1 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:07,600 Our lives depend on a handful of natural resources. 2 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,040 But they're not the ones you think they are. 3 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:18,040 Forget oil, coal and gas. 4 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:23,560 Today, we depend on a new set of superelements 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:27,000 with obscure names like indium and rhenium. 6 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:34,040 Their properties are so bizarre, they may as well be alien technology. 7 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:35,720 There's not a scratch on it! 8 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:36,920 Hotter, hotter! 9 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:38,880 No problem whatsoever. 10 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,920 These superelements are driving innovation, 11 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:45,240 everything from smartphones to MRI scanners. 12 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:46,400 That's the magic stuff. 13 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:49,000 But there's a problem. 14 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:53,000 They're rare, and they're already running out. 15 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:00,480 The stuff that makes smartphones work could be gone in a decade. 16 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,400 The mineral we rely on to feed the world 17 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,400 is mostly found in just one country. 18 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:13,160 We are reaching the limits of what our planet can provide. 19 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:19,160 We can't rely on recycling to rescue us. 20 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:24,160 To fix the future, we might have to mine in space. 21 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:28,560 We'll be able to do it in the next 10 or 20 years. 22 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:30,880 So in my lifetime, we could be mining space? 23 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,640 So what are these superelements? 24 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,560 Why do we need them so badly? 25 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:39,880 And what can we do to save them? 26 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:50,480 JAUNTY MUSIC PLAYS 27 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:56,560 There is one object that contains more superelements than almost any other... 28 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:57,600 The smartphone. 29 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:00,520 A billion were sold last year. 30 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,480 They're our phones, our cameras, our sat navs, 31 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:09,080 our notebooks, our diaries. 32 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:11,840 You can watch a film on them, you can book a flight on them, 33 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:13,480 you can check your bank balance on them. 34 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:14,520 You can even... 35 00:02:15,640 --> 00:02:18,280 ..film a whole BBC documentary on them. 36 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:20,880 But for a material scientist like me, 37 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,840 it's what's inside these smartphones that's so impressive. 38 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,720 To prove just how good superelements have made our phones, 39 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:31,720 we're going to film this programme on one. 40 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,240 There's a lot of amazing stuff in a smartphone, 41 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,400 but I'm going to reveal what I think is the single most important 42 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:43,560 ingredient in our phones. 43 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,400 It's in every single smartphone, it's essential to how they work, 44 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,200 and yet I'll guarantee you've never heard of it. 45 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:58,440 First, I've got to get into one, and that's surprisingly difficult. 46 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,440 So I've equipped myself with a range of precision tools. 47 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,560 The question is, which one will get me inside the phone? 48 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:10,320 They're not really designed to be taken apart, though. 49 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,280 This, however, will really do the trick. 50 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:17,480 MUSIC: Ride Of The Valkyries by Wagner 51 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:25,560 Hmm. Quite slippery, these things. Hold on. 52 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:35,480 Now, there we go. 53 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:38,800 Microphone. 54 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:42,680 Look at all these little processors, 55 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:44,880 doing all the processing of your speech. 56 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:47,400 There's loads of different metals inside. 57 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,040 Silver, copper and platinum to start with. 58 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:52,440 But that's not all. 59 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:55,480 That's what I'm after there. 60 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:57,400 That's gold. 61 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:02,880 There's 300 times more gold in a kilo of smartphones than a kilo of gold ore. 62 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:09,040 Your average smartphone contains 63 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:11,880 over half the elements on the planet. 64 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,520 There's lithium and cobalt in the battery, 65 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:18,400 lanthanum and yttrium in the screen. 66 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,440 Terbium and dysprosium make the microphone. 67 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:24,280 There's even arsenic in the silicon chip. 68 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,760 Each element has a unique role to play, 69 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,040 making our phones slimmer, smarter and more powerful. 70 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,200 But one stands out from the rest. 71 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:42,880 A rare metal with a magical property. 72 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,160 To understand how critical it is, 73 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,160 cast your mind back to what phones used to look like. 74 00:04:53,280 --> 00:04:54,760 Bricks covered in buttons. 75 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:00,040 The phones got smaller and smarter, 76 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,440 and some of them could even connect to the internet. 77 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:08,760 But they still needed a keyboard, and that limited their powers. 78 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,360 Then some clever scientists discovered the superpowers 79 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:16,280 of an element called... 80 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:22,000 And here it is, indium. 81 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:25,960 Now, one of the tricks for understanding this metal is to have a bite 82 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:27,800 because it's so soft, you can chew it. 83 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:35,760 Mmm. Not a good substitute for chewing gum, 84 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,640 but nevertheless, an amazing thing. 85 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,640 But not as amazing as what I'm about to show you. 86 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:45,040 If I take indium and I do this, watch what happens. 87 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,200 Amazingly, it can turn into a liquid. 88 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:54,080 But that's just the start of 89 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,280 indium's weird and wonderful properties. 90 00:05:57,280 --> 00:05:59,760 Now, if I take this liquid and 91 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:02,640 paint a line on this piece of paper, 92 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,320 I've got a light bulb here, 93 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:07,760 and there's two wires connecting it 94 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:09,240 to this power source. 95 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:11,280 When there's a circuit, 96 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:12,920 the light comes on. 97 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:14,440 Now the question is, 98 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:16,920 will this liquid metal I've just 99 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:19,360 created conduct electricity? 100 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:20,400 And the answer is... 101 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:24,080 Yes! 102 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:27,560 Brilliant. 103 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:29,160 So we have a soft metal that 104 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,440 can turn into a liquid that conducts electricity. 105 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:34,120 Not bad. 106 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:36,720 But it has one more astonishing property. 