Doug Johnson

Doug Johnson

Science Correspondent

dcj.arstechnica@gmail.com

Doug Johnson is a Canadian writer, editor, and journalist, who focuses on science, tech and the environment. His words have appeared in Ars Technica, Undark, National Geographic, New Scientist, and Hakai Magazine, among others. A poor skater, a terrible runner, and a middling cyclist, his cardiovascular health leaves much to be desired. He is, however, great at Monster hunter and a fun, if disorganized, DM.

Recent stories by Doug Johnson

A yellow background with a bar magnet in the foreground, with the magnetic north painted red, and the magnetic south pained blue.

Breaking down rare earth element magnets for recycling

New method extracts desirable elements from waste magnets using less energy and acid.

Doug Johnson – 10/20/2025 | 48

A man on a boat holding a large fish caught on a hook.

North Sea cod are getting smaller—can we reverse that?

Fishing wreaks havoc on North Sea cod evolution; long-term planning can help.

Doug Johnson – 3/19/2023 | 109

Image of a large pile of greyish stone.

Meeting the Inflation Reduction Act’s EV battery requirements will be hard

Some EV battery thresholds achievable—if US allies are way, way too generous

Doug Johnson – 3/9/2023 | 81

Exotic bacteria species show promise as rare-earth element recyclers

Researchers think they’ve found the ideal bacteria to recover wasted elements.

Doug Johnson – 3/2/2023 | 25

Image of neurons glowing blue against a black background

Is the future of computing biological?

Human brains have a leg up on computers—so what’s the next logical step?

Doug Johnson – 3/1/2023 | 114

Image of an artificial island shaped like a palm tree.

The coastline is at risk from rising seas, and we’re making more of it

Satellite imagery shows how much urban coastlines have changed in 20 years.

Doug Johnson – 2/17/2023 | 80

Image of blue birds with speech bubbles.

Twitter ditches free access to data, potentially hindering research

For the low, low price of $100/month, you can have basic access to Twitter’s API.

Doug Johnson – 2/10/2023 | 120

image of a yellow and blue butterfly perched on a plant.

Won’t somebody please think of the insects?!

Global protected areas safeguard many plants and animals, but insects? Not so much.

Doug Johnson – 2/1/2023 | 56

Image of a sea otter floating with its pup.

By learning to hunt otters, wolves decimate a deer population

On an Alaskan island, wolves adapted to hunt an unexpected aquatic prey.

Doug Johnson – 1/26/2023 | 138

Image of a white plastic trash can with the lid open.

Bin, app, and subscription combo pledges a cleaner kitchen, environment

Food waste is a big problem in the US. Is a Wi-Fi-equipped trash can a solution?

Doug Johnson – 1/17/2023 | 154

Image of a large hydroelectric dam and power lines.

Sedimentation threatens to steal capacity from nearly 50,000 dams

Study shows the world’s dams could lose up to 28 percent of storage by 2050.

Doug Johnson – 1/12/2023 | 69

Gene therapy has made some recent progress—is it enough?

Despite a bumpy history, through work and trust, gene therapy may have a future.

Doug Johnson – 1/5/2023 | 58

Image of a field filled with different species of flower.

NatureMetrics launches biodiversity platform based on environmental DNA

Service can help businesses monitor their impact on biodiversity.

Doug Johnson – 12/28/2022 | 12

Image of a field filled with different species of flower.

Nations agree to preserve 30 percent of nature by 2030

Here’s a quick rundown of what came from this year’s biodiversity conference.

Doug Johnson – 12/20/2022 | 75

Image of a deep-sea jellyfish against a black backdrop.

The deep sea is an unexpected, but at-risk, trove of biodiversity

The UN biodiversity conference reminds us how little we know of the deep ocean.

Doug Johnson – 12/20/2022 | 27

Image of a four-legged robot with a blender on its back.

Robots will roam a university to study “a socio-technical problem”

Robots will wander a Texas campus so researchers can study human-robot relations.

