Latest Woods Hole, Massachusetts Stories

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is part of an international sea search operation formed to locate the deep-sea wreck site of Air France Flight 447 and to retrieve the flight recorders from the Airbus A 330.Susan Avery, president and director of WHOI, said that the Institution "is honored to be part of this mission." A private, independent organization dedicated to marine research, engineering and higher education, "WHOI brings to the undersea search operation the necessary...

A deep-sea robot known as the "Autonomous Benthic Explorer" and made by Massachusetts researchers has been lost off the coast of Chile.Researchers immediately lost contact with the robot, nicknamed ABE, last Friday after it reached the Pacific Ocean floor, about 2 miles below the surface.  Scientist are assuming that a glass sphere that helped keep the $1.1 million robot buoyant may have imploded from the water pressure, destroying onboard communications.  This was the robot's...

In a striking finding that raises new questions about carbon dioxide's (CO2) impact on marine life, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists report that some shell-building creatures"”such as crabs, shrimp and lobsters"”unexpectedly build more shell when exposed to ocean acidification caused by elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).Because excess CO2 dissolves in the ocean"”causing it to "acidify" "”researchers have been concerned about the ability of...

Passenger Vehicles Screened for Explosives in a Three-Week Pilot FALMOUTH, Mass., Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), in partnership with the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority, will begin testing advanced explosives detection technology today as part of TSA's Security Enhancement and Capabilities Augmentation Program (SEACAP). During the three-week pilot program, TSA will conduct explosives screening on passenger...

WOODS HOLE, Mass., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Senate President Therese Murray, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), and key state officials gathered at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) today to break ground on a $25 million renovation of the MBL's central research training facility, the Loeb Laboratory. This renovation will create 250 regional construction jobs over the next 15 months and will greatly enhance the MBL's and the state's...

Changes in ocean chemistry "” a consequence of increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from human industrial activity "” could cause U.S. shellfish revenues to drop significantly in the next 50 years, according to a new study by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).Intensive burning of fossil fuels and deforestation over the last two centuries have increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere by almost 40 percent. The oceans have absorbed about one-third of all...

The most extensive study of pollutants in marine mammals' brains reveals that these animals are exposed to a hazardous cocktail of pesticides such as DDTs and PCBs, as well as emerging contaminants such as brominated flame retardants.Eric Montie, the lead author on the study currently in press and published online April 17 in Environmental Pollution, performed the research as a student in the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution-MIT Joint Graduate Program in Oceanography and Ocean Engineering...

Researchers have discovered where basking sharks "“ the world's second largest fish "“ hide out for half of every year, according to a report published online on May 7th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The discovery revises scientists' understanding of the iconic species and highlights just how little we still know about even the largest of marine animals, the researchers said."While commonly sighted in surface waters during summer and autumn months, the disappearance...

Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Woods Hole Research Center Create New 'Woods Hole Consortium' WOODS HOLE, Mass., April 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Three leading research centers based in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, announce the creation of the Woods Hole Consortium, a new alliance that will bring their combined scientific power to bear on some of the major issues facing society today and spawn scientific growth and job opportunity on the South Coast...

--Marine-based technologies target new and existing markets in ocean energy, aquaculture, and environmental technologies-- WOODS HOLE, Mass., March 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the Regional Technology Development Corp. (RTDC) of Cape Cod announced jointly today the signing of a technology transfer and entrepreneurial services agreement designed to accelerate the transfer of WHOI technology innovations to the marketplace. The alliance is a unique...