Researchers in Switzerland found that wastewater and sewage sludge carry tiny traces of precious metals every year. Across the country, they estimated about 43 kg of gold and 3,000 kg of silver in a year. These tiny bits mostly come from industries that use precious metals, like watchmaking, electronics, and gold refining. It sounds like hidden treasure, but in most places the metal is spread out so thinly that recovering it would cost more than it is worth.

-L.F.

“I swam in shit and I turned out fine. No, things should never improve. I am very clever.”