A team of scientists announced they have developed new deep-sea landers specifically to test their contentious discovery that metallic rocks at the bottom of the ocean are producing "dark oxygen." But the deep-sea mining industry—which is keen to extract precious metals from these potato-sized polymetallic nodules—and some researchers have expressed doubts about the claim. The debate comes as companies and nations battle over proposed rules regulating the new and potentially environmentally destructive deep-sea mining industry. Sweetman's 2024 study was partly funded by a Canadian deep-sea mining firm, The Metals Company, which has since sharply criticised his research. But the scientist emphasized it is "not our intention" to find something to stop deep-sea mining.

Source: Philippine Star January 21, 2026 00:58 UTC