications of which will be felt for many years to come as discoveries filter into management action." Look behind-the-scenes aboard the Falkor (too) research vessel here. Cockatoos Figured Out How to Use Drinking Fountains, And It's Amazing Extreme Skittishness in Your Cat Could Be a Sign of a Mysterious Disease Rare Black Iceberg Goes Viral – So What Is Going on Here?
Sustainability Times
14-06-2025
- Science
- Sustainability Times
'This Thing Shouldn't Exist': Scientists Stunned as Humanity Witnesses This Deep-Sea Monster Alive for the First Time Ever
IN A NUTSHELL 🌊 First-ever live footage of a deep-sea creature reveals the mysteries of the ocean's abyss. of a deep-sea creature reveals the mysteries of the ocean's abyss. 🔍 Scientists utilize advanced technology like ROVs and submersibles to explore the depths. like ROVs and submersibles to explore the depths. ✨ Deep-sea creatures exhibit remarkable adaptations such as bioluminescence and specialized feeding mechanisms. such as bioluminescence and specialized feeding mechanisms. ⚠️ Human activities threaten fragile ecosystems, highlighting the need for sustainable practices and conservation efforts. In the mysterious and largely uncharted realms of the deep ocean, humanity has recently achieved a groundbreaking milestone. For the first time ever, scientists have captured live footage of a creature that has long eluded human eyes—a denizen of the abyss whose very existence challenges our understanding of marine life. This remarkable event is not just an exploration triumph; it opens a new chapter in zoological studies, offering insights into the unique adaptations and survival mechanisms of deep-sea organisms. As we delve deeper into this fascinating discovery, we uncover the hidden wonders of the ocean and the delicate balance that sustains life in these extreme environments. The Enigmatic World of the Abyss The deep ocean, often referred to as the abyss, is a realm characterized by its extreme conditions—frigid temperatures, crushing pressures, and perpetual darkness. Despite these harsh conditions, life thrives in remarkable forms. The discovery of a new deep-sea creature offers a glimpse into this enigmatic world, showcasing the incredible diversity and resilience of ocean life. Scientists have long suspected that the abyss harbors species yet to be discovered, each uniquely adapted to the environment's challenges. This recent sighting confirms those suspicions and highlights the importance of continued exploration and conservation efforts. Deep-sea exploration is no easy feat. It requires advanced technology and meticulous planning to navigate the ocean's depths. The use of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and submersibles equipped with high-definition cameras has revolutionized our ability to study these elusive creatures. As researchers push the boundaries of human knowledge, they uncover not only new species but also invaluable data that can inform conservation strategies and enhance our understanding of marine ecosystems. 'This Species Was Gone for 120 Years': Stunning Rediscovery in South America Stuns Scientists and Ignites Conservation Hopes Understanding the Adaptations of Deep-Sea Creatures The creatures of the deep ocean have evolved unique adaptations to survive in an environment where few others can. These adaptations include bioluminescence, specialized feeding mechanisms, and physiological traits that enable them to withstand immense pressure. The recent live footage of a deep-sea squid offers a rare opportunity to observe these adaptations in action, providing insights into the evolutionary processes that have shaped life in the ocean's depths. Bioluminescence is one of the most fascinating adaptations observed in deep-sea organisms. It serves various purposes, from attracting prey to deterring predators. The ability to produce light in the dark ocean depths is a remarkable evolutionary trait that has captivated scientists and the public alike. Additionally, many deep-sea creatures possess unique body structures that enable them to capture scarce food resources efficiently. Understanding these adaptations is crucial for appreciating the complexity of marine life and the intricate web of interactions that sustain it. Radioactive Rodents Invade Nuclear Site: Swarm Forces Emergency Halt to Reactor Construction in the United Kingdom The Impact of Human Activities on Deep-Sea Ecosystems While the discovery of new deep-sea species is a cause for celebration, it also underscores the urgent need to protect these fragile ecosystems. Human activities, such as deep-sea mining and trawling, pose significant threats to the delicate balance of life in the abyss. These activities can have devastating effects on marine biodiversity, leading to the loss of unique species and the disruption of ecological processes. Conservation efforts are essential to safeguard the future of deep-sea ecosystems. By implementing sustainable practices and establishing marine protected areas, we can mitigate the impact of human activities and preserve the rich biodiversity of the ocean. Public awareness and international cooperation are crucial in promoting responsible stewardship of the world's oceans, ensuring that future generations can continue to explore and marvel at the wonders of the deep sea. 'A Real-Life Mini-Dragon Exists': Scientists Baffled by This Elusive Creature That's Nearly Impossible to Spot in the Wild The Future of Deep-Sea Exploration The recent discovery marks a significant milestone in the field of marine science, but it is only the beginning. Advances in technology and collaboration among scientific communities worldwide promise to unlock more secrets of the deep ocean. As we continue to explore this final frontier, we are likely to encounter new species and phenomena that challenge our understanding of life on Earth. The future of deep-sea exploration is bright, driven by a spirit of curiosity and a commitment to expanding human knowledge. Researchers are developing innovative tools and techniques to reach greater depths and study marine life in unprecedented detail. By fostering a deeper connection with the ocean, we can inspire future generations to value and protect this vital part of our planet. What other mysteries lie beneath the waves, waiting to be discovered? Our author used artificial intelligence to enhance this article. Did you like it? 4.5/5 (20)
