The Dead Sea is a place of mystery: the lowest surface on earth, the purported sites of Sodom and Gomorrah, a supposed font of curative waters and, despite its name, a treasure trove of unusual microbial life. Yet its future is anything but a mystery. After centuries of stability – owing to a delicate equilibrium between freshwater supply from the Jordan River and evaporation under the relentless Middle Eastern sun – the sea is now disappearing. Jordanians to the east, Israelis to the west and Syrians and Lebanese to the north are pumping so much freshwater from the river catchment that almost none reaches the sea. Israel and Jordan are also siphoning water from the Dead Sea to extract valuable minerals, hastening the decline. Thousands of sinkholes have formed in the receding sea’s wake, curtailing tourism and development along the border because no one can predict where the next gaping hole will suddenly open, potentially swallowing buildings, roads or people. Concerned over losing a valuable natural and cultural resource, officials from Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authorities have proposed an enormous conveyor system that would steadily refill the Dead Sea with water from the Red Sea to the south. Scientists are testing how the mixing of the waters might affect the lake’s chemistry and biology.