Audio Transcript:
Precious metal.
SOUND: (heavy metal riff)
I'm Bob Karson with "The Discovery Files" -- new advances in science and engineering from the National Science Foundation.
There are certain types of metal that we have deemed to be "precious" mainly because of their relative scarcity. Based on a new study of world supply and usage out of Yale University, perhaps we should regard all metals as precious.
The study has determined that even with extensive recycling and full extraction of metals from the earth's surface, we could run out of some of them this century.
Their findings, published by the National Academy of Sciences are not meant to be alarmist, but if the average rate of usage continues to rise, even the more plentiful metals could be depleted. The researchers' more complete way of looking at the use of these finite resources will give us a better picture of the world's "metal health."
Me? I'm still putting out a full recycle bin every Wednesday.
SOUND: (crash!)
"The Discovery Files" covers projects funded by the government's National Science Foundation. Federally sponsored research -- brought to you, by you! To learn more, visit nsf.gov.
