Vida Enigmática

"Who speaks for Earth?"

Who speaks for Earth?

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Is a ‘circular’ electronics industry possible?

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I think one of the biggest problems that humanity will face in the not–too–distant future is a lack of synthetic biodegradeable semiconductors.

Okay, so I’ve put that thought out there into cyberspace and now I suppose I should explain it. Why do I think this is going to be such a problem?

As we are all too much aware, human civilisation is fast becoming dependent on technology. You might say that the 1st world is already highly dependent on technology. And a big part of current technology includes electronics devices. Electronics drive everything from robots to computers. Without electronics, we go back to the analogue era. I’m sure that I don’t even need to explain that any further, do I? Without electronics, we’re screwed.

So earlier this year, I asked two questions on Quora:

  1. What are the main semiconductor compounds used today?
  2. What elements are used in the manufacturing of circuit boards and electronic components for consumer electronic devices?

It doesn’t make any sense to totally rely on something that we can only make in limited quantities, yet we are doing just that. Because the trouble is this: the way in which we produce electronic devices today is completely unsustainable. We mine the Earth for new minerals and the only element we recover from all of our electronic waste is gold (well, okay, we do sometimes also recycle lead and copper). But what about recycling all of the other elements that are used in electronic components?

Are we recycling tantalum? No. Are we recycling indium? No. Are we recycling gallium? No. Are we recycling arsenic? No. Are we recycling cadmium? No. Are we recycling selenium? No. Are we recycling tellurium? No. Are we recycling germanium? No. Are we recycling samarium? No. Are we recycling neodymium? No. Are we recycling niobium? No. Are we recycling antimony? No.

[Read more…]

Why do not more people care?

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Or do they just not know what to do?

What I personally find unbelievable, incredulous in fact, is most people’s indifference to what is happening to this world. Are people merely in denial or do they simply not care about what is going on?

I think we’re getting to the stage where the environment should be getting top priority in all the media outlets, not the lowest priority. Citizens of this planet should be very concerned. They should be talking about it more. Because the problems won’t go away by themselves.

So this ex-scientist repeats:
Without biodiversity, not only will we stand less chance of long-term survival (I’m talking about the centuries and millennia to come), but it won’t even be as an enjoyable world to live in… less natural wonders to look at and be inspired by and less choice of food.

What is wrong with Australian society today?

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I’m going to do this in point form because we are doing so many things wrong it isn’t funny. I think we can teach third world countries what not to do:

  • When someone is born, we say ‘congratulations’. For what? Contributing to overpopulation? For having ‘successful’ sex? For doing what every single one of our ancestors has done for the last few million years?
    How about congratulating people for not having kids? For breaking our genetic programming? Eh?
  • We give frequent flyer points to people for travelling more. We then reward those people producing more carbon emissions.
  • We cut down forests and then build coal mines in their place. We then send the protesters to jail.
  • We drive to work and then visit a gymnasium afterwards to exercise. Inside the gymnasium, we use machines that, instead of using the energy derived from our own motion, plug into electric sockets instead (powered by yet more coal).
  • We make houses with TRIANGULAR roof shapes and then put SQUARE solar panels on top of them.
  • We only vote once every four years, so unfortunately we contribute tax payments to governments schemes and government-approved projects that we haven’t even voted for.
  • We are trying to be more ‘sustainable’ society, but unfortunately many Australians secretly think that Australian indigenous Aborigines are ‘lazy’ when they are really experts in ‘sustainability’.
  • We encourage our younger generation to be hooked on consumerism by giving them mini trollies in hardware stores, supermarkets and shopping centres.
  • We put profit above all else, including the environment and our own health and sense of wellbeing.
  • We try to make second-world countries more like us when we should really learn to be more like them (because they are way more sustainable than us)

What this angry scientist has to say about climate change:

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Here I go again… why am I angry? Do scientists even get angry? Yes. Yes they do. Well I am angry. Very fucken angry!

I‘m angry at politicians in the mainstream parties. Because they aren’t doing enough to mitigate an environmental catastrophe. Most politicians today only care about one thing: money. The economy. Whoop-de-doo.

Scientists, if you remember from highschool, are the clever people. They are the nerdy ones with poor social skills. You’d think most countries would be run by the smartest of individuals. Are they? No. See, I think that’s where we’re going wrong. Our countries are run by politicians.

Likewise, I am angry at climate change deniers. Because they are now claiming that “climate change is a government conspiracy” (right, well if that is true it has to be the dumbest conspiracy theory I have ever heard, because the governments are the ones who support burning coal for fuck’s sake!).

Actually, I lie. Half of it is worry, not anger. For example, what’s actually worrying is that some people think an average temperature increase of a couple of degrees in only a few decades is at all “natural”. What’s worrying is that some people still don’t seem to grasp the concept of “rate of change”. I have seen on LinkedIn that the biggest climate change deniers are frequently either working for oil companies, have a vested interest in contruction, or are simply “uneducated fools”.

I find some people’s responses to climate change infuriating. Scientists are (mostly) a VERY clever bunch of people. If climate scientists are ringing alarm bells and making videos like this one, it’s enough to make me pay attention and completely change my lifestyle.

Right. I’ll say that again, but in a different way, because it bears repeating. Because I know that people skim read things. When the leading climate scientist, James Hansen, says (back in 2012 mind you) that “we have a climate emergency“, well, it’s enough to make me sell my vehicle. It’s enough to make me think up a new career choice, about how I can make the world a better place for future generations to come…

In science, we have to have a kind of ‘faith’ too. Scientists have faith in other scientists. We mutually respect each others’ fields of expertise. If I were to say, as a materials scientist, that magnesium has a hexagonal close packed atomic structure, I would hope the other scientists would give me the benefit of the doubt about that. And that is how the whole science community works. Things are checked and rechecked. Publications are reviewed. These people are working on these problems their whole lives. [Read more…]

Who am I going to vote for in Australia?

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A friendly reminder to both labor and liberal parties: without the environment, there IS no economy.

The world is changing and I think politics needs to change along with it. I think both labour and liberal are great at doing one thing: stalling.Maintaining the status quo. That’s it.

“The big risk in this election is that we would end up with an unstable, chaotic, Labor-Greens minority Government as we’ve seen before.”

Actually, I think the really big risk is that we’ll end up with a chaotic planet. I’m sure most people don’t care, but I’ll be voting for the GREENS. Because the price of labor/liberal winning –forever– is simply too great now.

The planet does not care whether or not liberal or labor is in power. Science does not care about politicians and the way they play their games. Atoms do not care. Reactions and interactions and natural forces simply do not care. And what I mean by that is that the consequences of not changing fast enough will happen —whether labor is in power or liberal.

This world is fast getting beyond the point where the green parties could make a difference… even if they won many elections all over the place.

I hate to be all doom & gloom and everthing, but my analogy is that I suppose it doesn’t really matter who is or was driving the car when the accident happens.

I think we need to hand over the control to more people that actually know what they are doing and can think longer-term. I think prevention is better than cure. That’s why I’m voting for Greens.