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The article focuses on a deep-water cabled observatories set up by ocean scientists aiming to revolutionize oceanography. It relates that beginning in 2010, researchers from various organizations in the U.S. plan to string cables to site scattered around the entire Juan de Fuca Plate off the coast of Oregon and Washington state. Moreover, it was noted that early in 2008, the European Union will link instruments to three separate cables currently in used to wire up underwater neutrino observatories.

PHOTO (COLOR): The R/V Sally Ride headed back to sea after the end of a moratorium on U.S. cruises. Many cruises have already been canceled, research schedules have been disrupted, and research cruises look very different from those before the pandemic, with crews and research scaled back. Under UNOLS's new rules, universities now must assess the risks of cruises based on factors such as homeport infection rates and plans for coping with shipboard outbreaks. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses in China's Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao). It states China plans on using Qingdao to persuade scientists to accept greater scrutiny and direction from the government in exchange for resources, and will also try to attract both Chinese and international scientists to sign on. It mentions part of Qingdao will be a research vessel for deep-sea drilling and will study tsunamis, algae blooms, the ocean and climate, and ecosystem health.

The article discusses scientists' assessment of the damage to their facilities caused by Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012. The storm, which submerged communities along the U.S. Atlantic Coast, killed more than 100 people and left tens of thousands without housing or electricity. The environmental and economic impact of Hurricane Sandy on coastal communities in New Jersey and New York and damage to several marine science installations and biomedical research facilities, including the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory in Fort Hancock, New Jersey and New York University's (TSIYU's) Langone Medical Center in New York City, respectively, are discussed.

Reports on the debate by marine scientists over the research submarine in the U.S. Cost of ocean research budgets; Interest in exploring watery inner frontier of the Earth; Ideas for an international ocean-exploration program.

The article looks at U.S. government funding of oceanographic and marine science research. It discusses a report issued by a U.S. National Research Council panel which recommends cuts in the U.S. National Science Foundation's (NSF's) spending on undersea infrastructure, including the Ocean Observatories Initiative, in order to make more funding available for research grants. It notes the report also identifies marine science research priorities including sea level change.

The article discusses a plan by U.S. president Barack Obama to eliminate the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) National Undersea Research Program (NURP) in an effort to cut the federal budget. Topics include a historical overview of NURP and the impact its elimination would have on undersea research conducted by several U.S. universities under the auspices of the NURP.

The article presents information on the U.S. National Science Foundation's Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), a 5-year, $331.5 million effort to establish coastal, regional, and global networks of anchored sensor buoys and underwater vehicles. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, Oregon State University, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Washington have received contracts to be the primary managers of the OOI. The network will provide the first real-time measures of key parameters such as nutrient levels and currents in specific points throughout the ocean.

Reports that an expert panel from the National Academy of Sciences has endorsed a proposal of the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a network of remotely operated sea-floor observatories. Significance of support to the NSF; Reason for the panel's support; What are included in the endorsement.

Reports that a panel commissioned by the US National Science Foundation has recommended that the United States proceed with plans to build a new research facility at the South Pole to replace its aging station there. The amount of money requested for the new station not forthcoming; How the new station will be financed; Details of the panel's proposals regarding the station.