Mining precious metals is expensive and environmentally destructive. As an alternative, researchers are increasingly eyeing recycling old smartphones, computers and other electronics.
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Articles on Rare metals
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Cobalt is a critical component in the production of batteries, smartphones, jet engines and electric vehicles. Yet miners who risk their lives digging it up receive almost none of the profits.
Between reuse and recycling, what happens to the batteries of electric vehicles?
Canada could become a global leader in the supply of materials needed for renewable energy systems if it finds ways to control the environmental footprints associated with their extraction.
Electronic waste is accumulating and is a resource to be exploited. Microfluidic devices allow the development of recycling, including the recycling of rare earths – a precious resource.
Exploration of ancient magma chambers in fossil volcanoes has the potential to provide new sources of metals that will facilitate environmentally friendly technologies.
Gold can be used to make jewelry, but also to fight cancer. Several clinical trials are currently underway in the United States where patients are being treated with gold nanoparticles.
The most sustainable phone is the one you already own. But if you’re in the market for a new handset, consider choosing one with replaceable parts to avoid having to replace the whole thing again.
Primate populations are declining around the world. The great apes are in danger of disappearing, and that bears a great risk for humanity itself.
iPhones, Boeing 787s, Teslas and a whole host of other technologies all rely on rare metals – so much so that a new era beckons.
Top contributors
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Senior Lecturer, Industrial Design, UNSW Sydney
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Doctoral Candidate in Responsible Mining, University of Exeter
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Senior Programme Manager Pact Mines to Markets, University of Exeter
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Primatologue, Maitre de Conférence du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle au Musée de l'Homme et Vice-President de la Société Francophone de Primatologie (SFDP), Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)
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Professeur de ESPCI Paris, Chaire AXA imagerie biomédicale, membre de l'Institut Langevin, spécialiste de l'interaction onde-matière, ESPCI Paris
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Research Fellow, University of St Andrews
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Chercheur sur le stockage de l’énergie dans les transports, Université Gustave Eiffel
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Professor of Geology, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews
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Research Fellow Geology, University of St Andrews
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Directeur de Recherche au CEA (IRAMIS/NIMBE de Saclay) et Professeur invité à NTU/ERI@N (Singapour), Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)
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EY Distinguished Scholar in Global Mining Futures, University of British Columbia
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Professor and Head of Department of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia
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Associate Professor, Rock Mechanics, University of British Columbia
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Professor of Natural Resources and Development, University of Bath
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Associate professor in Ecological Transition and Social Entrepreneurship, EM Lyon Business School
