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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

Making Nanotubes Without Harming the Environment

Making Nanotubes Without Harming the Environment

April 3, 2008

They are 10,000 times thinner than a strand of human hair, yet stronger than steel, more durable than diamonds, and able to conduct heat and electricity with efficiency that rivals copper wires and silicon chips. Ever since their discovery in…

To Fertilize, or Not to Fertilize

To Fertilize, or Not to Fertilize

February 6, 2008

Global warming is “unequivocal,” the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported in November 2007. Human actions—particularly the burning of fossil fuels—have dramatically raised carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, leading our planet toward “abrupt or irreversible…

Lost City Pumps Life-essential Chemicals at Rates Unseen at Typical Black Smokers

Lost City Pumps Life-essential Chemicals at Rates Unseen at Typical Black Smokers

January 31, 2008

Hydrocarbons—molecules critical to life—are routinely generated by the simple interaction of seawater with the rocks under the Lost City hydrothermal vent field in the Atlantic Ocean, according to research led by the University of Washington and the Woods Hole Oceanographic…

Will Ocean Iron Fertilization Work?

Will Ocean Iron Fertilization Work?

January 7, 2008

In this age of satellites, it’s fairly easy to answer the basic question of whether adding iron to the ocean can stimulate a plankton bloom. When storms over land blow iron-rich dust into the sea, satellite images show marbled swaths…

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Fertilizing the Ocean with Iron

November 13, 2007

  “Give me half a tanker of iron, and I’ll give you an ice age” may rank as the catchiest line ever uttered by a biogeochemist. The man responsible was the late John Martin, former director of the Moss Landing…

News Releases

USS Arizona provides blueprint for addressing oil leakage at thousands of WWII shipwrecks

October 2, 2025

The findings underscore the USS Arizona’s dual role as a solemn memorial and a “living laboratory.”

Ken Buesseler

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Ken Buesseler receives AGU Honor

September 24, 2025

Buesseler joins a distinguished group of scientists, leaders and communicators recognized by AGU for advancing science.

A new look at an old pollutant

September 2, 2025

A WHOI-led study tracks mercury across the western Pacific

New report highlights plastic pollution as a grave and growing danger to health and announces an independent, health-focused global monitoring system

August 4, 2025

While the impacts of plastic pollution on human health and the environment are growing, the report finds, increasing harm due to plastics is not inevitable.

Award-winning environmental documentary Out of Plain Sight to make Cape Cod debut at the Woods Hole Film Festival

July 17, 2025

Film shares the pivotal role of WHOI-operated underwater vehicles in the discovery of toxic waste dumped off California coast

News & Insights

What happens to natural gas in the ocean?

October 6, 2022

WHOI marine chemist Chris Reddy weighs in on a methane leak in the Baltic Sea

Wave Glider provides gateway to remote exploration

November 10, 2020

WHOI geochemist Chris German pairs an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) called a Wave Glider with other vehicles to expand research here and on other Ocean Worlds

Sea Dust

Mining ancient dust from the ocean’s loneliest spot

September 24, 2020

Researchers investigate dust from the ocean’s farthest point from land to reconstruct the climactic history of the Southern Hemisphere, and understand how micronutrients have influenced biological productivity in this oceanic desert.

Working from Home: Mallory Ringham

July 2, 2020

WHOI-MIT joint program student outfits her basement to do vital work on a marine carbon sensor

plastics by the numbers

The many lifetimes of plastics

June 15, 2020

Infographics strive to give us a sense of how long plastic goods will last in the environment. But is this information reliable? The findings of a new study from WHOI may surprise you.

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