107 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,320 The thing that makes it an absolutely vital part 108 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:43,280 of every smartphone. 109 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:47,560 Mix it with tin and oxygen, and you get indium tin oxide, 110 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,240 a transparent electrical conductor. 111 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:53,520 And that's how you make 112 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:54,640 the touch-screen. 113 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:02,200 They appear so simple, even a toddler can master them. 114 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:05,720 But touchscreens are revolutionary. 115 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:08,880 Before touchscreens, 116 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:12,040 it was hard for smartphones to be as complex as computers because you had 117 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,400 to fit lots of tiny buttons into a small space. 118 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:20,120 But with a touch-screen, your finger is a keyboard and a mouse in one. 119 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:22,080 And so the whole screen is able 120 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,760 to control something as complex as a computer. 121 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:26,480 And I can just scroll around like this... 122 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:28,760 The screen itself is a conductor, 123 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:31,320 and so is human skin. 124 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:32,600 It works like magic. 125 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:35,920 AUDIENCE CHEERS 126 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:40,000 Ten years ago, Apple exploited indium's incredible properties 127 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:44,200 to create the first touch-screen phone you could control with your finger. 128 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:46,600 And we are calling it... 129 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:49,080 ..iPhone. 130 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:53,560 The smartphone as we know it was born. 131 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:54,840 Today, Apple is... 132 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,320 An entire new industry was created. 133 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,040 But although the touch-screen had solved one problem, 134 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,720 it had created a new one. 135 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:11,560 Demand for indium soared. 136 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:14,440 And it's not that easy to get hold of. 137 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:24,840 In nature, indium is found tightly bound to other metals, 138 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:26,080 most commonly zinc. 139 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,400 To coax it out of zinc ore, you have to dissolve the rock in acid... 140 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,640 ..then bake the acid in a furnace, 141 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:42,080 then mix a precise cocktail of other chemicals to finally extract 142 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:44,280 a minuscule amount of pure indium. 143 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,440 Touch-screen technology has become critical to our economy. 144 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:01,600 The app industry alone earns more money than the Hollywood box office. 145 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:06,400 But if you do the maths, you find a problem. 146 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:11,800 There's only a tiny sprinkling of indium in every smartphone, 147 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:15,200 approximately 0.02g. 148 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,520 But we buy a billion smartphones a year. 149 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:20,760 That's a big number. 150 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:24,000 If we add in all the other uses of indium like tablets, 151 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:27,360 other flatscreen devices and all the other electronics that use indium, 152 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:33,240 we get a number of 700 tonnes of indium that we need every year. 153 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:34,600 But in 2008, 154 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,120 the US Geological Survey estimated 155 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,760 that there were 16,000 tonnes available. 156 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:45,040 Now, if that was right, at the rate of 700 tonnes per year, 157 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:47,680 we would be running out of indium in the next decade. 158 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:58,760 Then again, maybe not, because as it gets scarce, the price goes up, 159 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:02,080 and that encourages companies to go out looking for more. 160 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:06,320 The problem is, that takes time. 161 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,560 And it's a bottleneck that could be the stuff of nightmares. 162 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:18,560 Imagine young people of the future unable to have phones. 163 00:10:18,560 --> 00:10:19,600 Unthinkable! 164 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:23,320 JAUNTY MUSIC PLAYS 165 00:10:27,680 --> 00:10:30,880 Indium isn't the only element that has superpowers. 166 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:36,560 In fact, I think we're living through a revolution. 167 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:39,880 We're uncovering the superpowers of 168 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:43,440 ever more rare and unusual ingredients. 169 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:46,520 And they have changed virtually all aspects of our lives. 170 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,320 They've even helped make our holidays more affordable. 171 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:59,000 The first time I went on a flight, it was 1977. 172 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:00,840 I was eight years old. 173 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:02,360 I was with my family. 174 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:05,560 We were on holiday to the Greek island of Crete. 175 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:06,600 It was great. 176 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:11,400 It was the first time I experienced a really genuinely sunny beach holiday. 177 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:14,000 But the flights cost my parents a small fortune. 178 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:17,080 I mean, flying anywhere in those days was really expensive. 179 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:21,200 Now, I can fly to Crete for less than the cost of a tank of petrol. 180 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:25,920 Lots of factors have contributed to cheaper air travel - 181 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:29,200 changes in government taxes, more competition between airlines, 182 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,240 but a big part of it is down to this material, rhenium. 183 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:35,040 I know it looks really dull, 184 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:38,360 but it's one of the rarest and most expensive elements on the planet. 185 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:40,720 This piece alone is worth £100. 186 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:46,240 Rhenium is a relatively recent addition to the periodic table. 187 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:49,840 It was discovered in 1925 188 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:52,960 by the brilliant German chemist, Ida Noddack. 189 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:59,840 The new element was incredibly tough and durable, 190 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:03,600 but it also had a superpower that would one day lead to 191 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:05,680 cheaper air travel for all of us. 192 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:09,160 To demonstrate what rhenium can do, 193 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:12,600 I've invited a group of volunteers to bring an object that's very precious 194 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:16,560 to them up to the roof of this tall building. 195 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:18,440 Oh, right. Now, tell me about this ring. 196 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:21,400 That's from New York in Tiffany's. 197 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:23,800 - Whoa! - Yeah. - Did someone special give it to you? 198 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:26,160 - Yeah, her dad. - Oh! 199 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:30,200 I'm going to dangle the ring off the roof over the water 200 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:33,000 and then burn the wire with a blowtorch. 201 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,000 - Are you getting nervous about this ring? - Yeah! 202 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:36,040 But I'm doing it. 203 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:38,440 Five storeys up. 204 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:45,360 It's going red hot. 205 00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:47,920 Getting white hot. 206 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:49,120 Carrie, stop it! 207 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:51,680 Carrie, stop him! 208 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:53,760 Carrie! Stop him. 209 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:57,120 Oh, my God. No problem whatsoever! 