Matt Simon
WIRED
San Francisco, CA, United States
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Past articles by Matt:
The Climate Struggle Literally Hit Home in 2022
The Inflation Reduction Act and Europe’s energy crisis have focused attention on a stealthy tool to reduce emissions: the humble home. → Read More
Extreme Heat Is a Disease for Cities. Treat It That Way
The “urban heat island effect” creates extra-hot temperatures that kill. But cities can prescribe powerful treatments, like green spaces and reflective roofs. → Read More
Oceans Aren’t Just Warming—Their Soundscapes Are Transforming
Humans are polluting the seas with sound, while warming waters change how noise propagates. What does that mean for whales and other animals? → Read More
This Cheetah Robot Taught Itself How to Sprint in a Weird Way
Researchers got the machine to run nearly 13 feet per second. It ain't graceful, but this powerful technique is preparing robots for the chaos of the world. → Read More
Why You (and the Planet) Really Need a Heat Pump
Using a furnace is so 1922. In 2022, humanity has to massively ramp up adoption of clean ways to heat buildings. → Read More
It’s a Perfect Time for EVs. It’s a Terrible Time for EVs
Gas prices are up, commutes are back, and Russian oil is under sanction. Too bad the electric vehicle industry isn’t ready to seize the moment. → Read More
How a Plucky Robot Found Shackleton’s 'Endurance' Shipwreck
Over a century ago, two dozen men were stranded in Antarctica. Here’s how a robot dove 10,000 feet to glimpse their lost ship for the first time. → Read More
Serious, Salty Trouble Is Brewing Under Antarctic Glaciers
Alarming new research suggests warm seawater is rushing under the ice, perhaps doubling the rate of melting. → Read More
Huge Sponges Are Eating an Extinct Arctic Ecosystem
Thousands of years ago, hydrothermal vents fed worms deep below the ice. Scientists have found 300-year-old sponges feeding on the worms’ fossilized remains. → Read More
Humanity Has Turned Land Itself Into a Menace
All of our meddling has primed Earth to collapse under cities and belch greenhouse gases, a nasty feedback loop that’s accelerating global warming. → Read More
Your Rooftop Garden Could Be a Solar-Powered Working Farm
A new scientific field proposes an idea that could help generate food and energy while reducing a building's cooling costs. → Read More
The Cutest Way to Fight Climate Change? Send in the Otters
Saving California's adorable (and very hungry) sea otters helps control other species, leading to the growth of more carbon-sequestering vegetation. → Read More
The NYC Subway Wasn’t Built for 21st Century Storms
Deadly flooding in and around New York City dramatizes the risks to infrastructure that was wasn’t built to handle warmer, wetter climate. → Read More
New Orleans Was Already a 'Heat Island.' Then Ida Cut the Power
Urban areas soak up the sun’s energy, dramatically raising temperatures. In the hurricane’s aftermath, Louisiana is sweltering without AC. → Read More
So Hey Here’s a Tortoise Hunting and Eating a Baby Bird
How does one of the slowest animals on Earth manage to chase down a bird? Have a look for yourself. → Read More
Wildfires Used to Be Helpful. How Did They Get So Hellish?
Fires are supposed to reset ecosystems, paving the way for new growth. But human meddling and climate change have turned them into monsters. → Read More
Western wildfires are so intense they’re creating their own thunderclouds now
Huge pyrocumulonimbus clouds have formed over wildfires in the West. Here’s why they could become more common on a warmer planet. → Read More
Hungry Wild Pigs Are Worsening Climate Change
When the invasive swine root through soils around the world, they release as much carbon dioxide as a million cars. Good luck getting rid of them. → Read More
Oregon’s Buckled Roads and Melted Cables Are Warning Signs
Highways and rail lines in the Pacific Northwest were built for a cooler climate. But the heat wave proved that extreme weather is becoming more common. → Read More
A Space Laser Shows How Catastrophic Sea Level Rise Will Be
Scientists calculate that by 2100, over 400 million people could live in low-lying, at-risk areas—and that's a conservative estimate. → Read More