Science

As a child growing up in the early 1990s, I remember learning in school about the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels traps heat near the Earth’s surface, like the glass of a greenhouse. I imagined myself on the playground, roasting inside a humid hothouse.

Gold miners have been moonlighting as paleontologists in the permafrost of Canada’s Yukon Territory. With over 5,000 fossils discovered annually by miners carving through the frozen earth, finding fully intact remains from tens of thousands of years ago is becoming almost commonplace.

Fossil teeth are quite abundant in Southwest Florida. Ed Reschke/Getty Images Shark teeth are often considered the most common vertebrate fossils in the world, and for good reason. Each individual shark has rows upon rows of chompers that fall out and get replaced in conveyor belt-like fashion.

You have full access to this article via your institution. On 22 and 23 September, world leaders will meet in New York City at an unusual Summit of the Future. Devised by United Nations secretary-general António Guterres, the meeting aims to bolster global efforts to build a better world.

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED By the time Louise Tilley got to the blood sample, it had already been puzzling scientists for more than 30 years.

When I first spoke with space entrepreneurs Jose Acain and Matt Gialich a little more than two years ago, I wondered whether I would ever talk to them again.

The Industrial Revolution brought us the laws of thermodynamics, and new ideas about work, energy and efficiency. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz speaks with theoretical physicist Nicole Yunger Halpern about what these concepts might mean in the age of quantum mechanics.

Nickel may not grow on trees—but there’s a chance it could someday be mined using plants. Many plant species naturally soak up metal and concentrate it in their tissues, and new funding will support research on how to use that trait for plant-based mining, or phytomining. 

Alone Tyrannosaurus rex sniffs the humid Cretaceous air, scenting a herd of Triceratops grazing beyond the tree line. As the predator scans the floodplain, its vision suddenly snaps into focus. A single Triceratops has broken off from the herd and wandered within striking distance.

Scientists just realized five years of work on a surprising physics topic: mayonnaise, an example of a “soft solid” that may hold the key to stabilizing nuclear fusion reactions.