‘Dark Oxygen’ Is Coming from These Ocean Nodules, and We Don’t Know How

‘Dark Oxygen’ Is Coming from These Ocean Nodu...

Up next

Unexplainable: What happened before the big bang?

In this special crossover episode, Science Quickly shares an appearance by host Rachel Feltman on Vox’s Unexplainable. Together with host Noam Hassenfeld, she explores Scientific American’s special issue on impossible questions, diving into some of science’s biggest mysteries, fr ...  Show more

From 9/11’s lasting legacy to AI’s disruptive future

In this episode of Science Quickly, we explore newly released 9/11 records and their revelations about the attacks’ lasting health impacts, unpack a controversial artificial intelligence breakthrough that solved one of mathematics’ biggest problems and examine the growing backlas ...  Show more

Recommended Episodes

The Deep Sea’s Mysterious Oxygen Source
Science Quickly

Trillions of potato-sized rocks scattered across the deep ocean floor are rich in metals such as cobalt and copper—making them a target for mining companies eager to fuel the clean-energy transition. But recent research suggests these rocks may also be supporting marine life in w ...  Show more

Dark Oxygen | CIA Deep Sea Secret Could Trigger the Next Extinction Event (STRIPPED)
The Why Files: Operation Podcast

Two miles below the Pacific Ocean, scientists have discovered something impossible: rocks that generate electricity and produce oxygen without sunlight. These ancient metallic "batteries" could be the original source of Earth's oxygen - before plants or algae existed.The CIA has ...  Show more

C&EN Uncovered: The ocean floor is littered with valuable minerals. Should we go get them?
Stereo Chemistry

Resting on the bottom of the ocean are potato-sized nodules of valuable minerals that are more or less up for grabs. Multiple corporations and some nations are racing to build deep-sea drones that can withstand the extreme conditions at the seafloor and bring these 1 ...

  Show more

Dark oxygen could rewrite Earth’s history
Unexplainable

Scientists just discovered oxygen being produced without sunlight — without photosynthesis — at the bottom of the ocean. This “dark oxygen” could fundamentally change the story we tell of life on Earth and in the rest of the universe. Guest: Alycia Smith, ecologist at Heriot-Watt ...  Show more