Seeking Sustainable Fashion and Cracking a Greenland Mystery
Inside this double issue of SciAm, you’ll find black holes that burp up their stellar meals, metal detectorists that hit pay dirt, hope for psychopathy, the truth about testosterone and a consumer guide to sustainable clothes shopping
Scientific American, July/August 2025
Sometimes I joke with my husband that we don’t need therapists and other specialists because the solution to every woe of daily life boils down to mindfulness and being thoughtful in our actions. That same concept applies to sustainable fashion. In her striking feature, journalist Jessica Hullinger reveals just how many environmental issues plague the global fashion industry, with so-called fast fashion being an egregious source of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as harmful chemicals that leach from cheap, quickly discarded garments in landfills.
Fortunately, businesses and nonprofits are sprouting up to make garments more sustainable and to extend their lives through repairs and marketing that helps people “shop their closets.” For consumers, the answer could be mindfulness. Senior graphics editor Jen Christiansen worked with researchers to create a color-coded consumer guide. It breaks down the different parts of a garment’s life cycle and the fibers used in clothing production so you can make more informed choices.
For our cover feature, chief multimedia editor Jeffery DelViscio spent a month in the harsh, desolate and otherworldly icescape of Greenland, where researchers were trying to answer a seemingly simple question with global repercussions: Is the Greenland ice sheet more vulnerable to climate change than anyone knew? To find the answer, engineers and scientists drilled underneath a flowing ice tongue called the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS). If the entire Greenland ice sheet melted, a good portion of the resulting flood would drain through the NEGIS into the ocean, potentially raising global sea levels by 24 feet. By drilling through the bottom of the ice and grabbing a core of the bedrock below, the team could glimpse the place before it was covered in ice. Knowing what temperature supported such an ice-free past would tell us what conditions would be needed to do the same today. One of the researchers who has been studying the bedrock for years is worried: “I have, for the first time ever in my career, datasets that take my sleep away at night,” he told DelViscio.
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The awe and wonder of Greenland could be matched only by the darkness and mystery of black holes. Radio astronomer Yvette Cendes looks at the dining experiences of some of the biggest black holes at the centers of galaxies. For all their apparent tidiness, black holes are sloppy snackers. When they chow down on a star, the crumbs go flying. All that mess forms an accretion disk around the black hole that sends out radio light. Now physicists are discovering that many black holes suffer from indigestion and burp out some of their meal long after eating. This finding could explain some bizarre behavior seen near black holes.
Kids consistently baffle parents with their own flavor of bizarre behavior, some of which can be harmful. Children who are repeatedly aggressive and behave in callous and unemotional ways are at risk of developing psychopathy as adults. Although that seems scary, science writer Maia Szalavitz points out some hopeful interventions in her feature. One thing is certain: kids with these traits don’t respond to punishment. But new treatments designed specifically for these children can help them grow into thriving adults.
Adulthood can also be tough to navigate. For men of a certain age, testosterone replacement therapy has been touted as a way to boost muscle mass, energy and sex drive. Science journalist Stephanie Pappas gives readers a look at men’s experiences with prescribed testosterone supplements, how they fared and the science underlying any benefits and risks.
Anyone with a metal detector can find treasure if they know where to look. Perhaps nowhere is that truer than in Denmark. Science reporter Elizabeth Anne Brown writes that the Scandinavian country has embraced such hobbyists, who follow established rules and turn over more than 20,000 finds a year to government archaeologists. Find out about some of the fascinating discoveries made by these enthusiasts, who are anything but “amateur.”