210 00:12:58,240 --> 00:12:59,680 Isn't that amazing? 211 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:03,000 Rhenium's superpower is heat resistance. 212 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,160 This stuff is phenomenal. 213 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:12,680 You could plunge it into molten steel and it wouldn't melt. 214 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,600 You could chuck it into a volcano and pull it out unscathed. 215 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:24,160 It's like alien technology. 216 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,080 And its powers haven't gone unnoticed. 217 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:35,200 Over 70% of the rhenium mined each year is used to make jet engines. 218 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:42,040 Much of it ends up in Derby at the home of Rolls-Royce. 219 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:46,080 PIANO MUSIC PLAYS 220 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:52,320 They make the most hi-tech aircraft engines in the world. 221 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:03,120 And at the heart of each engine lies a disc of small, 222 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,000 but extraordinary turbine blades. 223 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:12,720 This little blade has to withstand extreme temperature and stress, 224 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:15,600 and no ordinary metal is up to the job. 225 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:19,520 It's made of a special alloy with over ten different elements. 226 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:23,600 But one of those is named in the industry as magic dust, 227 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:24,960 and that's rhenium. 228 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,520 Aircraft engines work by sucking in air, 229 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:37,040 compressing it and then exploding it with fuel to create a ferocious gas jet. 230 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:46,600 The jet hits the disc of turbine blades head-on, 231 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:48,720 heating them to over 1,000 degrees 232 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,800 and spinning them at 10,000 revolutions per minute. 233 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:00,560 The blades turn the compressors, generating thrust. 234 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:08,880 No ordinary material could withstand such an extreme environment. 235 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:13,560 But the turbine blades take these conditions in their stride. 236 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:22,000 Rhenium's astonishing properties allow engines to 237 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,840 operate at extremely high temperatures. 238 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:29,240 And that means you get maximum thrust from minimum fuel. 239 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:37,240 Rhenium saves each plane millions of pounds per year in fuel, 240 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,720 and some of that saving filters down to us. 241 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:48,680 Fuel efficiency is one of the main reasons why flights are cheaper today than when I was a kid. 242 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:52,840 Rhenium has helped cut emissions and make flights more affordable. 243 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:54,520 It's not a dull, boring metal. 244 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:58,040 Its superhero properties make it extremely precious. 245 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:02,920 So where do we get this material with such extraordinary properties? 246 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:04,040 The rubbish. 247 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:08,520 More precisely, it's a waste product from copper mining. 248 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:10,280 They used to just chuck it away. 249 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:16,960 Chile has most of the world's copper, 250 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,640 so they also produce most of the world's rhenium. 251 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:23,160 But it's such a rare element, 252 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:25,080 a tonne of copper ore contains just 253 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:26,880 half a gram of rhenium. 254 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:33,160 All the rhenium mined in a year would fit in your living room. 255 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,160 By exploiting rhenium's superpowers, 256 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:46,760 planes burn less fuel, 257 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:49,360 and that's better for us and the planet. 258 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,840 But by solving one problem, we've created another. 259 00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:58,760 We've got used to cheaper air travel. 260 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:00,680 We love it! 261 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:04,080 As the price falls, demand rises. 262 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:06,960 So although our planes are fuel-efficient, 263 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:09,600 we're still burning a lot of fuel. 264 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,800 And no matter how advanced we make our jet engines, 265 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:16,040 they rely on an ancient principle... 266 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:21,520 ..burning fuel to release energy. 267 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:27,720 Our cave-dwelling ancestors first learned how to exploit fire, 268 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:30,680 and we've been burning stuff ever since... 269 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:40,080 More and more and more of it to meet our energy needs. 270 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:43,240 It's polluting and it's causing climate change. 271 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:50,440 If there's one process that's desperately in need of a superelement, 272 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:52,040 it's the production of energy. 273 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,600 The answer could lie in magnets. 274 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:05,800 Not just any magnets - magnets made from a superelement. 275 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,600 To demonstrate their phenomenal strength, 276 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:15,200 I need some volunteers and an audience. 277 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,600 So I've taken over a corner at the At-Bristol Science Centre. 278 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,920 I'm going to see if I can amaze them with my supermagnets. 279 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,040 First up, an ordinary magnet. 280 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:33,720 I need a volunteer to do a tug-of-war with me. 281 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:36,280 - What's your name? - Brianna. - Brianna, nice to meet you. 282 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:37,960 Put on your fridge, a fridge magnet. 283 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:40,120 Ready? 284 00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:43,720 AUDIENCE: Three, two, one! 285 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:45,720 OK. No problem. 286 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:48,040 The special neodymium magnet. 287 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:51,400 Next, a magnet made from a superelement. 288 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:53,920 - AUDIENCE: One! - Come on, Brianna. 289 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:55,840 Yes! 290 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:57,640 No chance. 291 00:18:57,640 --> 00:18:59,800 That's one strong magnet! How strong though? 292 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:03,080 Now the ultimate test - will it hold my weight? 293 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:04,120 What do you think? 294 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:12,520 Pull your feet! 295 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:14,400 OK. 296 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:15,480 AUDIENCE: Yay! 297 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:16,600 Whoa! 298 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:18,760 AUDIENCE LAUGHS 299 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,800 I've reached the limit of the little magnet's strength. 300 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:23,440 That was your fault, you guys! 301 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,440 'But if we use larger supermagnets...' 302 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:29,920 They're like a wild animal in this box. 303 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:32,640 '..we can even defy gravity.' 304 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:34,760 Oh, yeah, that's a good idea. Your hand... 305 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:36,720 AUDIENCE: Ooh! 306 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:37,880 And how are we doing? 307 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:40,760 You're levitating, man! 308 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:42,960 How does that feel? Yeah! 309 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:44,320 AUDIENCE APPLAUDS 310 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:49,000 The superelement in these magnets is called... 311 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:50,840 Neodymium. 312 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:56,320 It makes the strongest permanent magnets known. 