The minerals tech can't do without

Tech Life

BBC

Tech News, News, Technology

4.4 • 221 Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2024

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Does the tech you use depend too much on a few critical minerals ? When a hurricane temporarily disrupted mining in the small town of Spruce Pine, the tech world was concerned. We find out why the location, in North Carolina, USA, is so important, and discover where a range of rare manufacturing materials can be found across the globe. Are they critical links in a supply chain that can be broken by natural disasters or political decisions ?

Also on Tech Life this week:

An AI tool designed to protect athletes from online abuse during the Olympics - how well did it perform ? And what tech does an explorer take into the jungle ?

Presenter: Chris Vallance Producer: Tom Quinn

(Photo: An image of a human hand holding pure quartz crystals. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	On Radio 4, the more you listen, the more you see.
0:04.7	Hello, I'm Brian Cox.
0:05.6	And I'm Robin Ince, and this is The Infinite Monkey Cage.
0:08.3	In this series, we're going to have a planet off.
0:10.8	I feel like Jupiter wins.
0:12.8	And after all of that, we're just going to chill out a bit.
0:15.9	We're talking about your bog standard.
0:17.8	Ice, not the fancy one.
0:20.1	Science with funny bits.
0:21.9	The new series of The Infinite Monkey Cage.
0:24.1	Listen on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.
0:28.1	Welcome to TechLife from the BBC World Service,
0:31.2	the programme about technology and the changes it can bring to your life.
0:35.4	I'm Chris Valence, and this is tech too fragile. We're not
0:39.6	talking about smashed phone screens but whether the industry is over-reliant on a small number
0:45.0	of rare materials found in an equally small number of places on planet Earth, meaning critical
0:51.4	links in the supply chain can be broken by natural disasters or political decisions.
0:56.7	That's in a moment.
0:58.5	We find out if a new artificial intelligence tool designed to protect Olympic athletes from abuse earned a podium finish.
1:06.5	Real world action for online harm is important and critical.
1:09.4	We need to show that you cannot act with impunity online,
1:12.6	and that online violence is violence.
	...

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