# ARGO.net Science > Founded in 1995, ARGO.net Science provides focused coverage of oceans and water alongside breaking science news, clear explainers, useful statistics, and data-driven stories across space, Earth, health, physics, chemistry, biology, technology, nature, and humans. Canonical URL: https://www.argo.net/ ARGO.net Science is a United States-based English-language publication with a strong editorial focus on ocean and water research alongside wider science news, explainers, and statistics. ## Sections - [Space](https://www.argo.net/space/index.html.md): Orbital science, astronomy, remote sensing, and what lies beyond the atmosphere. - [Earth](https://www.argo.net/earth/index.html.md): Geology, ecosystems, land systems, and the forces shaping our planet. - [Water](https://www.argo.net/water/index.html.md): Water science news, explainers, and statistics covering freshwater, hydrology, lakes, rivers, groundwater, ice, and Earth’s connected water systems. - [Oceans](https://www.argo.net/oceans/index.html.md): Ocean science news, explainers, and statistics covering marine environments, currents, climate, coasts, seafloor research, and the changing global ocean. - [Health](https://www.argo.net/health/index.html.md): Human performance, public health, biology, and the science of living well. - [Physics](https://www.argo.net/physics/index.html.md): Measurement, motion, energy, and the physical rules behind complex systems. - [Chemistry](https://www.argo.net/chemistry/index.html.md) - [Biology](https://www.argo.net/biology/index.html.md) - [Technology](https://www.argo.net/technology/index.html.md): Sensors, robotics, data tools, and the systems powering modern discovery. - [Nature](https://www.argo.net/nature/index.html.md): Warming trends, resilience, forecasting, and the data behind a changing climate. - [Humans](https://www.argo.net/humans/index.html.md) - [News](https://www.argo.net/news/index.html.md) - [Explainer](https://www.argo.net/explainer/index.html.md) - [Statistics](https://www.argo.net/statistics/index.html.md) ## Latest Stories - [What animals live in the deepest part of the ocean?](https://www.argo.net/what-animals-live-in-the-deepest-part-of-the-ocean/index.html.md): Video cameras lowered to the floor of Challenger Deep found a small and strange animal cast. Footage from a site 10,908 meters below the surface recorded shrimp-like crustaceans... - [How deep is Lake Superior?](https://www.argo.net/how-deep-is-lake-superior/index.html.md): Lake Superior reaches a published maximum depth of 1,332 feet, or 406 meters. That figure places the deepest water far below the surface, deeper than any point in... - [What animals live on the beach?](https://www.argo.net/what-animals-live-on-the-beach/index.html.md): At the edge of every wave, a busy animal community is easy to miss. Many beach residents are small, burrow quickly, or emerge after dark. Others arrive to... - [In 1963 USS Thresher disappeared during deep-diving tests 220 miles east of Cape Cod with 129 people aboard and the loss forced the U.S. Navy to rebuild submarine safety around SUBSAFE](https://www.argo.net/in-1963-uss-thresher-disappeared-during-deep-diving-tests-220-miles-east-of-cape-cod-with-129-people-aboard-and-the-loss-forced-the-u-s-navy-to-rebuild-submarine-safety-around-subsafe/index.html.md): One hundred twenty-nine people were aboard USS Thresher when the nuclear-powered attack submarine was lost in the Atlantic on April 10, 1963. The loss remains the deadliest accident... - [In 1956, Marie Tharp published a hand-drawn North Atlantic seafloor map after recognizing a V-shaped rift in six depth profiles and its alignment with earthquake patterns helped reshape the evidence for a moving ocean floor](https://www.argo.net/in-1956-marie-tharp-published-a-hand-drawn-north-atlantic-seafloor-map-after-recognizing-a-v-shaped-rift-in-six-depth-profiles-and-its-alignment-with-earthquake-patterns-helped-reshape-the-evidence-f/index.html.md): The Atlantic Ocean once hid its largest landscape in plain sight. Beneath the waves lay a long mountain chain, deep plains and a valley running along the middle... - [Pacific Ocean: Size, depth, currents and the Ring of Fire](https://www.argo.net/pacific-ocean-size-depth-currents-and-the-ring-of-fire/index.html.md): The Pacific Ocean covers more of Earth than any other ocean basin and its scale changes how the planet works. It holds huge stores of heat, links polar... - [Atlantic Ocean: The growing basin that moves heat around Earth](https://www.argo.net/atlantic-ocean-the-growing-basin-that-moves-heat-around-earth/index.html.md): The Atlantic Ocean is still growing. Along its long central ridge, pieces of Earth's crust slowly pull apart and fresh seafloor forms between them. That hidden process began... - [Industrial fishing has been depleting midwater fish for