Greenland minerals, Arctic geopolitics, junk DNA and weight-loss drugs: New Scientist on Arctic security, genome mysteries and obesity

Overview

In this episode, New Scientist examines why Greenland is drawing strong US interest from a national security and economic security perspective, including its mineral riches and the logistical hurdles to exploit them in a changing Arctic.

Additional science topics

The program also explores the junk DNA debate through a plant-human hybrid study that suggests much of the genome may be read as background noise, and reports on what happens when people stop GLP-1 weight loss drugs, including how quickly weight can be regained. Fiber and sleep are discussed as potential links, with caveats about causality.

Expert voices

Experts from Denmark and Antarctica weigh in on Greenland’s future, and the episode highlights broader climate impacts like sea-level rise and ice melt over coming decades.

Introduction

This episode from New Scientist’s The World, the Universe and Us surveys Greenland’s renewed importance to the United States, not only for strategic reasons but also for its potential mineral wealth and future Arctic shipping routes opened by melting sea ice. It also broadens the discussion to climate science and global security in a rapidly changing region.

Greenland and US Strategy

The discussion notes President Trump’s 2025 remarks about Greenland for economic security and shifts toward a national security framing in 2026. A US base on the island is discussed in the context of missile detection and integrated response, with the broader aim of maintaining influence as Arctic dynamics evolve. Anna Merrill of Aalborg University explains that Greenland’s strategic value is tied to a fast-changing Arctic and the involvement of other powers such as Russia and China, rather than a simple take-over of territory. The segment emphasizes sovereignty, long-term stability, and the evolving geopolitics of the region.

Minerals, Infrastructure, and Economics

The podcast surveys the mineral potential in Greenland, including iron, copper, zinc, gold, uranium and rare earth elements. It stresses Greenland’s vast size, limited exploration, and the enormous infrastructure challenges required to extract and export ore. Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist at the Danish Meteorological Institute, highlights the lack of roads, permafrost realities, and ice melt that complicate mining and processing, with the processing of rare earths currently dominated by China. The takeaway is that even if mining were pursued, it would be a decades-to-centuries project with substantial environmental and logistical risks, not a quick windfall.

The piece also raises the policy and governance questions around resource development in Greenland and emphasizes that any large-scale extraction would require European and American capacity building in processing and environmental safeguards.

Climate Context and Sea Level

Polar Portal data are cited to quantify Greenland ice loss, noting that 2024-25 marked considerable mass loss and that the ice sheet has contributed to rising sea levels. Projections suggest continued contribution to sea level rise through the 21st century, with potential tipping points depending on climate trajectories. The discussion situates Greenland within a broader climate crisis and notes that even a good year for ice loss remains a challenging reality.

Freedom Cities and Sovereignty

A segment on Praxis, a startup linked to high-profile investors, discusses the idea of a network city or freedom city in Greenland, including the provocative terminus concept. Anna Merrill contextualizes these proposals as speculative and stresses Greenland’s political and legal frameworks, self-determination, and the risk of treating Greenland as a testing ground for private governance. The interview frames sovereignty and social responsibility as central to any future experimentation in governance on the island.

Dark DNA and Junk DNA Debate

Shifting to a genetics topic, the program covers the dark DNA controversy. A New Zealand study creates human plant hybrid cells and uses a random genome project approach to test whether non-coding DNA is mostly noise or holds functional potential. The results suggest that much of non-coding DNA displays activity consistent with noise rather than essential function, challenging Encode style conclusions and reinforcing the view that much of the genome may be wasteful or evolutionary baggage. The discussion also touches on the evolutionary implications of junk DNA and the idea that noise can sometimes contribute to evolutionary innovation through de novo gene formation.

Weight Loss Drugs and Sleep

The episode closes with two health stories. First, fiber intake is linked to improved sleep patterns in a large review of observational studies, while causality remains to be proven. Second, a synthesis of trials shows that stopping GLP-1 weight loss medications often leads to weight regain within about 1.7 years, suggesting that ongoing treatment may be necessary for durable weight management in some patients and that obesity remains a long-term medical condition requiring sustained management. The host draws a connective thread between metabolic health, sleep, and long-term treatment strategies.

Conclusion

Across Greenland geopolitics, resource potential, climate science, genome biology, and public health, the program emphasizes complexity, long timelines, sovereignty, and the need for careful governance in science and policy. The episode invites viewers to consider how scientific knowledge intersects with policy, technology, and society in the Arctic and beyond.