Schoolbooks typically present explorers as intrepid individuals who, for example, sail wooden ships to new lands or climb Mt. Qomolangma alone. But today most explorers who are making fundamental discoveries are scientists. And whether the frontiers are tiny, like the human genome, or massive, like our deepest oceans, we still have much left to learn about planet Earth. 

Exploration is science in its most basic form — asking questions of the natural world and, we hope, using the answers for the betterment of everything on Earth. 

Exploration has great value. It inspires us, widens our knowledge and gives us hope for a better future. And the practical payoffs can even be lifesaving. Scientists who spent decades exploring what was in the atmosphere found that over time the concentration of carbon dioxide was rising. Without that discovery, we humans would now be living like the proverbial frog in a pot of gradually heating water, unsure why the environment around us is changing, and slowly boiling to death. 

The human drive to overcome challenges is an essential aspect of the human drive to explore, which, in most cases, spurs innovation. Early human submersibles that reached the bottom of the deepest ocean trenches(海沟) made the trip just once, stressed by the enormous pressures there. But eventually a more stress-resistant deep–submergence vehicle, the Limiting Factor, allowed investor and undersea explorer Victor Vescovo to reach trench bottoms numerous times. Now there are roughly 4,000 autonomous Argo floats across the world's oceans that dive down to 2,000 feet and resurface every 10 days. The Argo group will also deploy(部署) dozens of sensors every year that will gather biological and chemical data, leading to new observations about marine life.

Ocean research groups also have made it a priority to openly share their discoveries and data with the public and to inspire the next generation of young scientists. Anyone can go along for the ride — we can all be explorers. Maybe one day you'll explore the Great Barrier Reef, the desert, or a rain-forest canopy(树冠).

Captain James T. Kirk began each episode of the original Star Trek television series by saying, "Space, the final frontier(前沿). " Not necessarily. We still have plenty to discover right here on Earth, and we eagerly await surprises from the newest worlds we find.