Geologists have found a huge deposit of rare earth elements in Afghanistan. There is enough there to supply the earth's needs for 10 years says Robert Tucker, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist who is the lead author on a report about the findings released on September 14.
There are many chemicals such as lanthanum, cerium and neodymium 1 million metric tons are known of at this point, these chemicals can be used to make explosives.
This discovery ranks Afghanistan in the top ten of the countries that have these elements. China is first and has the biggest export in this area in the world, currently holding 97% of the worlds supply. U.S. reserves are around 12 million metric tons.
Mr. Tucker was flown in, with a team of geologists, he arrived in black hawk helicopters with high security soldiers. He said that it was quite an experience looking for these elements in 14 pounds of protective gear. The deposit was near the border of Pakistan in a war zone.
This discovery is the most important part of the USGS's 2000 page report of the mineral deposit in Afghanistan. the deposit is valued at $420 million dollars, the report will be was delivered on September 29, 2011 to the Afghanistan embassy in Washington D.C.
On the second excursion to the site they learned that one of the minerals was ore, a canary yellow very rare element. The value of this element alone is thought to be 7.4 billion dollars.
The geologists will unfortunately not be able to make any more investigations because the USGS's funds have run out, so the deposit will remain untouched.
1. Do you think that the elements should be tapped, considering that they could be used for violence?
2. Would you go to the site, even if it was in a war zone?
Friday, September 30, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Super Power Spiders!
Summary
We have all seen spider webs – on the trails we walk on or in the corner of our bedrooms catching flies and other insects. Author Rachel Ehrenberg writes about the other known and possible uses of animal silk. The material insects use to spin webs or create cocoons is called silk.
Silk from insects like spider or silkworms is extremely strong and natural. Researchers are looking into ways to use natural silk for additional uses. Bulletproof vests and parachute cords are two possible ways. But the silk could also be used inside our body – to protect cells, like bone or nerve cells while they regrow and repair themselves.
Spider silk is so valuable that scientists are trying to find additional ways to produce it – like altering the DNA of a goad so that it produces silk proteins in it’s milk. I suppose that this would make it a lot easier to harvest than getting it from the spiders.
I think this is a really interesting topic – but I think I would be nervous to let them plant silk producing spider genes into my body no matter what the possible positives are!
Read the article and see what you think for yourself.
Discussion Questions:
1. Can you think of additional ways that strong and stretchy fibers could be used to help us on the outside of our body?
2. If the science was mastered – do you think you would use silk fibres to help your body from the inside? Say it could help repair a broken bone?
We have all seen spider webs – on the trails we walk on or in the corner of our bedrooms catching flies and other insects. Author Rachel Ehrenberg writes about the other known and possible uses of animal silk. The material insects use to spin webs or create cocoons is called silk.
Silk from insects like spider or silkworms is extremely strong and natural. Researchers are looking into ways to use natural silk for additional uses. Bulletproof vests and parachute cords are two possible ways. But the silk could also be used inside our body – to protect cells, like bone or nerve cells while they regrow and repair themselves.
Spider silk is so valuable that scientists are trying to find additional ways to produce it – like altering the DNA of a goad so that it produces silk proteins in it’s milk. I suppose that this would make it a lot easier to harvest than getting it from the spiders.
I think this is a really interesting topic – but I think I would be nervous to let them plant silk producing spider genes into my body no matter what the possible positives are!
Read the article and see what you think for yourself.
Discussion Questions:
1. Can you think of additional ways that strong and stretchy fibers could be used to help us on the outside of our body?
2. If the science was mastered – do you think you would use silk fibres to help your body from the inside? Say it could help repair a broken bone?
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