But it has been well dispersed by ocean currents, according to marine chemist Ken Buesseler at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.

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And she began to fixate on what she considered the cautionary tale of Douglas Prasher, a molecular biologist whose research funding dried up in 1992, when his tenure prospects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution seemed in doubt.

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Because of the earthquake's proximity to the capital, and because the city is densely populated and has poorly constructed housing, "it could cause significant casualties, " said Jian Lin, a senior geologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.

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While manned exploration had until now seen a 52-year hiatus, scientists have used two robotic unmanned vehicles to explore the Mariana Trench: Japan's Kaiko made a dive there in 1995 and the US-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's vessel Nereus explored the deep in 2008.

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In addition to the bike paths and sandy beaches, the Cape Cod village offers a host of internationally acclaimed facilities, among them the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Woods Hole Science Aquarium, the National Academy of Sciences conference center and the Marine Biological Lab.

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