October 1, 2024
by Building The World
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Geography is destiny, some observe. Timing accelerates the pace. And now, climate might be changing both. It is Mexico’s time? Mexico’s Isthmus of Tehuantepec, spanning the Pacific Ocean from Oaxaca to the Atlantic Gulf at Veracruz, has always fascinated visionaries … Continue reading
August 7, 2024
by Building The World
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This week marks the 79th year since the tragedy of nuclear warfare. Japan, only country to have experienced the effects of nuclear warfare, has always pledged non-participation in nuclear arms development. While the US has traditionally included Japan and South … Continue reading
July 10, 2024
by Building The World
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The International Seabed Authority (ISA) finance committee begins this week to build upon legal and technical committee recommendations regarding whether to allow robotic bulldozers to rip up the deep seabed in search of minerals and metals to power renewable energy … Continue reading
June 20, 2024
by Building The World
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Today is the solstice. It’s summer – in some parts of the world – perfect weather for enjoying a cold drink on a hot day. Chances are that beverage, and its glass, were brought to you by steam. Brewing craft … Continue reading
May 3, 2024
by Building The World
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It’s driving the electric vehicle and renewable energy revolution, but nickel has vexed miners and chemists since the earliest days. In fact, nickel got its name because of its difficult nature. Nickel – from German “Kupfernickel” or “Old Nick’s Copper.” … Continue reading
April 17, 2024
by Building The World
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International Energy Agency predicts 500% increase in demand for minerals like cobalt by 2050. Cobalt is generally associated with mining, and more than half of land-based global cobalt reserves are in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Kamoto mine … Continue reading
April 3, 2024
by Building The World
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Pipelines carry energy in a distribution system that is one of the most complex in the history of civilization. But the energy pipeline had humble beginnings. In 1821, William Hart of Fredonia, New York, saw something bubbling on the surface … Continue reading
March 8, 2024
by Building The World
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Just 3% of global land but holding 30% of its carbon, peatlands sequester more than all the world’s forests. Yet peatlands don’t often make news, and can go by many local names: bogs, fens, marshes, moors, swamps. By any name, … Continue reading
February 20, 2024
by Building The World
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Does life blush? Pink may be the color of nascent energy. Stanley Miller, in 1951, came to the University of Chicago to study with nuclear physicist Edward Teller who had worked on the Manhattan Project, and later established Lawrence … Continue reading
February 10, 2024
by Building The World
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Taylor Swift hopes to attend the Super Bowl in Las Vegas but must take a private jet from Japan where she is on tour. Her fans, “Swifties,” quip that the superstar’s flight finally forced a certain news network to actually … Continue reading