What if there is fresh water hidden beneath the ocean floor?In September 2025, scientists confirmed for the first time the existence of vast reserves of fresh water beneath the seafloor off the coast of New England, in the United States. The water, collected during Expedition 501 of the International Ocean Discovery Program, turned out to be far fresher than anyone expected — reaching levels close to safe drinking water limits.

The discovery took more than twenty years from the first proposal to reality.In this episode, we enter the laboratories of MARUM, Center for MArine ENvironmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, where forty scientists from thirteen countries are working against the clock to analyze 718 sediment cores collected during the expedition. We speak ...