Britain and other Western countries risk running out of supplies of certain highly sought-after rare metals that are vital to a host of green technologies, amid growing evidence that China, which has a monopoly on global production, is set to choke off exports of valuable compounds.
Failure to secure alternative long-term sources of rare earth elements (REEs) would affect the manufacturing and development of low-carbon technology, which relies on the unique properties of the 17 metals to mass-produce eco-friendly innovations such as wind turbines and low-energy lightbulbs.
China, whose mines account for 97 per cent of global supplies, is trying to ensure that all raw REE materials are processed within its borders. During the past seven years it has reduced by 40 per cent the amount of rare earths available for export.
...Jack Lifton, an independent consultant and a world expert on REEs, said: "A real crunch is coming. In America, Britain and elsewhere we have not yet woken up to the fact that there is an urgent need to secure the supply of rare earths from sources outside China. China has gone from exporting 75 per cent of the raw ore it produces to shipping just 25 per cent, and it does not consider itself to be under any obligation to ensure supplies of rare earths to anyone but itself. There has been an effort in the West to set up new mines but these are five to 10 years away from significant production."
read more @ independent2. precious metals that could save the planet
Baotou was of little interest to the outside world for millennia. When one of the first visitors reached its walls in 1925, it was described as "a little husk of a town in a great hollow shell of mud ramparts". Some 84 years later, this once barren outpost of Inner Mongolia has been transformed into the powerhouse of China's dominance of the market in some of the globe's most sought-after minerals.
The Baotou Rare Earth Research Institute is home to some 400 scientists whose work has put China at the pinnacle of research into a group of 17 metals which sound as if they were dreamt up as poisons for superheroes – yttrium, promethium, europium – but whose unique properties make them indispensable to technologies worth trillions of pounds.
read more @ independent
3. deadly animal diseases poised to infect humans
The world is facing a growing threat from new diseases that are jumping the human-animal species barrier as a result of environmental disruption, global warming and the progressive urbanisation of the planet, scientists have warned.
At least 45 diseases that have passed from animals to humans have been reported to UN agencies in the last two decades, with the number expected to escalate in the coming years.
Dramatic changes to the environment are triggering major alterations to human disease patterns on a scale last seen during the industrial revolution. Montira Pongsiri, an environmental health scientist at the US Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, says that previous transitions in human history have had a devastating impact in terms of the spread of disease.
read more @ independent4. 90 day pandemic simulation
Simulation of a pandemic flu outbreak in the continental United States, initially introduced by the arrival of 10 infected individuals in Los Angeles.
The spatiotemporal dynamics of the prevalence (number of symptomatic cases at any point in time), is shown on a logarithmic color scale, from 1 or fewer (blue) to 100 or more (red) cases per 1,000 persons. Without mitigation strategies, the entire nation becomes infected within a few months.
Depending on the reproductive number R0, effective intervention strategies can be successful without resorting to economically damaging measures like school closure, quarantine, and work or travel restrictions.
This large-scale agent-based simulation involves 280 million people, and uses demographic and worker flow data at the Census tract level, as well as long-range travel statistics, to describe the geographic movement of people. In this simulation, long-range travel is assumed to occur at a lower-than-normal rate (10 percent) due to travel advisories, but with no other mitigation strategies the pandemic quickly spreads nationwide, peaking about 90 days after the initial introduction.
Blue: Few or none of the population is showing symptoms, more precisely 1 or fewer per 1000 persons.
Green: 50 per 1,000
Red: 100 or more cases per 1,000 persons
source: prevent disease
5. on the bright side: top 10 health research initiatives for 2010
Rather than pursuing a new year's resolution that may be destined for failure, why not establish educational initiatives for your health to expand your knowledge. By researching the most effective health strategies, you will not only optimize your health for 2010, but you will develop a framework for health exploration that will take you in directions you never imagined in the years to come.
In no specific order, here's a list of 10 of the most critical topics of research to optimize your health this year and beyond.
1) WATER - The quality of our water is becoming of great concern as toxins continue to increase worldwide infecting all municpial water systems. Without proper filtration, soon it will be nearly impossible to access clean water in any major city throughout the world. Most governments continue to inject chlorine, fluoride and many other harmful chemicals that equally and negatively affect drinking and bathing water. Only independent research on techniques to clean your own water will keep your body free of toxins. Moreover, water wars will likely replace oil wars in the future, so relocating near a natural water source may be a growing consideration.
water filtration, ceramic filters, tap water, pure drinking water, fluoride, reverse osmosis, carbon filters, distillation, structured water, bottled water
2) ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND WIRELESS RADIATION - The negative health effects of electromagnetic fields on biological tissue is very real although it remains highly controversial mostly due to the influence of the technology sector. However, virtually all scientists agree that more research is necessary to determine safe or dangerous levels. It's like one big human experiment which we won't know the results of for several decades. Now, with the increasing proliferation of wireless handheld and portable devices, it is literally impossible to escape EMFs in any major city.
The danger of magnetic, electric, wireless, radio (microwave), ground current, and high frequency radiation is that it is mostly invisible until great damage is done - like the increased risk of some brain tumors in long term cell phone users.
Research Terms:
electromagnetic fields, EMF, electromagnetic radiation, wireless radiation, cell phones, electrohypersensitivity, radiofrequency, RF, Radiofrequency radiation, electromagnetic radiation exposure, EMR.
read more @ prevent disease
No comments:
Post a Comment