313 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:02,480 And if you're wondering what this all has to do with generating electricity, 314 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:03,520 it's simple. 315 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:10,400 If you spin a magnet inside a coil of wire, 316 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:12,040 you generate an electric current. 317 00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:15,960 Michael Faraday first discovered this in 1831. 318 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:25,920 And ever since, we've been burning stuff to drive the turbines that 319 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:27,600 make the magnets spin. 320 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:34,680 Oil, coal, gas, you name it. 321 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,960 To try to reduce the amount of stuff we burn, 322 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:40,760 we've come up with new ways to spin the magnets. 323 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:44,040 Like wind turbines. 324 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:51,160 This is the UK's largest onshore wind farm. 325 00:20:53,360 --> 00:21:00,320 The 215 turbines generate enough electricity to power 300,000 homes. 326 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,920 But keeping the mighty blades turning can be a problem. 327 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,360 These complex machines are prone to breaking down. 328 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:18,200 We're out here, it's wild and the weather can be extreme. 329 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:20,080 It's quite extreme today! 330 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:24,120 And having a simple thing that you don't need to come out and repair, 331 00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:26,840 - that is a big deal, right? - That's right. 332 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:31,800 As you know, we're increasingly putting our wind turbines offshore. 333 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,040 So where we can make things more reliable, 334 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:37,520 where we can stop things from failing in the first place, 335 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:40,880 it means we don't need to stop the turbines to go and fix them. 336 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:46,600 The weakest link is the gearbox. 337 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:53,880 A complex set of cogs that steps up the slow rotational speed of the blades 338 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:57,120 so it's fast enough to generate maximum electricity. 339 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:05,040 The gearbox has to be replaced more frequently than any other part of the turbine. 340 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:11,240 So how are new materials revolutionising the design of turbines? 341 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:12,560 So, in that generator... 342 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,640 ..we're now starting to use some of the neodymium magnets. 343 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:21,360 And those are magnets which are really compact, 344 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:24,240 dense sources of the magnetic field. 345 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,960 They're able to produce the field in a compact way. 346 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:31,520 They're able to do it in an efficient way and they're actually... 347 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:33,160 which is really important, 348 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,360 they're able to do it in a really reliable way. 349 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:41,360 Neodymium magnets are so powerful that they can generate an enormous 350 00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:45,160 electrical current even at slow rotational speeds. 351 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:49,560 This means the turbine blades can drive the generator directly. 352 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:52,120 There's no need for a gearbox. 353 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:56,080 The turbine is more efficient and less prone to breakdown. 354 00:22:57,120 --> 00:22:59,360 I've got this neodymium magnet here. 355 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:01,120 So what we're saying is that in the future, 356 00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:04,400 wind turbines will have a big hunk of this up there, right? 357 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:05,920 In fact, quite a few hunks. 358 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:11,160 A big wind turbine might use 100 of these in just one part of the machine. 359 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:17,400 Wind turbines create clean energy without the need to burn stuff. 360 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:24,240 But once again, solving one problem leads to another. 361 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:25,640 It's not always windy, 362 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:29,400 so we need a way to store surplus energy from the windy days. 363 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:34,200 The answer could lie in another superelement... 364 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:36,200 Lithium. 365 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:39,720 This is lithium. 366 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:41,840 First discovered in 1817, 367 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:44,200 it's the third element of the periodic table 368 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:45,960 and it has unique electrochemical 369 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,720 properties that make it great for batteries. 370 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:53,240 And when it comes to energy storage, this stuff is a game-changer. 371 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:54,960 ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS 372 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:03,520 In the Nevada desert, 373 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:08,760 construction of the world's largest factory is nearing completion. 374 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:11,040 It will make just one thing - 375 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,920 lithium batteries for Tesla electric cars. 376 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:21,600 Lithium is light, 377 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:25,120 so you can make a powerful battery that doesn't weigh a tonne. 378 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:33,560 The same technology is now being developed to store energy from renewable power plants. 379 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,040 It could solve our energy crisis. 380 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:41,600 But it's a potential new bottleneck... 381 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,960 ..because we're going to need an awful lot of lithium. 382 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:50,480 THUNDERCLAP 383 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:57,440 Half of the world's lithium is found in just one place... 384 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:01,720 ..the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia. 385 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:07,480 The problem is getting it out. 386 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:12,800 Mining here is politically and environmentally controversial. 387 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,360 But at least with lithium, we can see the problem coming. 388 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:28,240 Shortages of other superelements have taken us completely by surprise, 389 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:30,840 none more so than helium. 390 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:39,480 Helium is famous for making balloons much more fun. 391 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:44,160 But believe it or not, helium is in short supply, 392 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,120 and it's become far more important than you might think. 393 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,880 IN SQUEAKY VOICE: Using helium for balloons is no laughing matter. 394 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:00,120 Up until the 1980s, 395 00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:04,360 helium stocks were mainly a concern for people who owned airships 396 00:26:04,360 --> 00:26:05,440 or space rockets. 397 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:07,040 Yeah, you can hold that now. 398 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:09,680 But then, along came a new innovation. 399 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:14,920 The MRI scanner. 400 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:23,160 MRI can see inside our bodies with clarity like never before, 401 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,840 and without the need for harmful x-rays. 402 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:32,840 It revolutionised the diagnosis of a range of conditions 403 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:34,680 from brain injuries to cancer. 404 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:40,200 And it relies on the extraordinary properties of helium. 405 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,040 Helium is weird. 406 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:55,960 For starters, it can become colder than almost anything else 407 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:57,640 in the universe. 408 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:02,840 Lancaster University is one of the few places with the right kit 409 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:03,920 to make it that cold. 410 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,720 Now, we've got our helium in this tube. 411 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:13,680 It's at minus 269 degrees centigrade. 