Ocean Discovery XPRIZE Testing Altered
, marine and drone technologies, and underwater discoveries has been established: Victor Abbott, Ph.D., formerly of the University of Plymouth; Aida Alvera-Azcarate, Ph.D., University of Liege; Douglas Au, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; Catherine Ball, Ph.D., Remote Research Ranges; Christina Kellogg, Ph.D., United States Geological Survey; David Mearns, Blue Water Recoveries; and Shah Selbe, National Geographic Emerging Explorer. “We are extremely honored to have such a high caliber of expertise on the judging panel,” said Virmani. “Their diverse backgrounds and experience
Scientists Dust Off Enigmatic Fossil Whale
diversity of living whales. Now, scientists with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History are re-examining the classification of an extinct 15 million-year-old fossil sperm whale. The fossil whale was originally described and named in 1925 by Smithsonian scientist Remington Kellogg as Ontocetus oxymycterus, but Kellogg miscategorized it as belonging to a group of extinct walruses. In re-examining this fossil sperm whale for the first time in 90 years, the team created an entirely new group in the sperm whale family, Albicetus, and introduced the species, Albicetus oxymycterus
February 2025
