Copper

Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Builders Were Poisoned by Copper, Study Suggests

It's unclear if residents living in the shadows of the Giza pyramids suffered health effects, but the finding offers a glimpse into how they lived.

Human History Adam Kovac Aug 27

Step Inside the Wondrous World That’s Inspiring Hayao Miyazaki’s Final Film

Genzaburō Yoshino’s Japanese classic How Do You Live? gets its first English translation ahead of Miyazaki's upcoming adaptation, and io9 has an exclusive peek.

Books & Comics Cheryl Eddy Jul 29

Image: NIH Image Gallery/Wikimedia Commons

Scientists Find Unusual Form of Iron and Copper in Brains of Alzheimer’s Patients

The metallic traces could help explain how Alzheimer's disease damages the brain.

Health Ed Cara Jun 9

47,000 Detroit Students Can’t Drink Their School Water Because of Lead and Copper

Plenty of schools are back in session starting next week, but roughly 47,000 students in Detroit’s public schools won’t be able to turn on their water fountains. The city’s public school district announced Wednesday it’d be shutting off drinking water in its 106 schools after tests showed high levels of lead and copper in drinking…

Environmental Justice Yessenia Funes Aug 31

India Halts a Copper Smelter Expansion After Police Kill 13 Protestors [Updated]

Apparently, police needed to kill 11 people before the Indian courts could take appropriate action to halt the expansion of a copper smelter in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, along the southeastern coast of India. The Madras High Court, the highest court in the state of Tamil Nadu, ruled Wednesday that ongoing construction of a second unit…

Environmental Justice Yessenia Funes May 23

Ötzi the Iceman’s Axe Came From Surprisingly Far Away

Ötzi the Iceman—our favorite Copper Age corpsicle—is the gift that keeps on giving. A recent analysis of the metal found in the Neolithic hunter’s copper axe suggests a point of origin in Southern Tuscany, which is far from where Ötzi’s frozen body was found. This suggests a long-distance trade route might have existed between central…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jul 7

This 3,000-Year-Old Copper Mask Is Rewriting South American History

A square-shaped copper mask pulled from a tomb in the southern Andes is resetting our notions of where and when sophisticated metallurgy first appeared in pre-Hispanic South America. Archaeological evidence suggests that metallurgy in pre-Columbian America first appeared in the Andes, with Peru being the likely point of origin. But as a new study published…

Tech News George Dvorsky Jun 8

Watch a Photocopier Somehow Get Transformed Into a Trumpet

There’s about five pounds of salvageable copper inside your typical photocopier (mostly in the power supply and the motor’s copper windings). Copper, that can be mixed with zinc to create brass. Brass, that can be shaped out to make a trumpet. It’s the circle of life! Check out the improbable journey that is a photocopier…

Sploid Casey Chan Jun 10

Here’s Molten Copper Actually Cooking a Steak

There’s a moment in this video after the molten copper is poured on top of the raw steak and after there’s been a little time for the copper to cool down and after the steak has cooked a little bit that it looks like the metal has completely engulfed the steak and casted a metal…

Sploid Casey Chan Jan 20

Pouring Molten Copper on Antifreeze Engine Coolant Is Pretty Spectacular

It’s basically the war of the worlds. Heaven and hell smashing themselves together. A song of ice and fire. It’s molten copper vs antifreeze engine coolant. That hot golden orange glow being poured onto the radioactive slimy green antifreeze. What happens? A lot! The antifreeze starts shooting out bolts as the burn from the molten…

Sploid Casey Chan Dec 29

What Happens When You Pour Molten Copper into a Coconut

Turns out, the hard shell of a coconut is really, really good at trapping the heat of the molten copper! Because once you fill up the little brown ball with the molten copper, it stays hot forever and brings everything to a boil. What do you get left with once it all cools down? This…

Sploid Casey Chan Dec 24

Copper Bedrails Could Dramatically Reduce Hospital Infections

When you check into a hospital your risk of infection rises, and research suggests a major source for these infections are the safety railings on hospital beds. Researchers in Santiago Chile think they have a solution: Replace the usual bedrails with copper ones, which have anti-microbial properties. Photo Credit: CopperBioHealth As NPR’s Hannah Bloch reports:…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Dec 18

What All the Metal From a Single Mine Would Look Like As a Giant Orb

Of all the ways humans have altered the Earth, mining must be one of the most awesome—just for the sheer ratio of Earth excavated to metals and gems recovered. Still, it’s hard to visualize just how much a single mine has netted in numbers, which is why For What It’s Worth is so interesting. This…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Aug 18

