The Ocean Gets Worse The Deeper You Go

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The Ocean Gets Worse The Deeper You Go

Twenty descents into pitch-black water where the rules of biology stop applying. Start at the surface. Don't look down.

20 discoveries ~80 min

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01
The Animal with Nine Semi-Independent Brains
Two-thirds of an octopus's neurons are in its arms, meaning its limbs can taste, touch, and think on their own.
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02
The Predator That Was Born Before the Mayflower
Greenland sharks can live for over 400 years, making them the oldest vertebrates on the planet.
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03
The Invisible Forest Floating in the Ocean
More than half of the oxygen you breathe doesn't come from trees, but from microscopic marine life.
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04
A toddler could swim through a whale's arteries
A blue whale heart is the size of a bumper car, and its primary blood vessels are wide enough for a human child to crawl through.
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05
The deep sea predator with soccer ball eyes
The colossal squid has the largest eyes ever recorded, measuring 11 inches across to spot shadows in the dark.
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06
There are seashells on top of Everest. Here's why.
The highest point on Earth is covered in 400-million-year-old sea creatures stuck in the limestone.
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07
Deep Space Smells Like Raspberries and Rum
A giant gas cloud at the center of the galaxy is made of the same chemical that flavors fruit.
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08
The Weight of Fifty Jumbo Jets on a Basketball
At the bottom of the Mariana Trench, a standard basketball wouldn't just pop; it would undergo a physical transformation.
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09
The Golden Crust That Is Too Deep to Reach
Earth is hiding enough gold in its core to coat the entire planet in a knee-deep layer of precious metal.
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10
Why You Cannot Sink In The Dead Sea
The salt concentration in the Dead Sea is so high that your body becomes more like a cork than a stone.
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11
The Twenty Million Tons Of Liquid Gold
The world's oceans hold enough dissolved gold to give every person on Earth nine pounds of the precious metal.
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12
The largest living thing is a silent killer
Deep in an Oregon forest lives a single organism that covers nearly four square miles and has been growing for 8,000 years.
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13
The Skin That Bacteria Can't Grip
Sharks don't use chemicals to stay clean; their skin is physically designed to repel germs.
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14
The Color of Sound That Boosts Memory
Pink noise is the secret frequency that synchronizes your brain waves for a deeper, more restorative sleep.
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15
The Animal That Never Truly Goes to Sleep
Dolphins survive by shutting down only half of their brain at a time, keeping one eye open for sharks.
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16
The Land Crustacean Carrying Its Own Ocean
The woodlouse living in your garden isn't a bug; it is a crustacean that breathes through gills like a shrimp.
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17
Why Mountain Air Starves Your Lungs
The percentage of oxygen at the top of Everest is the same as at sea level, but your lungs can't grab it.
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18
The jellyfish that's biologically immortal
Turritopsis dohrnii ages backwards on command.
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19
Why the megalodon really went extinct
A 60-foot shark didn't die from a meteor. It starved.
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20
Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood
And maybe a different kind of consciousness.
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