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CURATED CURIOSITIES
I stumbled over our metal detector in the garage the other day and realized it’s mined more dust than anything else 🤪 Dreams of hidden Spanish Treasure along Jupiter Beach translated into a backache (the thing is heavy!), and a few musty cans. Have I ever mined anything? Lots of earth from my cross country racing spikes for sure. And, definitely a few mole crabs for bait with my daughter. I think we can dig deeper…
“Beep, beep, beep”
Mining typically isn’t aesthetic. But, what if you did it with flowers? It turns out that the U.S. government is funding projects that use plants to mine useful metals from the soil. It’s possible because some plants soak up metal, like nickel, and concentrate it in their tissue. These plants are called hyperaccumulators, and, at this point there are 750 compatible species. Now the quest is on to figure out which works best and how to maximize phytomining.
(By the way, I write about mining for spy intel hidden in plants in “SolHuBod”. Check it out if you haven’t already!)
“Golden Opportunity” Photo Courtesy: MITTechnology Review
Asteroid mining is launching beyond the realms of sci-fi. NASA has a mission in progress that will visit the asteroid “Psyche” which contains $700 quintillion worth of gold. Contact won’t happen until 2029.
But, numerous start-ups are focusing on the metals on near-earth asteroids. AstroForge, based in Huntington Beach, has a fly-by mission set to launch in October. They’ve also raised 40 million dollars in funding for a third mission. In it they will attempt to dock to an asteroid (which is iron-rich), via magnets!
“Capitalizing on the Cosmos”
What is it about mining? It’s in tech. There’s crypto-mining for bitcoin.
It’s in recreation. There’s the world’s most popular video game, “Minecraft”, boasting 165 million active monthly users. (The movie is set for April!)
It’s in our shadows. Cobalt mining in the Congo exploits children as slave laborers. I read a harrowing account in Siddharth Kara’s “Cobalt Red”, (a Pulitzer Prize finalist for non-fiction).
Humans have innate desire to extract resources. Yet, I wonder if we should mine ourselves first? There are 10 octillion atoms within a human! And that’s only the concrete. What about our imagination, ideas, values, intention, our soul? What are we connected to?
TRIALS EXCAVATE OUR ESSENCE.”
In that sense, every challenge to our capacity is a character mining opportunity.
TODAY IS 9/11.
Raw courage and heart smoldered every bit as hot as the inferno of hate that manifested in the unparalled, terrorist destruction.
When you’re looking for people, you dig from the desperation of the soul. The fact that we still grieve so many years later, is forensic evidence of the unseen bond of love that continues beyond physical death. It speaks to eternity.
“Depth”
The Bible has so many stories about people digging for wells. Yet Jesus ultimately speaks of Himself as water. “Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way.”
Sadly, we can’t extinguish tragedy within these confines of time and space. BUT, I’m convinced we have everlasting resources in us, in others, and all around. We are designed to discover, connect, and persevere.
Sometimes our sufferings extract the most beautiful expressions of life. Mine thanks for contemplating with me! 💚
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