Views of the Chilean research base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva, Antarctica, Southern Ocean, Polar Regions

Archaeologists at work, Chichen Itza, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Yucatan, Mexico, North America

Research diver approaching manta birostris to record detail in research program, Project Elasmo. Pacific Ocean, Ecuador

Solar panels used to generate electricity to power scientific equipment as part of a research project by scientists from Sydney University, in the Snowy Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, Pacific

Research diver approaching manta birostris to record detail in research program, Project Elasmo. Pacific Ocean, Ecuador

Research diver approaching manta birostris to record detail in research program, Project Elasmo. Pacific Ocean, Ecuador

Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchlings being rescued from damaged nest with floods expected. Bird Island, Seychelles, Indian Ocean (RR)

Research diver approaching manta birostris to record detail in research program, Project Elasmo. Pacific Ocean, Ecuador

Solar panels used to generate electricity to power scientific equipment as part of a research project by scientists from Sydney University, in the Snowy Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, Pacific

Research diver approaching manta birostris to record detail in research program, Project Elasmo. Pacific Ocean, Ecuador

Solar panels used to generate electricity to power scientific equipment as part of a research project by scientists from Sydney University, in the Snowy Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, Pacific

Research diver approaching manta birostris to record detail in research program, Project Elasmo. Pacific Ocean, Ecuador

Research diver approaching manta birostris to record detail in research program, Project Elasmo. Pacific Ocean, Ecuador

Research diver approaching manta birostris to record detail in research program, Project Elasmo. Pacific Ocean, Ecuador

Research diver approaching manta birostris to record detail in research program, Project Elasmo. Pacific Ocean, Ecuador

Research diver approaching manta birostris to record detail in research program, Project Elasmo. Pacific Ocean, Ecuador

Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta) being captured for tagging project. Azores

Research diver approaching manta birostris to record detail in research program, Project Elasmo. Pacific Ocean, Ecuador

Research diver approaching manta birostris to record detail in research program, Project Elasmo. Pacific Ocean, Ecuador

Research diver approaching manta birostris to record detail in research program, Project Elasmo. Pacific Ocean, Ecuador

Space Rider, computer artwork

Manhattan Project, Segrès Group

Beautiful African American girl with dark curly hair standing near board and giving presentation to colleagues in office. Young business woman looking on her coworkers while discussing new project

Beautiful African American girl with dark curly hair standing near board and giving presentation to colleagues in office. Young business woman looking on her coworkers while discussing new project

Aerial view, Mark Dion research station, Gesellschaft der Amateur-Ornithologen art project, Emscherkunst.2010 art project, Bogomir Ecker, Buelent Kullukcu, artworks on the Emscher river, Herner Meer site, Herne, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany,

Aerial view, Mark Dion research station, Gesellschaft der Amateur-Ornithologen art project, Emscherkunst.2010 art project, Bogomir Ecker, Buelent Kullukcu, artworks on the Emscher river, Herner Meer site, Herne, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany,

Tara Oceans Expeditions - May 2011. Tara with deployed plancton nets. On "station", the boat is drifting without engine or sails. Tara Oceans, a unique expedition: Tara Oceans is the very first attempt to make a global study of marine plankton, a form of sea life that includes organisms as small as viruses and bacterias, and as big as medusas. Our goal is to better understand planktonic ecosystems by exploring the countless species, learning about interactions among them and with their environment. Marine plankton is the only ecosystem that is almost continuous over the surface of the Earth. Studying plankton is like taking the pulse of our planet. Recently, scientists have discovered the great importance of plankton for the climate: populations of plankton are affected very rapidly by variations in climate. But in turn they can influence the climate by modifying the absorption of carbon. In a context of rapid physico-chemical changes, for example the acidification observed today in the world's oceans, it is urgent to understand and predict the evolution of these particular ecosystems. Finally, plankton is an astonishing way of going back in time ? a prime source of fossils. Over the eons, plankton has created several hundred meters of sediment on the ocean floors. This allows us to go back in time, to the first oceans on Earth, and better understand the history of our biosphere. More than 12 fields of research are involved in the project, which will bring together an international team of oceanographers, ecologists, biologists, geneticists, and physicists from prestigious laboratories headed by Eric Karsenti of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. Galapagos