Deep below the Pacific Northwest is an underwater forest of massive hydrothermal chimneys that stretch for miles across the seafloor. At the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, located 220 miles northwest of Washington State, the seabed is ripping apart and underwater geysers and vents are still forming. Using sonar ships and underwater vehicles, researchers have mapped this area for the first time to reveal 527 chimneys - with some standing nearly 90 feet tall. The spirals are created from a buildup of minerals that flow to the surface in heated liquid -- as hot as 750 degrees Fahrenheit. The hydrothermal chimneys, known as the Endeavour vents, are located in a long, narrow valley that stretches about 8.6 miles long and almost a mile wide.

The world's most patient mom may be a deep-sea octopus that tends her eggs for nearly 4.5 years. But now, there may be a new contender for her throne. Scientists have caught a rare glimpse of another deep-sea dweller that may also spend four or more years nursing its eggs, and it does it in an even more unusual place: on hydrothermal vents, where hot water spews from the ocean floor. It's called the Pacific white skate (Bathyraja spinosissima), a bone-white, bug-eyed relative of sharks that can live almost two miles (2,900 meters) underwater. Deep-sea skates, which are shark relatives that resemble rays, lay large eggs that can take years to hatch in cold water.

The biggest knock against sending robots to explore the solar system for signs of life has always been their inability to make intuitive, even creative decisions as effectively as humans can. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) promise to narrow that gap soon--which is a good thing, because there are no immediate plans to send people to explore Mars's subterranean caves or search for hydrothermal vents below Europa's icy waters. For the foreseeable future those roles will likely be filled by nearly autonomous rovers and submarines that can withstand hostile conditions and conduct important science experiments, even when out of contact with Earth for weeks or even months. When Steve Chien took over NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Group in the mid-1990s, such sophisticated AI seemed more like science fiction than something destined to play a crucial role to the success of NASA's upcoming 2020 mission to Mars. Chien had a vision to make the technology an indispensable part of NASA's biggest missions.

While many firms are looking to the moon for mining opportunities, one Australian firm believes there could be precious metals a lot nearer to home. Deep-sea robots will be sent to mine mineral deposits in the deep ocean in 2019 in a test for a controversial new scheme. As land-based mineral stores are becoming depleted, the ocean floor is becoming a more attractive mining prospect, containing gold, copper and other precious metal deposits used to make electronics, renewable energy tools and even medical imaging machines. But deep-sea excavation may have a negative impact on deep ocean marine life, as robot mining may destroy their homes and disturb these sensitive species. The Canadian mining company Nautilus Minerals plans to send robots to mine deposits rich in copper and gold in the waters of Papua New Guinea.

You might not expect an oceanographer to be high on NASA's speed dial, but when the space agency needed help mounting a mission to Jupiter's ice-covered moon Europa, it called one: Chris German. Ever since the geochemist found hydrothermal vents teeming with life in the Atlantic Ocean in 1997, he's been an Indiana Jones in the search for vents, creatures, and the origins of life. A senior scientist at Woods Hole, German was among the first to use programmable underwater robots to explore the seafloor. The skill to operate them in difficult conditions--15,000 feet deep and under 10-foot-thick ice--is what NASA likes about him. Last September, they teamed up for a two-month Arctic expedition, a dry run for what NASA might one day try on Europa.