POPULAR PRESS
COVID-19 Affects National Security in Novel Ways
The new coronavirus brings us smack up against the modern reality of a totally globalized and interconnected world — and strongly suggests the need for a globally coordinated response. John McLaughlin
What will the US defense industry do when China cuts off rare earth supplies?
China has spent decades building the supply chains for rare earths and other critical materials into a weapon aimed directly at U.S. supply chains…The Chinese strategy is based on a harsh calculus: Depriving only defense contractors of rare earth supplies will drive costs and production lead times up for the U.S. military and cause concern within the U.S. government, but it will not lead to widespread public discontent. Jeffery A Green
The Dystopian Lake Filled by the World’s Tech Lust
Rare earth minerals have played a key role in the transformation and explosive growth of China’s world-beating economy over the last few decades. It’s clear from visiting Baotou that it’s had a huge, transformative impact on the city too. As the centre of this 21st Century gold-rush, Baotou feels very much like a frontier town. Tim Maughan
NBC News Investigates Child Labor & Unsafe Conditions in Mica Mining Industry
Mica is the name applied to a group of minerals that form in layers at once flexible and strong. A longtime staple of the cosmetics industry, mica is known for adding sparkle to makeup products and paints. But it’s also prized in the electronics and automotive worlds due to its ability to transmit electric force without overheating, even under extreme temperatures. NBC News reports from the Mica mines of Madagascar, where child labor and unsafe working conditions are the norm. NBC News
Questions Loom around Sustainability of Cobalt Sourcing in the Congo
The demand for cobalt continues to grow as companies worldwide keep innovating. Despite the efforts of many organizations to put an end to child labor and unsafe conditions in Congolese cobalt mines, these issues persist. Industry experts expect to see 2020 demand reach 120,000 tons per year. In February 2018, cobalt prices were more than 150 percent higher than the previous year. The Washington Post
ELECTROMOBILITY
If you don’t drive an electric vehicle (EV) yet, you probably will soon. With more and more automakers going green, producing new EVs that promise greater performance and increased driving range, your next truck, sports car or crossover sport utility vehicle, is likely to be electric. But there’s a catch to this bold new world of EVs.
Energy Critical Elements
A number of chemical elements that were once laboratory curiosities now figure prominently in new technologies like wind turbines, solar energy collectors, and electric cars. If widely deployed, such inventions have the capacity to transform how we produce, transmit, store, or conserve energy. To meet U.S. energy needs and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, novel energy systems must be scaled from laboratory, to demonstration, to widespread deployment. American Physics Society
A New Kind of Gold Rush
What’s in your stuff? Most of us give no thought to the materials that make modern life possible. Yet technologies such as smartphones, electric vehicles, large screen TVs and green energy generation depend on a range of chemical elements that most people have never heard of. Until the late 20th century, many were regarded as mere curiosities – but now they are essential. In fact, a mobile phone contains over a third of the elements in the periodic table. World Economic Forum