Deepest underwater volcanic eruption
In 2015, a team of researchers sent robotic submersibles beneath the waves north of Guam. They had set out to study an area south and west of the Mariana Trench — the deepest groove in Earth's oceans — and an arc of volcanoes, hoping to spy hidden hydrothermal vents. Instead, they discovered a spectacular glassy labyrinth, nearly 3 miles below sea level. It was recently cooled lava, the product of the deepest underwater volcanic eruption ever recorded by scientists. Bill Chadwick, a seafloor geologist, said the discovery "is an opportunity to learn about a fundamental Earth process that we know little about."
Dogs can sniff out malaria, study finds
Dogs have such sensitive noses that they can detect bombs, drugs, citrus and other contraband. Is it possible they can sniff out malaria? A small study showed that dogs can identify socks worn overnight by children with malaria parasites — even when the children had cases so mild that they were not feverish. The study does not mean that dogs will replace laboratories. Inexpensive rapid tests for malaria have been available for more than a decade; more than 200 million people are infected each year. But for sorting through crowds, malaria-sniffing dogs could be very useful, researchers said.
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