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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

A man dressed in orange samples orange lava from black volcanic rock.

The predictive power of geochemistry

December 19, 2022

A WHOI researcher looks for changes in gas molecules to forecast volcanic eruptions such as Mauna Loa in Hawai’i.

Wilmington’s shark tooth divers thank the last ice age for their treasure trove

August 4, 2022

 

Sentry

How to study an underwater earthquake from shore

June 30, 2022

Scientist Chris German on a successful AUV Sentry mission when the science team could not travel to sea

majuro aerial

Novel tool sheds light on coral reef erosion

June 3, 2022

Jessica Olson, a gym teacher from Springdale, Arkansas, felt like she was standing in the middle of the central Pacific Ocean, peering out at the turquoise-blue waters raging from every direction as far as the eye could see. It was…

Lily Sanborn

How historic hurricanes can help predict storm intensity

June 24, 2021

Research into past hurricanes could help predict the strength of future storms, and inform infrastructure planning and emergency management decisions in southern New England

News Releases

solar system

Where Did Earth’s Water Come From? Not Melted Meteorites, According to Scientists

March 15, 2023

WHOI is part of a collaborative study, offering new insight into the extraterrestrial origins of our lakes, rivers and oceans

Porites cf. lobata is a key reef-building coral

Palau’s Rock Islands Harbor Heat-resistant Corals

December 21, 2022

Scientists studying reefs in Palau have identified subgroups of a coral species that exhibit remarkable tolerance to the extreme heat associated with marine heatwaves

R/V Polarstern

Arctic Hydrothermal Vent Site Could Help in Search for Extraterrestrial Life

November 1, 2022

When scientists discovered a hydrothermal vent site in the Arctic Ocean’s Aurora hydrothermal system in 2014, they did not immediately realize just how exciting their discovery was.

Hydrothermal field discovered at the East Pacific Rise 9°54’N

July 21, 2022

A new high-temperature, off-axis hydrothermal vent field on Pacific seafloor at 2550 meters depth was discovered in 2021 by a team that included researchers from Lehigh University; Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO); the University of Bergen Norway; and Woods Hole…

Geoscience technology company founded by MIT/WHOI Joint Program student awarded $3.8M from U.S. Department of Energy

June 2, 2022

Eden, a geoscience technology development company co-founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program student Paris Smalls, will receive $3.8 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

News & Insights

The Search for Life

February 17, 2021

This week, NASA’s Perseverance Rover lands on Mars to continue the search for life on the Red Planet. At the same time, WHOI scientists and engineers are applying their experience exploring the deepest parts of planet Earth to the quest…

iceberg

Can icebergs be towed to water-starved cities?

January 6, 2021

WHOI researchers are now investigating the feasibility of towing icebergs to alleviate water shortages.

A REMUS-600 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) communicates with an ocean-bottom seismograph (OBS) via a WHOI-developed optical modem link during lab testing. This link enables REMUS vehicles to act as "seismic data mules" whereby they offload data OBS stations without the need for ships or human intervention. (Photo by Dara Tebo, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Can seismic data mules protect us from the next big one?

October 7, 2020

Ocean scientists leverage game-changing technologies to improve our understanding of the global ocean’s most dangerous earthquake faults and enable more advanced warnings for seismic risk.

greenland ice

Will melting glaciers cool the climate?

July 29, 2020

As glaciers melt at unprecedented rates, WHOI’s Simon Pendleton is looking back to historical records to predict whether this new cool runoff will slow ocean circulation and cool the northern hemisphere––findings which could mean adjustments to some climate predictions.

Art Maxwell

Celebrating an oceanographic life

July 1, 2020

WHOI looks back at the legacy of co-founder of MIT-WHOI Joint Program, former Director of Research and Provost at WHOI, Art Maxwell