Rare Earth Frontiers

Author: Julie M. Klinger
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501714619
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 340

Book Description
"Rare Earth Frontiers is a timely text. As Klinger notes, rare earths are neither rare nor technically earths, but they are still widely believed to be both. Although her approach focuses on the human, or cultural, geography of rare earths mining, she does not ignore the geological occurrence of these mineral types, both on Earth and on the moon.... This volume is excellently organized, insightfully written, and extensively sourced."―Choice Drawing on ethnographic, archival, and interview data gathered in local languages and offering possible solutions to the problems it documents, this book examines the production of the rare earth frontier as a place, a concept, and a zone of contestation, sacrifice, and transformation. Rare Earth Frontiers is a work of human geography that serves to demystify the powerful elements that make possible the miniaturization of electronics, green energy and medical technologies, and essential telecommunications and defense systems. Julie Michelle Klinger draws attention to the fact that the rare earths we rely on most are as common as copper or lead, and this means the implications of their extraction are global. Klinger excavates the rich historical origins and ongoing ramifications of the quest to mine rare earths in ever more impossible places. Klinger writes about the devastating damage to lives and the environment caused by the exploitation of rare earths. She demonstrates in human terms how scarcity myths have been conscripted into diverse geopolitical campaigns that use rare earth mining as a pretext to capture spaces that have historically fallen beyond the grasp of centralized power. These include legally and logistically forbidding locations in the Amazon, Greenland, and Afghanistan, and on the Moon.

Rare Earth Frontiers

Author: Julie M. Klinger
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501714600
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 207

Book Description
Rare Earth Frontiers is a work of human geography that serves to demystify the powerful elements that make possible the miniaturization of electronics, green energy and medical technologies, and essential telecommunications and defense systems. Julie Michelle Klinger draws attention to the fact that the rare earths we rely on most are as common as copper or lead, and this means the implications of their extraction are global. Klinger excavates the rich historical origins and ongoing ramifications of the quest to mine rare earths in ever more impossible places. Klinger writes about the devastating damage to lives and the environment caused by the exploitation of rare earths. She demonstrates in human terms how scarcity myths have been conscripted into diverse geopolitical campaigns that use rare earth mining as a pretext to capture spaces that have historically fallen beyond the grasp of centralized power. These include legally and logistically forbidding locations in the Amazon, Greenland, and Afghanistan, and on the Moon. Drawing on ethnographic, archival, and interview data gathered in local languages and offering possible solutions to the problems it documents, this book examines the production of the rare earth frontier as a place, a concept, and a zone of contestation, sacrifice, and transformation.

Rare Earth Chemistry

Author: Rainer Pöttgen
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110653729
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 816

Book Description
This work introduces into the chemistry, materials science and technology of Rare Earth Elements. The chapters by experienced lecturers describe comprehensively the recent studies of their characteristics, properties and applications in functional materials. Due to the broad range of covered topics as hydrogen storage materials, LEDs or permanent magnets this work gives an up-to-date presentation of this fascinating research.

Frontiers in Geochemistry

Author: Russell Harmon
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444329979
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 573

Book Description
This book is a contribution to the International Year of Planet Earth arising from the 33rd International Geological Congress, held in Oslo, Norway during August 2008. The first section of the book considers aspects of geochemical processes which led to the development of the solid Earth as it is today. The second portion of the book shows how the rapidly-evolving analytical tools and approaches presently used by geochemists may be used to solve emerging environmental and other societal problems. This unique collection of reviews, with contributions from a range of internationally distinguished scientists, will be invaluable reading for advanced students and others interested in the central role geochemistry in the earth sciences.

Frontiers of Space Risk

Author: Richard J. Wilman
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1351742671
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Book Description
CHOICE Recommended Title, March 2019 This book brings together diverse new perspectives on current and emerging themes in space risk, covering both the threats to Earth-based activities arising from space events (natural and man-made), and those inherent in space activity itself. Drawing on the latest research, the opening chapters explore the dangers from asteroids and comets; the impact of space weather on critical technological infrastructure on the ground and in space; and the more uncertain threats posed by rare hazards further afield in the Milky Way. Contributors from a wide range of disciplines explore the nature of these risks and the appropriate engineering, financial, legal, and policy solutions to mitigate them. The coverage also includes an overview of the space insurance market; engineering and policy perspectives on space debris and the sustainability of the space environment. The discussion then examines the emerging threats from terrorist activity in space, a recognition that space is a domain of war, and the challenges to international cooperation in space governance from the nascent asteroid mining industry. Features: Discusses developments and risks relevant to the public and private sectors as access to the space environment expands Offers an interdisciplinary approach blending science, technology, and policy Presents a high-level international focus, with contributions from academics, policy makers, and commercial space consultants

