The Elements of Innovation Discovered

Articles written by Matthew Lasley


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  • Deep Space asteroid mining University of Adelaide flow mineral process

    Space miners may need to go with the flow

    Matthew Lasley, For Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    It is no secret that over the last couple of decades, mining in Australia has increased to the point that it is a world-class provider of resources and the technologies to extract them. Fields once thought played out have been revived through a better understanding of mineral exploration and extraction. One of the leading innovators in Australia is the University of Adelaide, which has consistently ranked in the top 1% of schools worldwide for academics, innovation, and resear...

  • Swiss researchers create 18 carat gold polymer light gold foam

    Swiss scientists create lightweight gold

    Matthew Lasley, For Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    If you have ever gone jewelry shopping, one of the first things that you notice when you pick up a gold ring or necklace, is its weight. Your brain is tuned to gravity and the weight of gold is noticeable, after all, it is nearly nineteen times heavier than water. Over the last decade, researchers have been looking for a way to make gold "lighter" in order to create lighter devices that often use gold in their circuitry. About five years ago, researches in Switzerland struck...

  • NASA moon orbiter discovers iron titanium metals for lunar base development

    NASA probe identifies shallow moon metals

    Matthew Lasley, For Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    As NASA continues to prepare for mankind to set foot on the moon again in 2024, nearly fifty years after the last Apollo mission, unmanned missions continue to reveal more about our closest neighbor and its potential for habitation and resource development. Despite six successful Apollo moon landing missions, very little of the surface has been explored close up and our knowledge of the moon is limited. To put into perspective the amount of the surface of the moon mankind has...

  • Mining equipment excavator sunset dystopian apocalypse resources reserves

    Is a metals shortage apocalypse coming?

    Matthew Lasley, For Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    Over the last few decades, as technology has advanced and metal resources have been consumed, there have been predictions that we will use up our reserves of metals, especially those critical to modern technology, within the next couple of decades. What then? Do we prepare for an upcoming dystopian apocalypse in which mineral resources are only consumed by the super-rich while the rest of the world goes back to the dark ages? The short answer is no. We aren't going to be...

  • Antibacterial silver prevent spread of diseases such as coronavirus MRSA flu

    Silver bullet for COVID-19, other monsters

    Matthew Lasley, For Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 2, 2022

    If your buddy is bitten by a werewolf or vampire and infected, myth, legends and pop culture say the cure is silver. Whether it is a silver bullet through the heart or skin searing silver to keep your vampire at bay, silver is the answer to most of your supernatural ailments. But what about the more mundane? And how did silver become the hero of mythology? The fact is, silver has been used for thousands of years in medicine. While it has only been recently that we understand...

  • Hydrothermal black smoker vent in ocean emits metal laden sulfide fluids

    Mining goes 20,000 leagues under the sea

    Matthew Lasley, For Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 2, 2022

    Reminiscent of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a small submersible scours the inky depths of the ocean, not in search of seams of coal, but towering spires created by thermal vents. The remotely operated sub's lights splash across the cluster of vents that spew mineral rich plumes of super-heated water from deep in the earth into the chill of the ocean depths. The ROV moves into position, its clawed arm reaching out and breaking off a sample of mineral rich rock...

  • Silver used for black and white photography

    Illustrious past, bright future for silver

    Matthew Lasley, For Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 1, 2022

    When you think of silver, you probably think of coins, jewelry and grandma's special silverware. For over five thousand years, that has been the primary use of silver. Silver was one of the first metals ever mined by man, though it is rarely found in native form, it is often a byproduct of copper smelting. Being shiny, soft and malleable, it was ideal for hammering out into thin strips that could be used in decoration. Silver has one drawback, it oxidizes and tarnishes. Silver...

  • Hayabusa 2 Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Ryugu asteroid type-C

    Hayabusa 2 to drop asteroid samples soon

    Matthew Lasley, For Metal Tech News|Updated Dec 1, 2020

    Are we there yet? With only about 1.4 million miles to go, the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is about to finish its primary mission that has carried it over 3.25 billion miles so far! Even though it reached the near-earth asteroid Ryugu, a mere 7.5 million miles away as the space crow flies, and retrieved samples to return, the overall success of the mission depends on whether it can safely return those samples to Earth. Unlike its predecessor, Hayabusa 1, which burned up on reentry,...

  • Silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic

    Matthew Lasley, For Metal Tech News|Updated Jun 27, 2020

    Over the last couple of months, as the world has gone into lockdown in an effort to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a few amazing things. First, we have seen the resilience of nature. Secondly, if you live in a metropolitan area, you are probably seeing truly blue sky over your city for the first in a very long time. NASA photographs as well as those on social media have shown how prevalent air pollution is over our metropolitan communities and how it...

  • Space asteroid mining precious critical tech metals

    Space, the final frontier for mining

    Matthew Lasley, For Metal Tech News|Updated Jun 27, 2020

    Space, the final frontier... No, this isn't the opening credits of Star Trek; though that would be appropriate. Since man has set himself among the stars, he has wondered at the possibilities and the riches it might have. In 1967, during the Space Race when no one was sure who would get to the moon first, the United Nations passed a resolution stating that no country could claim ownership of the moon. In 1969, the United States landed on the moon, planted a flag, and took...