This wand extended from the deep-sea sub Alvin houses a thermometer, electrodes for taking chemical measurements, and an apparatus called "the Sipper" for collecting water samples at hydrothermal vents.   A tremendous advance provided by a probe-like electrode housed in Alvin's wand and built by University of Delaware adjunct professor Don Nuzzio is that it can take chemical readings of the environment in "real time," meaning as the environment is being observed. Previously, scientists would collect a water sample and bring it back up to the surface for laboratory analysis. Dr. George Luther, a marine chemist at the University of Delaware, has developed needle-like sensors called electrodes to take chemistry readings of environments ranging from salt marshes to deep-sea hydrothermal vent sites. (The sensors used in coastal research are made of glass, while the deep-sea probes are encased in protective polymers.) Once connected to computers and deployed in a protective wand from Alvin (see first photo above), the deep-sea sensors can provide instantaneous readings of the different chemicals that spew out of the vents. On the deck of the research vessel Atlantis, marine scientists examine the deep-sea sub Alvin's collecting basket to make sure it is ready for tomorrow's dive to vent sites more than a mile below the surface. Using Alvin's highly maneuverable arms, scientists can collect biological and geological specimens from the deep sea to analyze further back in the lab. The specimens are placed in the collecting basket affixed to the sub (see above). Deep-sea organisms live under the crushing pressure caused by the weight of the vast ocean above them - it's some 250 times the pressure we feel here on land. The high-pressure aquaria shown here at the University of Delaware College of Marine Studies are used to keep organisms such as vent crabs alive and well for laboratory study. In their lab at the University of Delaware College of Marine Studies, molecular biologist Craig Cary and marine scientist Alison Sipe use an epifluorescent microscope to examine deep-sea bacteria.