The results did not disappoint. Scientists across the country are still poring over images, caring for cultures, and examining deep-sea DNA as they try to learn more about how the biological and physical sciences look and operate in the ocean’s depths. Research ranges from searching for new species and studying compounds that help animals stand up to crushing pressures to examining temperature and pressure readings from miles down. The DEEPSEA CHALLENGER was equipped with a hydraulic manipulator arm for taking samples and with multiple cameras for capturing images of the landscape and life-forms in some of the world’s deepest zones. It worked in tandem with a lander, an unmanned, phone-booth-size vessel that was also deployed to the mysterious depths to collect specimens and images. While Cameron’s record-breaking Challenger Deep dive was the most talked about part of the expedition, scientists are also eagerly working with the images and samples that he brought back from other parts of the deep ocean. The New Britain Trench off the coast of Papua New Guinea provided a trove of samples and images that might represent new species. Scientists are also working with data gathered in the Sirena Deep, another plunging underwater canyon in the Mariana Trench. Explore the biology and geology pages to learn more about the ongoing research and the science of the deep. Before James Cameron’s historic dive, only three other vehicles had made the descent to the Challenger Deep, the world’s deepest known point. In 1960 two men descended there in the bathyscaphe Trieste, a sub bigger than a bus. Once there, they spent only 20 minutes staring at a milky cloud of sediment before returning to the surface. In the 1990s, the Japanese-built Kaiko , an unmanned, robotic submersible, made several trips to nearly 7 miles (11 kilometers) below, picking up sediment and microorganisms along the way. In 2009, the Nereus , also an unmanned vehicle, made its inaugural trip to the Challenger Deep. Built by engineers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Nereus can collect rocks, animals, and water samples and can transmit high-quality video to the surface through a hair-thin fiber-optic cable. On March 26, 2013, the one-year anniversary of Cameron’s historic dive, his specially designed sub, the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER, was donated to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where its groundbreaking research technology is expected to inform future ocean exploration.