412 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:16,160 At that temperature, it's a liquid. 413 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,440 That's obviously a very cold temperature, 414 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,480 but I'm about to make it colder still, 415 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:24,880 and by doing so, welcome you into the very, very weird world of helium. 416 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:33,760 When helium gets really cold, strange things start to happen. 417 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:39,160 First, it boils ferociously - 418 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:43,520 not what you'd expect from something really cold. 419 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,440 It's getting colder, 420 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:46,480 and colder. 421 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:49,760 Wait for this, though. Wait, wait... 422 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:52,640 There! Did you see that? 423 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:54,640 It went from boiling to absolutely still. 424 00:27:56,080 --> 00:28:00,960 It is now no longer governed by the classical rules of physics. 425 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,440 It's now governed by quantum mechanics. 426 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,880 It's a superfluid, and they are very weird. 427 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:08,480 Let me show you what they can do. 428 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:16,120 Superfluid helium can flow through solid materials. 429 00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:18,920 I've got more liquid helium here in a container, 430 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:22,200 and it's kept in there by that stopper at the bottom, that red stuff. 431 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:27,240 I can make it pass through the solid stopper. 432 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:30,920 As I move it down... 433 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:35,240 ..towards the superfluid, it's getting colder and colder, 434 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:37,520 and it's going to turn into a superfluid itself. 435 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:42,720 Watch the stopper as I lower it towards the superfluid. 436 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:49,920 There, you see? 437 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:52,720 It's dripping through a solid material. 438 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:57,600 That's one of the strange properties of superfluids. 439 00:28:57,600 --> 00:28:59,640 They can flow through solid materials. 440 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:02,600 It just seems wrong. 441 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,680 It goes against all the normal laws of physics 442 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:08,120 that we, kind of, take for granted. 443 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:09,760 It's just bonkers. 444 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,960 A superfluid is a liquid that flows without friction. 445 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,040 Think of a cup of tea. Once you stop stirring, 446 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:23,360 the circulation slows because of friction. 447 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:27,000 But a cup of superfluid would 448 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:31,480 continue circulating until the end of time. 449 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:40,600 And superfluids can transfer their magic powers to other materials. 450 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,480 Bathed in superfluid helium, 451 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,840 some electrical conductors become superconductors. 452 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:56,280 When electricity passes through a wire, 453 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,480 some of the electrons bump into the atoms that make up the wire. 454 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:04,520 It's known as electrical resistance, 455 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:07,200 and it means that some of the electricity is lost. 456 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,360 But in some metals cooled by liquid helium, 457 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:16,200 the electrons pass through with no resistance at all. 458 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:24,320 So just as a superfluid can pass through a material with no resistance, 459 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:28,440 so electricity can travel through a superconductor with no resistance. 460 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:31,320 Now, that means no electricity gets lost. 461 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:36,440 Superconducting wires deliver far more electrical energy 462 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:38,440 than ordinary wires. 463 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:44,800 And that's what MRI machines rely on to generate the powerful pulses of 464 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:48,080 energy that are used to make images of our bodies. 465 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:55,840 Each machine needs around 2,000 litres of liquid helium to keep it running. 466 00:30:57,520 --> 00:30:59,760 Considering that we give it away to children, 467 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,600 you'd imagine that there's loads of it around. 468 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:05,480 But helium is scarce. 469 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:14,480 It's produced incredibly slowly from the radioactive decay of rocks 470 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:15,680 deep underground. 471 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:18,160 Over millions of years, 472 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:22,200 the tiny trickle of gas builds up into large reservoirs. 473 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:29,200 Algeria, Qatar and Russia have some. 474 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:33,080 And in 2016, a new reservoir was discovered in Tanzania. 475 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:38,640 But most of the world's helium comes from just one place... 476 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:40,200 America's Midwest. 477 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:53,240 America's Great Plains sit on top of a vast, natural helium store. 478 00:31:54,720 --> 00:32:00,000 For years, the Americans stockpiled it in a huge storage facility in Texas. 479 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:07,000 During the Second World War, it was a strategic gas in airships. 480 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:11,160 Later, it was used in the space race. 481 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:14,280 But after that, they started selling it off cheaply. 482 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:22,000 And now the world's largest helium reserve is almost empty. 483 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:28,920 And to make matters worse, it's really hard to recycle. 484 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,360 One of helium's more obvious but less exotic properties is that it's 485 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:35,720 incredibly light. 486 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:38,240 That's why helium balloons float in air. 487 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,160 But it also makes it incredibly difficult to recycle helium, 488 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:42,760 because once you let go of it... 489 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:46,840 ..well, it just keeps going up and up and up. 490 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:51,200 Of course, eventually, the skin will pop, 491 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:54,920 but the helium will keep going up and up to the edge of the atmosphere, 492 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:56,840 into space and be gone forever. 493 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:03,040 Mind you, not all superelements are rare. 494 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:07,400 Some are plentiful, but they're only found in a few places. 495 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:11,880 And the countries that own them aren't always willing to share. 496 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:16,640 One of these materials is wanted by almost every nation, 497 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:20,680 because its superhero strength is nothing short of miraculous. 498 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:25,080 This is a magic ball. 499 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:26,960 "What's magic about it?", you might ask. 500 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:30,560 Well, it's shiny and smooth and very spherical, 501 00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:34,160 but what's really extraordinary is that it's virtually indestructible. 502 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:39,720 Now, to a material scientist like me, that's a red rag to a bull. 503 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,760 I can't resist trying to destroy it. 504 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:43,800 JAUNTY MUSIC PLAYS 505 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:06,960 Right. 506 00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:08,400 I'm going to have to escalate this. 507 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:34,480 Incredible! 508 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:37,320 There's not a mark on it. 509 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:38,560 It's absolutely pristine. 