decades](https://www.argo.net/industrial-fishing-has-been-depleting-midwater-fish-for-decades/index.html.md): A study in Global Change Biology led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution researchers reports that industrial fisheries have been taking large midwater fishes from the ocean's twilight zone... - [Satellite view reveals tide-fed biodiversity in Guinea-Bissau](https://www.argo.net/satellite-view-reveals-tide-fed-biodiversity-in-guinea-bissau/index.html.md): Eighty-eight islands and islets spread across Guinea-Bissau's coast, then seem to enlarge as the sea pulls back. A July 17 NASA Earth Observatory release uses a Landsat 8... - [Sea level shifts north of Greenland may redirect Arctic freshwater](https://www.argo.net/sea-level-shifts-north-of-greenland-may-redirect-arctic-freshwater/index.html.md): A 2026 study in Nature Communications finds signs that the Arctic's freshwater routes are changing. The observed signal is a rise in dynamic sea level north of Greenland,... - [Southern Ocean surface waters are getting saltier as subtropical gyres expand](https://www.argo.net/southern-ocean-surface-waters-are-getting-saltier-as-subtropical-gyres-expand/index.html.md): A study in Nature Communications reports a clear rise in sea-surface salinity across a broad belt of the Southern Ocean. From 2004 through 2024, the water between 40°S... - [First close-up images reveal Shackleton’s last ship on the Labrador seafloor](https://www.argo.net/first-close-up-images-reveal-shackletons-last-ship-on-the-labrador-seafloor/index.html.md): The stakes of a century-old expedition story have come into focus on the floor of the Labrador Sea. A July 8 announcement from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society... - [In 1962 engineers launched a 355-foot research platform that flooded its tanks until 300 feet pointed straight down, turning FLIP into a nearly motionless ocean laboratory that served scientists for 61 years before its 2023 retirement](https://www.argo.net/in-1962-engineers-launched-a-355-foot-research-platform-that-flooded-its-tanks-until-300-feet-pointed-straight-down-turning-flip-into-a-nearly-motionless-ocean-laboratory-that-served-scientists-for-6/index.html.md): Ocean scientists need a steady platform when their instruments are tracking faint sounds, subtle currents and the exchange between sea and sky. FLIP answered that need in an... - [In 1974, Alvin and two French submersibles descended into the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, made 44 dives and collected 100,000 photographs and 3,000 pounds of rock while giving scientists a close view of how new ocean crust takes shape](https://www.argo.net/in-1974-alvin-and-two-french-submersibles-descended-into-the-mid-atlantic-ridge-made-44-dives-and-collected-100000-photographs-and-3000-pounds-of-rock-while-giving-scientists-a-close-view-of-how-n/index.html.md): In 1974, a deep ridge in the Atlantic became a working field site for people inside small research vehicles. Three submersibles reached the seafloor near the Azores and... - [In 1872 HMS Challenger left Portsmouth with six scientists and 243 crew members, traveled nearly 127,000 kilometers over almost four years, made 492 depth soundings and returned with a global record that helped establish modern oceanography](https://www.argo.net/in-1872-hms-challenger-left-portsmouth-with-six-scientists-and-243-crew-members-traveled-nearly-127000-kilometers-over-almost-four-years-made-492-depth-soundings-and-returned-with-a-global-record-t/index.html.md): For nearly four years, HMS Challenger carried a small scientific team through waters that had rarely been measured beyond the surface. The converted Royal Navy corvette left Portsmouth... - [In 1857, James Alden found a deep valley in Monterey Bay while sounding from the Coast Survey Steamer Active, revealing the first known seafloor canyon before sonar existed and giving mariners an early glimpse of the hidden terrain beneath California’s central coast](https://www.argo.net/in-1857-james-alden-found-a-deep-valley-in-monterey-bay-while-sounding-from-the-coast-survey-steamer-active-revealing-the-first-known-seafloor-canyon-before-sonar-existed-and-giving-mariners-an-earl/index.html.md): In 1857, a set of depth measurements in Monterey Bay produced a surprise that no sailor could see from the deck. James Alden, commanding the Coast Survey Steamer... - [In 1958 USS Nautilus slipped beneath the Arctic ice on a secret second attempt, carried 116 people across the geographic North Pole and emerged near Greenland after nuclear propulsion solved the endurance problem that had stopped earlier submarines](https://www.argo.net/in-1958-uss-nautilus-slipped-beneath-the-arctic-ice-on-a-secret-second-attempt-carried-116-people-across-the-geographic-north-pole-and-emerged-near-greenland-after-nuclear-propulsion-solved-the-endur/index.html.md): For