Doug Johnson – 11/11/2022 | 44

Image of a city skyline partially obscured by pollution.

US embassies may have accidentally improved air quality

Cities where US embassies installed air monitors saw improved air quality.

Doug Johnson – 10/28/2022 | 78

Image of a rusty ship hull tilted over on its side in the water.

After 80 years, a Nazi shipwreck is causing environmental damage

Study of one wreck supports the idea that its 50,000 peers may leak pollutants.

Doug Johnson – 10/19/2022 | 111

Why countries run or walk toward a fossil-free world

Research looks at the factors behind how fast countries move toward renewables.

Doug Johnson – 10/10/2022 | 159

Gas flaring at an oil refinery

A glaring error in methane flaring

Three million cars’ worth of emissions could be cut by addressing inefficiency.

Doug Johnson – 9/29/2022 | 113

Solar + batteries at home can provide backup power during disasters

Hurricanes, other disasters can knock out your power—solar can help, study shows.

Doug Johnson – 9/29/2022 | 228

Image of a row of batteries, each a different color.

Report pushes ‘big-tent’ approach for the future of batteries

Beyond lithium: Report weighs strengths, weaknesses of alternative battery types

Doug Johnson – 9/26/2022 | 111

Image of a house with solar panels

New tech can make your house a solar microgrid

New version of support hardware can keep homes solar-powered during outages.

Doug Johnson – 9/22/2022 | 223

Image of people standing in front of a mountain lake.

Climate change is turning up the heat on lakes

Climate change is wreaking havoc on the planet’s 117 million lakes.

Doug Johnson – 7/25/2022 | 91

Image of the earth with a blue area over Antarctica.

Past environmental threats didn’t just disappear

It’s disturbingly common for people to say solved problems were never problems.

Doug Johnson – 7/22/2022 | 172

Image of waste drums and an industrial facility next to a river.

Waste from thousands of old industrial sites may be released by floods

During a flood, old pollution is more likely to impact low-income communities.

Doug Johnson – 7/7/2022 | 59

Image of a polar bear on floating ice

Unexpected polar bear population may offer some hope for the species

The remote place these bears call home could offer refuge as sea ice dwindles.

Doug Johnson – 6/21/2022 | 56

Solar and wind keep getting cheaper as the field becomes smarter

Every time solar and wind output doubles, the cost gets cheaper and cheaper.

Doug Johnson – 6/3/2022 | 121

Image of a hummingbird in flight near a flower.

Humming birds suffer if they move uphill to escape the warming climate

Heights hinder hummingbird hovering—this could be bad news as the Earth warms.

Doug Johnson – 5/27/2022 | 40

Citizen scientists help discover more than 1,000 new asteroids

Crowdsourced project unearths more than 1,000 asteroids in 37,000 Hubble images.

Doug Johnson – 5/16/2022 | 45

Image of two animals swimming.

All’s not lost for the vaquita—even though its gene pool is shallow

The world’s smallest porpoise can rebound, but each death decreases the odds.

Doug Johnson – 5/6/2022 | 44

Image of a pile of DVDs

Discs vs. data: Are we helping the environment by streaming?

The number of caveats has only grown since the last few studies were done.

Doug Johnson – 5/4/2022 | 130

Image of a website that has a specific category for selling rare insects.

Online retailers are offering rare, endangered bugs

As insects decline globally, there’s a need for regulating their sale online.

Doug Johnson – 5/2/2022 | 42

Image of a dam with lots of exposed concrete above the water line.

It’s not just Glen Canyon—dams around the Southwest are taking a hit

Hydro power is decreasing as climate change hangs the Southwestern US out to dry.

Doug Johnson – 4/6/2022 | 200

Increased smoke pollution on the horizon for Pacific Northwest

If we do nothing, parts of the US will see a tripling in wildfire smoke pollution.

Doug Johnson – 4/1/2022 | 99

Image of a fruit fly.

“Evolution can occur really, really rapidly”

Researchers detect genetic changes in response to seasonal change.

Doug Johnson – 3/21/2022 | 133