Austrian-American botanist Joseph Rock collected thousands of plant samples in his 27 years in the Middle Kingdom, leaving after the Communist Party’s takeover.

As technology takes science deeper into the world’s oceans, researchers are discovering reef systems far from warm, shallow tropical waters.

Researchers analyzing samples from the deepest-ever marine drilling expedition identify living microbes, while a team exploring the Arctic finds life thriving below the ice.

Intrepid Norwegian explorers discovered the Antarctic icefish, a marvel of evolution, while venturing to an island at the bottom of the Earth in 1927.