First-ever crewed dive into Atacama Trench

On 21 January 2022, two men dived the first-ever crewed dive to the deepest point of the Atacama Trench, the deepest trench in the south­eastern Pacific.

This feat saw explorer Victor Vescovo, Founder of Caladan Oceanic, and Osvaldo Ulloa from the Millennium Institute of Oceanography (IMO) de­scending to 8,069m below sea level, in the submersible Limiting Factor. This dive was the first in the Chilean leg of the Ring of Fire Pt 2 (2022) expedition.

Seagrasses are natural carbon dioxide sink, thanks to symbiotic bacteria

Seagrasses need nutrients to thrive, particularly nitrogen (N). Up to now, it has been assumed that the nitrogen is taken up by the seagrasses through leaves and roots from the surrounding seawater and sediment. However, in many of the regions where seagrasses are most abundant, there is little nitrogen to be found.

Furthermore, while nitrogen is abundant in the sea in its elemental form (N2), seagrasses cannot use it in this form.

Large bodies helped extinct marine reptiles compensate for drag

Scientists recently announced their findings in the Communications Biology journal, stating that the creatures' large body size helped to overcome the excess drag that was created as a result. 

They discovered that while the plesiosaurs’ large necks did indeed increase the drag, this was relatively minor and was subsequently compensated for by the evolution of their large bodies.