510 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:41,640 This material is called tungsten carbide. 511 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:45,680 It's a compound of tungsten and carbon and it's very unusual 512 00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:49,480 because it's not brittle, and yet it's incredibly hard, 513 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:52,000 and that's very unusual in a material. 514 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:54,920 It's something that won't scratch, but won't break, 515 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:56,960 even under the most extreme forces. 516 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:01,360 Ever wondered how you drill through steel? 517 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:05,880 Or cut a railway tunnel through solid rock? 518 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:11,320 You do it with tools made from tungsten carbide. 519 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:16,600 The military use loads of tungsten to armour their tanks. 520 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,000 No other material is tough enough. 521 00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:31,120 But over 80% of the world's tungsten is produced by just one nation, 522 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:32,320 China. 523 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:36,400 They've been selling it for decades. 524 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:42,560 Then in 2010, they restricted supply, 525 00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:45,720 sending shock waves around the world. 526 00:35:45,720 --> 00:35:50,080 But a solution has been found in a field in Devon. 527 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:54,680 ELECTRO MUSIC PLAYS 528 00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:04,280 In 2015, 529 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:09,720 the diggers moved into the first metal mine to open in the UK for 40 years. 530 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:15,280 They're digging for tungsten. 531 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:28,800 Cornwall and this part of Devon are very rich in metals. 532 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:32,200 Cornwall in particular is known for its tin and copper production historically. 533 00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:36,320 The thing that's unique about tungsten compared to other metals is that 534 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:39,280 there's not a lot of mines producing it, especially in the western world. 535 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:40,960 That's incredibly impressive. 536 00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:44,280 What strikes you is how big the operation is. 537 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:47,800 So, where is the tungsten ore here, then? 538 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:52,200 So, the tungsten ore is contained within a granite ore body, 539 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:55,400 which is the white material you can see here in front of you. 540 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:56,920 And within the granite, you've got 541 00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:58,920 hundreds of thousands of these quartz veins. 542 00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:01,720 So this is a lump of quartz from one of those veins? 543 00:37:01,720 --> 00:37:05,400 Correct. Every grey stripe in the rock is a vein, 544 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:08,600 and within those veins you've got quartz matrix, 545 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:10,440 and then within it is your wolframite 546 00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:11,960 and that's your tungsten ore. 547 00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:13,280 Wow, so there it is. 548 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:14,680 - That's the magic stuff. - Correct. 549 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:19,400 How rare is it to find quartz in 550 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:23,000 this vein-like structure with wolframite in it, in the world? 551 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:24,040 How rare is that? 552 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:27,160 It's relatively rare to find it in this kind of quantity. 553 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:30,160 This is a pretty big mine by world standards, 554 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:32,600 certainly one of the biggest deposits in the world. 555 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:36,000 This is by far the largest concentration of it in the British Isles. 556 00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:42,320 These huge diggers shift over 10,000 tonnes of ore a day. 557 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:49,320 There's enough tungsten here to secure supply for at least a decade. 558 00:37:53,720 --> 00:37:57,280 This is a 125 tonne excavator, 559 00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:01,360 loading a 100 tonne dump truck with category one ore. 560 00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:02,920 So, this is the best quality ore. 561 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:07,040 And you have enough dump trucks so that when one is full and off, 562 00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:10,000 there's another dump truck to take its place. 563 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:14,280 How long does it take from digging it out here to refining it and then 564 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:15,760 coming out as a product? 565 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:17,720 If we took that straight into the crusher 566 00:38:17,720 --> 00:38:19,320 and it was immediately crushed, 567 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:22,480 I think, to get through the whole of the processing plant 568 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:24,040 is about 50 minutes. 569 00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:26,280 - 50 minutes? Wow, that's efficient. - Yeah. 570 00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:32,000 The ore is crushed and then fed into the processing plant. 571 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:36,200 No chemicals are used to extract the tungsten. 572 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:39,720 It's so heavy that they can separate it using gravity. 573 00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:41,880 The crushed ore is washed, 574 00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:46,480 filtered and shaken until the dark, finished product separates out. 575 00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:55,560 - There you go. If you want to get your hands in. - Wow, this is it. 576 00:38:57,520 --> 00:39:00,720 So, this will be about 55-60% tungsten. 577 00:39:00,720 --> 00:39:02,760 Wow, it's really heavy. 578 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:05,000 - Yeah, very heavy. - Incredible. 579 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:14,280 Each of these one-tonne sacks is worth £16,000. 580 00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:21,920 Tungsten is a superelement because it can withstand virtually anything. 581 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:25,400 There's nothing else quite like this stuff. 582 00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:29,840 And now for the ultimate test. 583 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:33,080 Let's find out how strong this ball really is. 584 00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:37,120 Could it withstand this industrial roller, or this industrial roller, 585 00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:40,000 or this industrial roller, or... 586 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:44,320 this 20 tonne industrial roller? 587 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:45,360 Let's see, shall we? 588 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:50,360 Just to show how effective this roller is, first, 589 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:51,680 let's try a cricket ball. 590 00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:54,600 SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS 591 00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:03,640 Oh, yeah. 592 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:05,520 No longer a ball, more a puck now. 593 00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:10,120 Now the tungsten carbide ball. 594 00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:37,720 The wood's destroyed. 595 00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:39,720 The ball... 596 00:40:39,720 --> 00:40:41,360 totally unscathed. 597 00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:44,840 It's amazing! Absolutely unscathed. 598 00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:46,280 Wait, wait, OK. 599 00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:50,160 Look, that's what's happened. It's made a massive hole in the concrete. 600 00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:53,360 It's not got a scratch on it. 601 00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:56,360 It's absolutely, completely pristine. 602 00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:02,720 We have a stable supply of tungsten for the time being, 603 00:41:02,720 --> 00:41:04,160 but demand is rising... 604 00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:07,800 ..as it is for all our superelements, 605 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:09,880 for one simple reason. 606 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:16,600 When I was born, there were 3.5 billion people on the planet. 607 00:41:16,600 --> 00:41:18,800 Now, there are 7 billion. 608 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:22,160 The human population has doubled in my lifetime, 609 00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:27,200 and all those people are buying and using ever more complex stuff, 610 00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:32,040 and that is requiring us to dig up more and more minerals to keep up with demand. 