the 116 people aboard USS Nautilus, the Arctic Ocean offered no reliable way to surface, communicate, or turn around quickly. Thick ice sealed off the sea above... - [Indian Ocean facts](https://www.argo.net/indian-ocean-facts/index.html.md): The Indian Ocean helps set the rhythm of life for hundreds of millions of people. Its seasonal winds help shape rainfall over East Africa, the Indian subcontinent and... - [5 bodies of water saltier than the ocean](https://www.argo.net/5-bodies-of-water-saltier-than-the-ocean/index.html.md): A 2017 chemical analysis reported 43.3 percent total dissolved solids in water from Gaet'ale Pond in Ethiopia's Danakil Depression. That figure sits far above the roughly 3.5 percent... - [10 US states with the most lakes](https://www.argo.net/10-us-states-with-the-most-lakes/index.html.md): The United States holds an astonishing range of lakes, from tundra basins in Alaska to warm, shallow water in Florida. This ranking highlights ten states whose published totals... - [10 largest man-made lakes in Canada](https://www.argo.net/10-largest-man-made-lakes-in-canada/index.html.md): From orbit, several of Canada's biggest reservoirs can look like natural inland seas. Their long shorelines and branching bays hide a more recent story. Dams, dikes and diversions... - [10 largest lakes in Europe](https://www.argo.net/10-largest-lakes-in-europe/index.html.md): Europe's biggest inland waters gather across a broad northern arc, where ice sheets once pressed into the land and major rivers later became routes for dams. The scale... - [In 1961 CUSS I held position in 11,673 feet of Pacific water and drilled through 558 feet of sediment into basalt, proving deep-ocean drilling could work and launching a field while Project Mohole’s goal of reaching Earth’s mantle remained out of reach](https://www.argo.net/in-1961-cuss-i-held-position-in-11673-feet-of-pacific-water-and-drilled-through-558-feet-of-sediment-into-basalt-proving-deep-ocean-drilling-could-work-and-launching-a-field-while-project-moholes/index.html.md): In 1961, a converted drilling barge named CUSS I hovered above the Pacific near Guadalupe Island, Mexico, with nearly 2.2 miles of water beneath it. The vessel drilled... - [In 1934 William Beebe and Otis Barton descended 3,028 feet off Bermuda inside the cable-hung Bathysphere and their telephone reports of luminous animals opened a view of the deep ocean that no person had previously seen alive](https://www.argo.net/in-1934-william-beebe-and-otis-barton-descended-3028-feet-off-bermuda-inside-the-cable-hung-bathysphere-and-their-telephone-reports-of-luminous-animals-opened-a-view-of-the-deep-ocean-that-no-person/index.html.md): The stakes were plain as the small sphere dropped beneath the Atlantic off Bermuda in 1934. At 3,028 feet, the sea pressed against its hull with a force... - [What is sargassum? The seaweed that makes a floating ocean habitat](https://www.argo.net/what-is-sargassum-the-seaweed-that-makes-a-floating-ocean-habitat/index.html.md): Ocean currents gather Sargassum into loose golden-brown rafts that drift across the sea. Each raft begins as a tangle of branches, leaflike blades and tiny round floats. Wind... - [Upwellings bring the ocean’s deep pantry to the surface](https://www.argo.net/upwellings-bring-the-oceans-deep-pantry-to-the-surface/index.html.md): Wind along a coast can move surface water out to sea and open a path for water from far below to rise. That water carries nutrients that have... - [Ocean gyres: Earth’s slow-moving rings that organize the sea](https://www.argo.net/ocean-gyres-earths-slow-moving-rings-that-organize-the-sea/index.html.md): Ocean gyres trace some of the largest moving patterns on Earth. From space, they resemble broad loops drawn across entire ocean basins. A bottle, a drifting buoy, or... - [Ocean currents move heat, life and weather around Earth](https://www.argo.net/ocean-currents-move-heat-life-and-weather-around-earth/index.html.md): The ocean has invisible pathways that cross whole basins, curl along coasts and dive to the seafloor. They carry warm water away from the tropics and return colder... - [How much plastic is in the ocean?](https://www.argo.net/how-much-plastic-is-in-the-ocean/index.html.md): Plastic pollution reaches far beyond a bottle floating near shore. Pieces drift across open water, settle into seafloor mud, wash onto beaches and break into fragments smaller than... - [Summer marine heatwaves sharpen ocean productivity divide in the Southern Hemisphere](https://www.argo.net/summer-marine-heatwaves-sharpen-ocean-productivity-divide-in-the-southern-hemisphere/index.html.md): Researchers at the Second Institute of Oceanography report that the season of a marine heatwave can strongly shape the ocean's productivity response. Their study, published July 9 in...