EurekAlert! In the Spotlight

Welcome to In the Spotlight, where each month we shine a light on something exciting, timely, or simply fascinating from the world of science.

This June, we’re turning our attention to the ocean in honor of World Ocean Day on June 8. Covering more than 70% of our planet, the ocean is full of discovery, wonder, and life. Join us as we explore the science behind marine ecosystems and the important role oceans play in shaping our world.

Latest News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Jun-2026 10:16 ET (21-Jun-2026 14:16 GMT/UTC)

30-Jan-2026

Carving micron-scale grooves to hear the quietest sounds underwater

Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Detecting weak and low-frequency underwater sounds remains a major challenge for ocean monitoring, navigation, and marine exploration.

Journal: Microsystems & Nanoengineering

29-Jan-2026

One of Earth’s most abundant organisms is surprisingly fragile

University of Southern California
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The highly abundant marine bacterial clade SAR11 has evolved to thrive with limited nutrient resources. However, when nutrient levels increase, SAR11 is often unable to cope. It continues to replicate DNA as it normally would when it divides, but the the cells never divide, causing them to enlarge and die.

Journal: Nature Microbiology
Funder: Simons Foundation

29-Jan-2026

Underwater 3D printing could transform maritime construction

Cornell University
Reports and Proceedings

A group of Cornell researchers is developing a way to bring the technology to the ocean. By 3D-printing concrete underwater, the new approach could transform on-site maritime construction and the repair of critical infrastructure that connects continents.

29-Jan-2026

The “Grand Canyon” of the Atlantic

Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The King’s Trough Complex is a several-hundred-kilometre-long, canyon-like system of trenches on the North Atlantic seafloor. Its formation was long thought to be the result of simple stretching of the oceanic crust. An international research team led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel has now shown that the so-called “Grand Canyon of the Atlantic” was formed around 37 to 24 million years ago through the interplay of a temporarily existing plate boundary and an early branch of the Azores mantle plume. Their findings have been published in the AGU journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (G-Cubed).

28-Jan-2026

New Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution study cautions that deep-sea fishing could undermine valuable tuna fisheries

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study led by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), along with international partners, finds that proposed commercial fishing in the deep ocean could have serious consequences for bigeye tuna, one of the world’s most valuable and widely consumed fish.

Journal: Fisheries Management and Ecology
Funder: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postgraduate Scholarship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Martin Family Society of Fellows for Sustainability Fellowship, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's Ocean Twilight Zone Project, funded as part of the Audacious Project housed at TED.

28-Jan-2026

Researchers develop user-friendly tool for improving ocean equity

Duke University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The Ocean Equity Index is a scorecard that anyone can use to assess the extent to which ocean projects and policies recognize relevant stakeholders, include them in decision-making and otherwise treat them fairly.

Journal: Nature

28-Jan-2026

NASA’s Juno spacecraft measures thickness of Europa’s ice shell

Southwest Research Institute

SAN ANTONIO — January 28, 2026 — Data from NASA’s Juno mission has provided new insights into the thickness and subsurface structure of the icy shell encasing a subsurface liquid ocean within Jupiter’s moon Europa. Using the spacecraft’s Microwave Radiometer (MWR), mission scientists determined that the shell averages about 18 miles (29 kilometers) thick in the region observed during Juno’s 2022 flyby of Europa.

Journal: Nature Astronomy

28-Jan-2026

Saltwater crocodiles traveled thousands of kilometers across the Indian Ocean

Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A genetic study is rewriting the evolutionary history of the saltwater crocodile and, at the same time, clarifying the species identity of the crocodiles that were exterminated on the Seychelles. The study was published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

Journal: Royal Society Open Science