[yor_on]

So we already have 'cyber wars'. What's missing is the real thing. We usually 'export' those wars to other places, don't we?

[yor_on]

And this sounds like a fitting joke.  " Boris Johnson must be “muscular” in reshaping the economy to bring about a green recovery from the coronavirus crisis, former prime minister David Cameron has said, calling for an active policy of industrial intervention. "

Leaders advising leaders.

[yor_on]

I don't think this matter for the situation.

That " Amnesty International has stripped the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny of his "prisoner of conscience" status after it says it was "bombarded" with complaints highlighting xenophobic comments that he has made in the past and not renounced. "

If you needed to be a saint before becoming a whistle blower there would be none. And Amnesty didn't need to put that label on him in the first place, did they? To me it becomes a smoke screen hiding the real issue.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56181084

[yor_on]

Heh, I keep talking about us being good at 'trolley choices' and dead ends. Believing that 'game theory' is what counts.  This one is quite revealing, isn't it? Of the way we try to make ourselves into machines motivated by some few variables. as greed, egoism and hubris.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210222-how-googles-hot-air-balloon-surprised-its-creators

[yor_on]

So what do you think? Do we stand a chance? Most of the knowledge base you have, and your instincts, are based on stuff we correct after the facts. That's not global warming. It's insidious, it's a death of thousand cuts. Some things we can correct, farming practices, backing off and let nature take its turn, one kid per person. Other things goes directly against the game we play. Changing your infra structures, sharing. allowing your wallets to shrink. Or getting a real democracy, a 'flat' platform for decisions.

It's a test of sorts.

[yor_on]

It depends on my mood I guess, how I look at it. But the facts are not positive anyway I want it to be.

[yor_on]

The facts are that we have made a lot of really bad decisions, in the name of 'progress' and profits. Ones that the developing world will use too, to get to the same 'standard of living'. In the name of progress we almost killed a planet.

[yor_on]

I think it's time for you to wake up

[yor_on]

“Who knows what other riches lie deep within Borneo’s fabled rainforests, especially in the Indonesian part of the island?”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/25/black-browed-babbler-found-in-borneo-180-years-after-last-sighting

Is it relevant? Doesn't species disappear to go extinct all the time?

Sure, they do. And with each one something disappear from the planet, something keeping it healthy. That bird doesn't mean a thing by itself if it was only it, but together with the rest it becomes a catastrophe. Not about the bird, about your chance to survive.

[yor_on]

Funny isn't it. How important beliefs and ideals are. Depending on your beliefs Mr Trump is a saint for justice, renewables becomes hogwash, your 'science' becomes one eyed, sustainability becomes communism. You can make this list as long as you want. It won't stop and with each generation there will be more to add.

[yor_on]

Earth doesn't have ideals and beliefs, although we can relate her to them. We call that sustainability.

[yor_on]

So are you stupid? Well, we was never a machine. That you hide that sort of dreams inside you doesn't make you one.

[yor_on]

I keep talking about batteries and how questionable the current concepts are.  https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210223-the-battery-invented-120-years-too-soon

It's interesting, if it will be true is another question.

[yor_on]

There are downsides to them. https://www.diyhomesteadprojects.com/top-5-issues-with-nickel-iron-nife-batteries/

The last issue mentioned is a question of demands, mass production, and falling prices though. That may change.

[yor_on]

But it brings us to another question, rare earths and rare metals. It's about geopolitics and what attitude we will bring to it. Collaborate and share, or control and fight for it. The same as we find with our current assets of oil, gas and coal. The fossil industry.

[yor_on]

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/g282/important-rare-earth-elements/

[yor_on]

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE57U02B20090831

and   "  Neodymium: Little Giant.  Once upon a time, there was no such thing as a convenient way to carry your favorite tunes along on a jog. Rare earth elements changed all that. The key is magnets. Those things are everywhere, from hard drives to headphones to anything that incorporates a small electric motor—basically, if there's a component that needs to spin, magnets are probably involved. Producing a strong magnetic field used to require a big, heavy magnet and, thus, led to big, heavy pieces of technology.

Then, in the late '70s, Sony introduced the Walkman, a (relatively) small, (relatively) portable music player. Why were they able to shrink the form factor? Magnets. Specifically, magnets made from the rare earth element samarium, which were smaller and stronger than anything then available. Today, the samarium-based magnets have largely been replaced by magnets made with neodymium, which are even smaller and even stronger. We have these magnets to thank for the miniaturization of gadgetry. But they're also responsible for making necessarily chunky tech lighter and cheaper—like the turbines that turn wind into electricity, and the drills that search for oil deep below the surface of the Earth.  "

[yor_on]

And it's trickier than you think. We can mine them depending on assets. China has a lot of them for example.

 "  The Chinese appear to be tightening their control over rare earth production. Crane points out that mining rights for the 17 rare earth metals would be restricted to state-controlled mining companies under a draft proposal submitted to China's cabinet. China also capped production levels for 2010, and imposed a moratorium on new mining licenses until next summer. "

Of course they do. It's the same with that as it is with Russia and its 'Natural Gas'. What they want to sell to Germany and the UK.

[yor_on]

Then we have recycling, or rather, we don't.

"Recycling of rare earths: a critical review"

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652612006932

[yor_on]

So how do you think a future based on rare earths and metals will look?