Animals abandon deep-sea mining areas for over a year
14 July 2023
Fish, shrimp and other creatures were found in much lower numbers 13 months after a deep-sea mining test in the Pacific Ocean
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Premium
Tracing lithium's atomic signature could help make ethical batteries
26 July 2022
Lithium is used in batteries for smartphones, laptops and electric vehicles, but some mines have been accused of creating environmental and social problems. A way to trace the origin of the metal could ensure producers only use ethical sources
Rare earth elements for smartphones can be extracted from coal waste
9 February 2022
Recycling rare earth elements from the ash left over from coal burning is cheaper, easier and more environmentally friendly than digging them out of mines
Ants use soil physics to excavate metre-long tunnels that last decades
23 August 2021
3D X-ray imaging and computer simulations suggest ants have developed a behavioural algorithm that allows them to excavate tunnels by using soil physics – the technique could eventually be harnessed to develop robotic mining machines
Asteroid-munching microbes could mine materials from space rocks
10 November 2020
Some microbes break down rocks and leach certain elements out of them for nutrients, and experiments in space show they could be used for mining beyond Earth
Rare plant may prevent the first lithium quarry in the US from opening
14 August 2020
Tiehm’s buckwheat is an extremely rare plant that thrives in soil containing lithium and boron. Both elements are vital for renewable energy technologies, but mining for them will destroy most of the plant's habitat
The exquisite marble that sculptor Michelangelo couldn't use
15 November 2017
Workers at the Cervaiole quarry have supplied marble to Auguste Rodin and Henry Moore. But the beautiful rock was discovered 500 years ago by Michelangelo
Robotic underwater miners can go where humans can't
23 October 2017
This aquatic drone can crawl down abandoned pits to get the treasure that’s too dangerous for humans to reach, which may mean a future with fewer new mines
Sea snakes are turning black in response to industrial pollution
10 August 2017
Indo-Pacific sea snakes living in polluted waters near industrial areas have darker bodies – perhaps because pollutants bind better to their dark skin pigment
See the 'tuskers' hunting woolly mammoths in Siberian permafrost
19 July 2017
It's an entrepreneurial horse race in some of the poorest villages in Siberia, as "tuskers" hope to strike it rich by selling prehistoric ivory to Chinese buyers