611 00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:41,200 All our superelements come out of the Earth. 612 00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:43,440 We're really good at finding them. 613 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:46,200 So far, we haven't run out of anything. 614 00:41:46,200 --> 00:41:50,040 But there's only one Earth and sooner or later, 615 00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:53,080 we're going to reach the limits of what it can provide. 616 00:41:54,040 --> 00:41:55,800 It's the ultimate bottleneck. 617 00:41:57,120 --> 00:42:02,080 If that happens, we can kiss goodbye to our hi-tech world. 618 00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:04,760 So what can we do to fix the future? 619 00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:12,240 We could start by learning some lessons from nature. 620 00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:18,760 There's one superelement that nature needs in abundance, and in nature, 621 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:20,120 it never seems to run out. 622 00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:24,200 It's called phosphorus. 623 00:42:27,480 --> 00:42:30,320 So they just look like bits of wax... 624 00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:34,800 I'm back with my audience in Bristol to demonstrate a stunning property 625 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:39,720 of phosphorus that explains why it's so important for living things. 626 00:42:39,720 --> 00:42:42,360 OK, I'm going to go for it now. Are you all ready for this? 627 00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:47,480 'Watch what happens when I burn a tiny bit in a big jar of oxygen.' 628 00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:51,240 ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS 629 00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:13,120 I give you phosphorus, everybody! 630 00:43:13,120 --> 00:43:14,280 AUDIENCE APPLAUDS 631 00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:22,600 The phosphorus glows because it is highly reactive with oxygen. 632 00:43:26,480 --> 00:43:30,160 The reaction creates molecules of phosphorus bound to oxygen, 633 00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:32,960 and these molecules are the building blocks of life. 634 00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:41,080 They form the backbone of our DNA and the DNA of all living things. 635 00:43:44,680 --> 00:43:47,960 Phosphorus is one of nature's superelements. 636 00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:54,040 Plants get it from the soil... 637 00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:57,640 ..and return it to the soil when they die. 638 00:44:00,240 --> 00:44:02,720 But when farmers harvest crops, 639 00:44:02,720 --> 00:44:06,800 they often have to replenish the phosphorus artificially with fertiliser. 640 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:11,920 The fertiliser is made from phosphorus rich with rocks. 641 00:44:13,120 --> 00:44:16,920 But there aren't many of them, and we've dug most of them up already. 642 00:44:18,080 --> 00:44:22,400 75% of the rock that is left is in just one country, 643 00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:23,640 Morocco. 644 00:44:27,640 --> 00:44:31,040 There's a real risk that our ability to feed the world 645 00:44:31,040 --> 00:44:34,080 will depend on just one country. 646 00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:36,560 So we need a better solution, 647 00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:40,720 and nature has taught us that there is one obvious place to look. 648 00:44:42,840 --> 00:44:47,480 You might not like to think about it, but poo makes excellent fertiliser. 649 00:44:48,520 --> 00:44:50,880 When we eat plants and animals, 650 00:44:50,880 --> 00:44:53,560 we eat the phosphate they contain and by and large, 651 00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:55,000 that passes straight through us. 652 00:44:57,160 --> 00:45:02,000 So that means that sewage is chock-full of phosphate fertiliser, 653 00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:07,320 and the poo from the people of Nottingham is as good as any other in the world. 654 00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:10,880 At this sewage treatment plant in Stoke Bardolph, 655 00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:15,000 human waste is something to be prized and revered. 656 00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:16,400 Hi, it's the BBC here. 657 00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:18,360 We'd like to talk about your poo. 658 00:45:18,360 --> 00:45:19,600 'OK, come through.' 659 00:45:31,720 --> 00:45:37,840 Although full of phosphorus, you can't just spread human poo on fields. 660 00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:43,120 It smells pretty bad, and it's full of deadly pathogens. 661 00:45:43,120 --> 00:45:44,840 Like all sewage treatment works, 662 00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:48,960 the main job of this plant is to turn the bad stuff into something a 663 00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:52,880 bit more pleasant. But here, they take it one step further. 664 00:45:57,840 --> 00:46:01,160 The first stage of the treatment process is to remove 665 00:46:01,160 --> 00:46:04,720 the big bits, the rag, and also the grit. 666 00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:06,920 - Loo paper, do you mean that? - So... 667 00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:09,520 - I'm just getting a bit ahead of you. OK. - No, no, it's OK. 668 00:46:09,520 --> 00:46:13,720 Yeah, loo paper will be trapped on the screen, and 669 00:46:13,720 --> 00:46:17,360 all the stuff that people throw down the toilet that they probably shouldn't. 670 00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:21,200 - Wipes. - Wipes, baby wipes.. yeah, exactly. 671 00:46:21,200 --> 00:46:23,320 It flows into a big tank, the solid matter, 672 00:46:23,320 --> 00:46:26,400 the faecal matter settles to the bottom of the tank. 673 00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:27,600 Does it always settle? 674 00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:31,520 Because there are, I don't know how to put this, but there are floaters, 675 00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:34,600 aren't there, and there are sinkers? 676 00:46:34,600 --> 00:46:36,840 - Yeah. - By the time they get here, are they all sinkers? 677 00:46:36,840 --> 00:46:39,400 They're pretty much all sinkers. 678 00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:44,760 It's rare to see the faecal matter float, but you will get a film of fat. 679 00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:49,240 We call it scum. Not really a nice term, but... 680 00:46:49,240 --> 00:46:51,720 I'm getting the whiff now, I'm getting the whiff. 681 00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:57,400 It may be smelly, but this is not waste. 682 00:46:57,400 --> 00:47:01,720 It's a treasure trove of magic ingredients. 683 00:47:01,720 --> 00:47:06,720 At this site, they turn sewage into concentrated phosphorus fertiliser. 684 00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:10,200 And no chemicals are involved. 685 00:47:10,200 --> 00:47:12,200 It's all done by bacteria. 686 00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:19,720 As the sewage flows through, it's becoming progressively more treated. 687 00:47:19,720 --> 00:47:21,800 So, by the end here as it flows over this weir, 688 00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:25,680 it is by then a mixt of treated sewage, 689 00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:27,120 but with the bacteria still in it. 690 00:47:27,120 --> 00:47:31,960 There are bacteria called phosphate accumulating organisms that will take 691 00:47:31,960 --> 00:47:36,520 up phosphorus beyond their normal metabolic requirement as an energy store. 692 00:47:36,520 --> 00:47:39,400 - So they store it inside their cellular body... - Yep. 693 00:47:39,400 --> 00:47:42,800 ..and then they're going that way, heading off somewhere? Is that right? 694 00:47:42,800 --> 00:47:46,040 That's right. Then they go into the settlement tanks. 695 00:47:46,040 --> 00:47:48,280 The bacteria settle to the bottom, 696 00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:54,200 we pump away a portion of that sludge to those big concrete tanks you see over there. 697 00:47:55,160 --> 00:48:00,120 The phosphorus-rich bacterial sludge is spun in these centrifuges to 698 00:48:00,120 --> 00:48:01,160 remove the liquid. 699 00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:06,440 Leaving behind what I'm told is called sludge cake. 700 00:48:09,960 --> 00:48:13,760 So this is basically human manure, right? 701 00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:15,160 Yeah. 702 00:48:15,160 --> 00:48:21,040 This rich compost is perfectly safe to be spread directly onto agricultural land. 703 00:48:22,040 --> 00:48:25,520 But it's bulky and heavy, so it's expensive to transport. 704 00:48:26,720 --> 00:48:31,040 The real magic comes from the liquid that was spun off in the centrifuge. 705 00:48:32,640 --> 00:48:36,200 It's distilled into a powder called struvite, 706 00:48:36,200 --> 00:48:41,520 a concentrated source of phosphorus, easy to bag up and transport, 707 00:48:41,520 --> 00:48:42,960 the perfect fertiliser. 708 00:48:44,360 --> 00:48:45,720 This is it? 709 00:48:45,720 --> 00:48:48,920 This is it. So, this is struvite, or magnesium ammonium phosphate, 710 00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:50,960 mineral phosphate fertiliser. 711 00:48:52,400 --> 00:48:54,040 It's ingenious, isn't it? 712 00:48:54,040 --> 00:48:56,680 People flush their loo, they think that's just waste, 713 00:48:56,680 --> 00:48:59,440 and you've recovered very valuable stuff. 714 00:49:01,080 --> 00:49:03,560 It's great, isn't it? Where there's muck, there's brass. 715 00:49:06,800 --> 00:49:09,160 Instead of digging phosphorus out of the ground, 716 00:49:09,160 --> 00:49:14,200 we can recycle it the way nature does, and that way, we'll never run out. 717 00:49:15,200 --> 00:49:18,600 So could recycling save all our superelements? 718 00:49:21,080 --> 00:49:22,800 If only it were that simple. 719 00:49:27,120 --> 00:49:29,240 Which brings me back to smartphones. 720 00:49:33,600 --> 00:49:35,480 The problem with recycling 721 00:49:35,480 --> 00:49:39,640 comes from their incredibly sophisticated design. 