Rare Earth

Author: Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783956791444
Category : Art, Modern
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Rare earth elements are the game-changing foundation of our most powerful innovationsmobile phones, iPods and iPads, liquid crystal displays, LEDs, light bulbs, CDs and DVDs. Often described as conflict materials due to the limited number of accessible mines, they are also integral to cyber-warfare weapon systems, medical technologies, hybrid vehicles, wind turbines, and green energy applications. Consequently, rare earth elements play an increasing role in global affairs and facilitate our changing self-image. Capturing some of todays emergent myths and identities, the well-designed exhibition catalog brings together 17 elementswork by 10 artists and 7 theorists including artists Camille Henrot, The Otolith Group, Ai Weiwei, sociologist and design theorist Benjamin H. Bratton, Finnish new media theorist Jussi Parikka and political theorist Jane Bennett, among others. An attempt to define the spirit of an age, Rare Earth explores how todays myths, identities, and cosmologies relate to current technology while challenging the rhetoric of immateriality.

Eternal Frontier

Author: James H. Schmitz
Publisher: Baen Publishing Enterprises
ISBN: 1618243454
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 845

Book Description
Ape Man, Space Man Earth's colonists have spread throughout the cosmos, and have almost divided into two separate species. One is the Swimmers, who have adapted to living in zero-gravity, and regard themselves as the next step in evolution, and those who prefer to live on the surface of a planet as little better than apes. The latter group, the Walkers, are not about to say farewell to the planets they grew up on, and think the Swimmers are not so much advanced as deranged. Crowell, born a Swimmer but now a Walker by choice, is caught in the middle as the two sides seem headed for war. Then he discovers the true cause of the altercation: a hidden alien race moving behind the scenes to provoke a war so that they can pick up the pieces after the two sides have obliterated each other. And if Crowell cannot head off the war and convince both sides of the existence of the real enemy, both branches of the human race may be headed for untimely extinction. This full-length novel and much more, fill a huge volume from the master of science fiction adventure. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). "Much has been made of the 'sense of wonder' that science fiction evokes, and believe me, there was nothing to evoke that sense quite like the worlds of James Schmitz. . . . Thank you, James Schmitz, wherever you are. And thank you, Eric Flint and Jim Baen, for bringing his Right Stuff back again." ¾Mercedes Lackey "Take my advice and buy TWO copies of this book! You'll want to lend it to friends and (trust me on this: I have years of experience to back up the observation) once people get their hands on a Schmitz book, they don't let go!" ¾ Janet Kagan, Hugo-winner and author of Uhura's Song

Molecular Metal-Metal Bonds

Author: Stephen T. Liddle
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 3527335412
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 590

Book Description
Systematically covering all the latest developments in the field, this is a comprehensive and handy introduction to metal-metal bonding. The chapters follow a uniform, coherent structure for a clear overview, allowing readers easy access to the information. The text covers such topics as synthesis, properties, structures, notable features, reactivity and examples of applications of the most important compounds in each group with metal-metal bonding throughout the periodic table. With its general remarks at the beginning of each chapter, this is a must-have reference for all molecular inorganic chemists, including PhD students and postdocs, as well as more experienced researchers.

Fluid Cracking Catalysts

Author: Mario L. Occelli
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9780824700799
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
Reviews recent accomplishments in the field of fluid cracking catalysts (FCC). Discusses the development of more specialized and effective catalysts and processes as well as the modification of current technology to meet future challenges in fuel refining. Written by nearly 50 internationally recognized experts from academia and industry.

The Ascent of Information

Author: Caleb Scharf
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0593087259
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 353

Book Description
“Full of fascinating insights drawn from an impressive range of disciplines, The Ascent of Information casts the familiar and the foreign in a dramatic new light.” —Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe Your information has a life of its own, and it’s using you to get what it wants. One of the most peculiar and possibly unique features of humans is the vast amount of information we carry outside our biological selves. But in our rush to build the infrastructure for the 20 quintillion bits we create every day, we’ve failed to ask exactly why we’re expending ever-increasing amounts of energy, resources, and human effort to maintain all this data. Drawing on deep ideas and frontier thinking in evolutionary biology, computer science, information theory, and astrobiology, Caleb Scharf argues that information is, in a very real sense, alive. All the data we create—all of our emails, tweets, selfies, A.I.-generated text and funny cat videos—amounts to an aggregate lifeform. It has goals and needs. It can control our behavior and influence our well-being. And it’s an organism that has evolved right alongside us. This symbiotic relationship with information offers a startling new lens for looking at the world. Data isn’t just something we produce; it’s the reason we exist. This powerful idea has the potential to upend the way we think about our technology, our role as humans, and the fundamental nature of life. The Ascent of Information offers a humbling vision of a universe built of and for information. Scharf explores how our relationship with data will affect our ongoing evolution as a species. Understanding this relationship will be crucial to preventing our data from becoming more of a burden than an asset, and to preserving the possibility of a human future.