Police kill two as Morocco’s youth-led protests escalate
Two people have been shot dead by police in Morocco as nationwide protests over poor public services intensify, marking the first fatalities since the...
Scientists have discovered thriving animal communities living off chemicals, not sunlight, at record depths in the Pacific Ocean’s Kuril-Kamchatka and Aleutian trenches.
In a groundbreaking discovery, Chinese scientists have uncovered abundant and diverse ecosystems of chemosynthetic animals living deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, at depths surpassing 9,500 metres — nearly 25% deeper than such communities have ever been documented.
The expedition, led by the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering (IDSSE) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, deployed the crewed submersible Fendouzhe into the hadal zone of the Kuril-Kamchatka and Aleutian trenches — regions known for their cold, dark, and geologically active environments.
"What makes our discovery groundbreaking is not just its greater depth – it's the astonishing abundance and diversity of chemosynthetic life we observed," said marine geochemist Mengran Du, the study’s lead author.
These ecosystems, located more than 9,500 metres below sea level, are sustained by hydrogen sulfide and methane seeping from the ocean floor, rather than sunlight. Tube worms and clams dominate the scene, with several appearing to be previously unidentified species.
The creatures convert these chemicals into energy through chemosynthesis, a biological process previously recorded at shallower depths. According to the researchers, this newly identified habitat represents "the deepest and most extensive chemosynthetic communities known to exist on our planet."
The Kuril-Kamchatka Trench spans 2,900 kilometres off the southeastern Russian coast, while the Aleutian Trench stretches about 3,400 kilometres along the southern edge of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands.
Despite the harsh conditions, including crushing pressure and total darkness, life thrives. "Even though living in the harshest environment, these life forms found their way to survive and thrive," Du said.
Non-chemosynthetic animals such as sea cucumbers and anemones, which feed on organic debris drifting down from above, were also spotted living nearby.
Marine geologist and study co-author Xiaotong Peng noted that this work pushes the known limits of life in extreme conditions and opens the door to further discoveries.
“These findings extend the depth limit of chemosynthetic communities on Earth,” Peng said. “We suggest that similar communities may also exist in extraterrestrial oceans, as chemical species like methane and hydrogen are common there.”
A day of mourning has been declared in Portugal to pay respect to victims who lost their lives in the Lisbon Funicular crash which happened on Wednesday evening.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
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The GLOBSEC Initiative on the Future of Cyberspace Cooperation has released a new research paper examining NATO’s potential use of artificial intelligence in cybersecurity.
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