Today's Deep-Sea Explorers Are Mineral Miners and Ultrawealthy Hobbyists

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June 27, 2023

Last week, we closely followed the search for the Titan submersible, which suffered a catastrophic implosion on a dive to the shipwrecked remains of the Titanic. Although the doomed voyage was for purposes of tourism, deep-sea exploration is receiving new scrutiny as companies aim to mine minerals from the ocean floor. Read more in this week's top story!

Sophie Bushwick, Associate Editor, Technology

Culture Today's Deep-Sea Explorers Are Mineral Miners and Ultrawealthy Hobbyists A new history of the deep ocean, seeking truth through math, a space opera about self-identity, and more books out now By Amy Brady

Engineering Where Are the Worst Bridges in the U.S.? More than 42,000 highway bridges across the country are in "poor" condition, according to national bridge inspection standards By June Kim

Oceans See How Crushing Pressures Increase in the Ocean's Depths If the missing Titan submersible was near the Titanic when it imploded, it would have experienced pressure higher than that of a great white shark bite By Sophie Bushwick

Space Exploration Musk and Bezos Offer Humanity a Grim Future in Space Colonies Privately owned space colonies are more likely to be totalitarian nightmares than libertarian utopias By Matthew R. Francis

Oceans What Safety Features Should Subs like the Titan Be Equipped With? With the Titan vessel's fate yet to be determined, an expert explains the safety features that should be onboard such a submersible By Eric Fusil,The Conversation

Biotech Brain-Zapping Technology Helps Smokers to Quit Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is already approved to help people overcome addiction to cigarettes, but researchers still have a lot to learn about how to deliver the treatment effectively By Simon Makin

Transportation Missing Titanic Sub: What Could Have Gone Wrong? A submersible called Titan has gone missing on a dive to the remains of of the Titanic By Stefan B. Williams,The Conversation US

Renewable Energy Solar Power Bails Out Texas Grid during Major Heat Wave Solar power has been crucial to keeping the power on in Texas while the state experiences a major heat wave, even as some politicians have attempted to make it more difficult to connect renewable energy to the grid By Benjamin Storrow,E&E News

QUOTE OF THE DAY "Over 140 major brands are paying for ads that end up on unreliable AI-written sites, likely without their knowledge." Tate Ryan-Mosley, MIT Technology Review

FROM THE ARCHIVE Ocean Discoveries Are Revising Long-Held Truths about Life New findings show that the ocean is much more intertwined with our lives than we ever imagined By Timothy Shank | August 2022

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