Skip to content

Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

Cell-sized Thermometers

Cell-sized Thermometers

April 5, 2007

Climate shifts are a repeating feature in Earth’s history, but humans have added so much greenhouse gas (especially carbon dioxide) to the atmosphere that climate is warming in our lifetimes. We know that past climate changes have concurred with changes…

A Rare Glimpse Into the Ocean's Crust

A Rare Glimpse Into the Ocean’s Crust

November 6, 2006

About one and a half million years ago, a great hidden piece of the ocean’s crust uplifted and rotated, giving Clare Williams a window and a time machine into Earth’s mysterious mantle. About halfway between Florida and Africa on a…

Lessons from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

Lessons from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

October 11, 2006

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will convene two special conferences this fall to learn from the devastating 2004 tsunami that left more than 220,000 people dead or missing. In July, another tsunami in the same region killed several hundred people and…

New Hybrid Deep-sea Vehicle Is Christened Nereus

New Hybrid Deep-sea Vehicle Is Christened Nereus

June 26, 2006

Nereus—a mythical god with a fish tail and a man’s torso—was chosen Sunday (June 25) in a nationwide contest as the name of a first-of-its-kind, deep-sea vehicle under construction at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The vehicle, known until now…

Into the 'Mouth of Hell'

Into the ‘Mouth of Hell’

June 9, 2006

Ken Sims peers over the rim of Masaya Volcano and looks 2,000 feet (600 meters) down into the smoking crater lined with rows of jagged rocks that jut up like monstrous teeth. A 16th-century Spanish friar once called it “the…

News Releases

Researchers help solve mystery of clockwork-like earthquake system deep beneath the Pacific

May 14, 2026

Study of Gofar transform fault on the Pacific seafloor points to mitigating effects of “barrier zones” that keep ruptures from spreading.

A new study finds Jupiter’s moon Europa’s quiet seafloor may still hold keys for life

January 6, 2026

A new study suggests Jupiter’s icy moon lacks geophysical activity, changing how scientists think about life there

Black shale

A new study reveals how oxygen first reached Earth’s oceans

December 9, 2025

Researchers use vanadium isotopes to track the rise of oxygen in ancient seas

europa clipper

WHOI selected by NASA to investigate ocean worlds and their organic carbon cycles

December 3, 2025

The Investigating Ocean Worlds project will seek to improve the analysis of data related to carbon-rich molecules that could be an indicator of biological activity.

Six-million-year-old ice discovered in Antarctica offers unprecedented window into a warmer Earth

October 29, 2025

This is the most significant discovery to date for COLDEX, an NSF Science and Technology Center funded in 2021 to explore the Antarctic ice sheet, which is the largest ice mass on the planet.

News & Insights

Scientists tap ‘secret’ fresh water under the ocean

September 12, 2025

First-of-its-kind research expedition studies massive freshwater aquifer under the ocean floor off Cape Cod

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…

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

Working from home: Chris German

April 30, 2020

As I reached the end of April, I realized that too much of my time was getting consumed by zoom calls and email in a bid to over-compensate for not being able to interact with people on-site at WHOI. So…

Scroll To Top