722 00:49:39,640 --> 00:49:43,560 Some of you are probably watching this programme on a phone. 723 00:49:43,560 --> 00:49:45,160 We filmed it on a phone. 724 00:49:46,280 --> 00:49:51,080 Even the seemingly simple things that your phone does are really amazing. 725 00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:54,600 For instance, your phone knows which way up it is, doesn't it? 726 00:49:54,600 --> 00:49:56,800 That seems really simple, but actually, 727 00:49:56,800 --> 00:50:00,240 there's a tiny machine inside the phone working that out. 728 00:50:00,240 --> 00:50:01,720 It's called an accelerometer, 729 00:50:01,720 --> 00:50:05,080 and it's got moving parts that are smaller than the hair of a flea. 730 00:50:06,080 --> 00:50:07,800 And it detects the force of gravity. 731 00:50:07,800 --> 00:50:09,560 That's just incredible, isn't it? 732 00:50:10,680 --> 00:50:15,960 Our phones are so smart, but their lives are short. 733 00:50:15,960 --> 00:50:20,080 The average lifespan of a phone is just two years. 734 00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:25,040 Has anyone here ever wondered exactly what happens to your phones if you 735 00:50:25,040 --> 00:50:26,400 send them off for recycling? 736 00:50:27,400 --> 00:50:31,000 Well, they get reconditioned if they're in good nick and resold, 737 00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:32,880 but if not... 738 00:50:32,880 --> 00:50:34,960 They share the same grisly fate. 739 00:50:39,320 --> 00:50:40,960 I'm going to wear ear defenders. 740 00:51:02,080 --> 00:51:07,640 Old phones are shredded in industrial machines far bigger than this blender. 741 00:51:07,640 --> 00:51:10,840 Every day, thousands of phones in the UK alone 742 00:51:10,840 --> 00:51:13,320 end their lives in this way. 743 00:51:13,320 --> 00:51:19,800 And so almost all the precious indium used to make touchscreens ends up in landfill. 744 00:51:23,400 --> 00:51:25,680 That's pretty impressive. 745 00:51:25,680 --> 00:51:29,280 In the end, I'm afraid to say, it ends up as dust. 746 00:51:31,160 --> 00:51:32,520 A sad end, don't you think? 747 00:51:36,720 --> 00:51:39,960 And it's the same story for most superelements. 748 00:51:42,000 --> 00:51:44,640 Helium is so light, it evades capture. 749 00:51:47,800 --> 00:51:52,360 The rhenium in jet engines is baked into an alloy with other metals that 750 00:51:52,360 --> 00:51:53,800 are hard to separate out. 751 00:51:56,560 --> 00:52:01,720 So yes, we need to get much, much better at recycling. 752 00:52:01,720 --> 00:52:05,320 But it's never going to be a perfect solution. 753 00:52:05,320 --> 00:52:09,800 Ultimately, we're going to need new sources of supply, 754 00:52:09,800 --> 00:52:13,680 and there's one option that could solve all our problems... 755 00:52:13,680 --> 00:52:16,520 I'm going to let you guys have a look at these. 756 00:52:16,520 --> 00:52:17,800 '..find some new rocks.' 757 00:52:19,200 --> 00:52:21,720 All superelements come from rocks, 758 00:52:21,720 --> 00:52:24,120 but these ones are particularly special. 759 00:52:25,160 --> 00:52:27,120 They're packed full of them. 760 00:52:27,120 --> 00:52:28,960 Hold the Star Trekian... 761 00:52:30,280 --> 00:52:35,280 Using a sci-fi looking X-ray gun, we can find out exactly what's in them. 762 00:52:36,960 --> 00:52:40,840 So what we're getting here is iron coming out, cobalt, nickel, 763 00:52:40,840 --> 00:52:45,520 we mentioned that, and uranium, both used in radioactive reactors. 764 00:52:45,520 --> 00:52:49,280 We've counted six different elements, and the list is still rising. 765 00:52:50,640 --> 00:52:55,880 Calcium, titanium, arsenic, yttrium. 766 00:52:55,880 --> 00:52:57,800 'But there's a catch. 767 00:52:57,800 --> 00:53:00,600 'They come from outer space. 768 00:53:00,600 --> 00:53:02,600 'These rocks are meteorites.' 769 00:53:03,960 --> 00:53:06,040 T minus one minute and counting. 770 00:53:07,760 --> 00:53:09,200 Countdown. 771 00:53:12,240 --> 00:53:15,600 Most of the elements on our planet originated in space. 772 00:53:16,800 --> 00:53:21,080 They were forged in the Big Bang, or in the hearts of stars. 773 00:53:25,600 --> 00:53:31,600 They became incorporated into our planet as it formed 4.5 billion years ago. 774 00:53:31,600 --> 00:53:35,200 T minus 37 seconds and our count continues to go well... 775 00:53:35,200 --> 00:53:39,880 And they found their way into the other planets and moons of our solar system 776 00:53:39,880 --> 00:53:42,600 as well as countless billions of asteroids. 777 00:53:47,120 --> 00:53:53,120 There's almost an infinite supply of all the elements we could wish for in space. 778 00:53:53,120 --> 00:53:59,280 And the idea of extra-terrestrial mining isn't as crazy as you might think. 779 00:53:59,280 --> 00:54:03,160 - Ten, nine, eight... - Ignition sequence start. 780 00:54:03,160 --> 00:54:05,600 This is the surface of Mars. 781 00:54:11,120 --> 00:54:14,160 Actually, it's a warehouse in Stevenage. 782 00:54:14,160 --> 00:54:18,400 This accurate replica of the Martian surface is where space hardware 783 00:54:18,400 --> 00:54:21,440 destined for the red planet is put through its paces. 784 00:54:23,960 --> 00:54:25,280 Welcome to our Mars yard. 785 00:54:25,280 --> 00:54:29,000 This is where we test all of our rovers 786 00:54:29,000 --> 00:54:32,280 that we're developing to go to the surface of Mars. 787 00:54:32,280 --> 00:54:35,000 They're going to launch in 2020, 788 00:54:35,000 --> 00:54:40,000 land in early 2021 and then drive around on the surface and take samples 789 00:54:40,000 --> 00:54:42,280 from a variety of different locations. 790 00:54:42,280 --> 00:54:44,280 So you're going to pick up rocks on Mars? 791 00:54:44,280 --> 00:54:48,240 The ultimate plan for this is to drill underneath the surface, 792 00:54:48,240 --> 00:54:51,640 collect a sample, see what elements are there, what minerals. 793 00:54:51,640 --> 00:54:54,840 Could it potentially have supported life is one of the big questions? 794 00:54:54,840 --> 00:55:00,160 How feasible is it to go to another planet or to an asteroid and mine it? 795 00:55:00,160 --> 00:55:04,600 There's lots of things that need to be developed to get us to that point. 796 00:55:04,600 --> 00:55:06,240 But this is one of those things. 797 00:55:06,240 --> 00:55:07,960 We're starting along that road now. 798 00:55:13,320 --> 00:55:15,480 From this Stevenage warehouse, 799 00:55:15,480 --> 00:55:19,040 Airbus designed and built the Rosetta spacecraft 800 00:55:19,040 --> 00:55:22,640 that landed a probe on a comet in 2014. 801 00:55:25,240 --> 00:55:26,440 And in the workshop, 802 00:55:26,440 --> 00:55:30,120 they're developing the next generation of extra-terrestrial robots. 803 00:55:31,480 --> 00:55:36,240 This space vacuum cleaner can sample alien soil. 804 00:55:36,240 --> 00:55:39,680 We can start the brushes and you can see them rotating opposite to each other. 805 00:55:39,680 --> 00:55:43,640 And then it would go down into the surface like that, 806 00:55:43,640 --> 00:55:48,080 and you can see all the sample being flipped up into the inside of here. 807 00:55:48,080 --> 00:55:50,000 This is a prospecting device. 808 00:55:50,000 --> 00:55:51,560 You set it down onto an asteroid, 809 00:55:51,560 --> 00:55:55,680 gather some up and bring it back to Earth and see if it's valuable. 810 00:55:55,680 --> 00:55:58,400 Yeah, pretty much. This is what will allow us to work out... 811 00:55:58,400 --> 00:56:00,760 what's on there and if it's of any interest. 812 00:56:04,520 --> 00:56:08,240 This technology is being developed for scientific missions, 813 00:56:08,240 --> 00:56:11,360 but it could one day be used for commercial ventures. 814 00:56:13,200 --> 00:56:16,800 So are there companies seriously interested in mining in space? 815 00:56:16,800 --> 00:56:21,520 Yeah, definitely. There's companies being set up...that have already been set up today, 816 00:56:21,520 --> 00:56:24,720 focused specifically on mining in space. 817 00:56:24,720 --> 00:56:29,200 You've also got governments around the world that are setting up the 818 00:56:29,200 --> 00:56:31,560 regulations that will be required to do this, 819 00:56:31,560 --> 00:56:36,240 allowing companies to go and mine on the moon or mine on an asteroid. 820 00:56:36,240 --> 00:56:38,520 This all sounds so incredible. 821 00:56:38,520 --> 00:56:42,280 How far off are we realistically from mining in space? 822 00:56:42,280 --> 00:56:44,920 We'll be able to do it in the next 10 or 20 years or so. 823 00:56:45,960 --> 00:56:48,760 So in my lifetime, we could be mining space? 824 00:56:48,760 --> 00:56:49,800 Yep, certainly. 825 00:56:59,280 --> 00:57:04,240 NASA is planning a mission to a metal-rich asteroid in 2023. 826 00:57:06,200 --> 00:57:09,800 They have no intention of mining it, but if they did, 827 00:57:09,800 --> 00:57:14,240 the iron alone is estimated to be worth quadrillions of dollars. 828 00:57:15,800 --> 00:57:19,840 The trouble is, we don't have the technology to bring it back to Earth and, 829 00:57:19,840 --> 00:57:23,040 even if we did, it would probably cost more than the metal is worth. 830 00:57:24,880 --> 00:57:27,680 But if there's one thing history teaches us, 831 00:57:27,680 --> 00:57:29,080 when the demand is big enough... 832 00:57:30,040 --> 00:57:31,640 ..we tend to find a solution. 833 00:57:35,280 --> 00:57:36,320 JAUNTY MUSIC PLAYS 834 00:57:41,000 --> 00:57:45,720 Harnessing the astonishing powers of materials has built our modern world. 835 00:57:48,240 --> 00:57:51,000 With superelements at our fingertips... 836 00:57:52,600 --> 00:57:55,640 ..our creativity knows no bounds. 837 00:57:57,760 --> 00:58:00,160 We've made the world more advanced, 838 00:58:00,160 --> 00:58:04,920 more connected and more exciting than ever before. 839 00:58:04,920 --> 00:58:08,880 But in doing so, we've also made ourselves vulnerable. 840 00:58:14,560 --> 00:58:19,280 By exploiting the amazing properties of elements that are becoming scarce, 841 00:58:19,280 --> 00:58:23,000 there is a danger that the technologies we take for granted 842 00:58:23,000 --> 00:58:24,920 will no longer be available. 843 00:58:26,120 --> 00:58:30,200 Ultimately, though, I place my faith in human ingenuity. 844 00:58:32,360 --> 00:58:38,600 I'm optimistic that we can avoid running out of the very stuff on which we rely. 845 00:58:38,600 --> 00:58:40,680 Using better design, 846 00:58:40,680 --> 00:58:45,280 much more efficient recycling and maybe even space mining, 847 00:58:45,280 --> 00:58:50,440 we can keep our material culture healthy without exhausting what the 848 00:58:50,440 --> 00:58:51,640 planet can provide.