The Biggest Man-Made Hole on Earth

A few weeks ago, we looked at a photo essay on Mir Mine, a nearly mile-wide mine in Eastern Siberia that’s one of the largest man-made holes on Earth’s surface. It made us wonder: Where the largest hole ever made by humans? As it turns out, it’s right here in the United States. The land…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Jul 22

Make a silver crystal Christmas tree

Now that we’re closing in on Christmas, it might be time to do some arts and crafts. Leave the popcorn stringing to other people and pull out copper wire and some nice silver nitrate, so you can make a sparkling silver crystal Christmas tree. Silver nitrate is a fairly simple molecule. One silver atom is…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Dec 16

Whoa, Graphene Can Make Other Metals 500 Times Stronger

We’ve heard about plenty of promising electronic applications for miracle material graphene from headphones, to super-fast transistors, to crazy camera sensors, and even solar-powered paint. But now scientists have found a way to leverage its raw strength, by using it to make metal up to 500 times stronger. https://gizmodo.com/scientists-have-made-graphene-earphones-and-theyre-ama-5990520 By taking a thin film of…

Tech News Eric Limer Aug 28

The High Price of Copper

Lithium may store the power that drives out modern mobile world but it’s copper that delivers it. This malleable metal is a vital component in modern homes, electronics, and agriculture. But our reliance on copper comes at a steep price, both economically and environmentally. Copper is quite the miracle metal. It readily conducts electricity (second…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Jul 16

Surprisingly beautiful photographs of decaying cans of human remains

In a warehouse at the Oregon State Hospital (originally called the Oregon State Insane Asylum) contains an unusual library, one comprised not of books, but of copper canisters of unclaimed human remains. Photographer David Maisel has photographed what is left of the deteriorating portions of the asylum, as well as the people whose cremated bodies…

io9 Lauren Davis Jun 8

Your Alchemy Project for the Weekend

It always pleases me when I find science projects that I haven’t done yet. This one, which allows people to use a couple of kitchen ingredients and a few pennies to make copper plating, seems especially promising. Just a little vinegar and you can feel like an old-fashioned alchemist. Isn’t it nice when something that…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell May 24

Glowing pennies prove that the ’80s were the last great decade

With a little work, you can make a penny glow – but only if it was minted before 1982. What was the big change in 1982 that ruined the trick forever? The answer will make you want to hoard your pre-Reagan Era pennies now, because this glowing penny trick is awesome. So you want to…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 7

Copper

Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Builders Were Poisoned by Copper, Study Suggests

Step Inside the Wondrous World That’s Inspiring Hayao Miyazaki’s Final Film

Scientists Find Unusual Form of Iron and Copper in Brains of Alzheimer’s Patients

47,000 Detroit Students Can’t Drink Their School Water Because of Lead and Copper

India Halts a Copper Smelter Expansion After Police Kill 13 Protestors [Updated]

Ötzi the Iceman’s Axe Came From Surprisingly Far Away

This 3,000-Year-Old Copper Mask Is Rewriting South American History

Watch a Photocopier Somehow Get Transformed Into a Trumpet

Here’s Molten Copper Actually Cooking a Steak

Pouring Molten Copper on Antifreeze Engine Coolant Is Pretty Spectacular

What Happens When You Pour Molten Copper into a Coconut

Copper Bedrails Could Dramatically Reduce Hospital Infections

What All the Metal From a Single Mine Would Look Like As a Giant Orb

The Biggest Man-Made Hole on Earth

Make a silver crystal Christmas tree

Whoa, Graphene Can Make Other Metals 500 Times Stronger

The High Price of Copper

Surprisingly beautiful photographs of decaying cans of human remains

Your Alchemy Project for the Weekend

Glowing pennies prove that the ’80s were the last great decade

‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ Jumps to Big Opening Weekend

Artemis 2 Day 6: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Bose SoundLink Micro Speaker (2nd Gen) Reopens Below Black Friday Pricing, Big Sound in a Tiny Package at a Tinier Price

Skip the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Apple’s Entry-Level iPad (A16) Hits Its Lowest Price on Amazon

‘Maul: Shadow Lord’ Is a Fine Prequel to a Great TV Show

Apple App Store Experiences Surge in New Apps Amid Vibe Coding Boom

Report Says Software Engineer Job Listings Are Up 30% This Year

Microsoft Says You’re Not Supposed to Take Copilot’s Advice Seriously

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Let us help find what you are looking for...