DailyDirt: Going For The Gold…
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Gold is a unique element that has been almost universally treasured. It’s rare, but it isn’t the hardest element to find. Gold has a remarkable property of not reacting with its environment, so it doesn’t tarnish or burn. There aren’t that many practical uses for it, compared to other metals, though, but here are a few links on some gold-related items.
- Microbial alchemy doesn’t transmute lead into gold, but it does metabolize gold chloride (aqueous) into solid 24-karat gold. Cupriavidus metallidurans can tolerate highly toxic concentrations of gold chloride and reduce the metal so that it precipitates. [url]
- Gold medalists at the last Olympics didn’t receive solid gold for their efforts but mostly silver with a gold coating. So in all those pictures of the athletes biting on their gold medals, that bite test for metal purity had a pretty good chance of failing. [url]
- The Last Pictures project is planning to preserve a visual record of human civilization on a silicon disc encased in gold — for billions of years. This archival disc will be launched with the EchoStar XVI satellite and should remain in orbit for longer than our planet, as we know it, will exist. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.
Filed Under: alchemy, archival storage, bacteria, gold, olympic medals, satellite, time capsule
Comments on “DailyDirt: Going For The Gold…”
Voyager space probes
There are also some gold records that were made for the Voyager missions.
"The Games"
John: “I can’t imagine that the winner of the grey medal and the winner of the brown medal will be all that disappointed that they didn’t get up for the yellow medal.”
"The Games"
Where’s the symbolism, Johnnie?! However if I were an athlete I’d be much happier with a solid gold medal. Not that it would remain in the form of a medal though.
"There aren't that many practical uses for it"
Are you freaking kidding !!!!!!…
Re: "There aren't that many practical uses for it"
imagine the humble swtich, gold in em all, and there are not too MANY of them around !!!!
what practicle do you think you can do with a switch, (that USES gold)..
apart from swtiches (of which there are many), I could easily rattle off an almost endless list of practicle uses for gold. if all you had was gold im sure you could probably put it to a great deal of practicle use..
it’s not in general practicle use because it’s expensive, but that does not preclude if from such things as using gold as a cup !! or a plate, or a knife, spoon, bbq plate, im sure even some of the bigger nuggets could be put to practicle use, if you need to kill an aminal with a stone, or hammer something (softer than gold).
you could also put it to practicle use by using it as the basis of the value of your cash money !!
it’s used in electronics, photographics (film type), I guess what im trying to say is that only an idiot would make such a stupid statement, (“there aren’t that many practical uses for it”) he types with his gold plated contacted keyboard.
those words posted have probably passed through millions of layers of gold, all of which is quite practical and is a USE, and there are quite a few of them (ie MANY)..
“Microbial alchemy doesn’t transmute lead into gold, but it does metabolize gold chloride (aqueous) into solid 24-karat gold. “
I can do that too, with a car battery and 2 bits of wire !!
“and should remain in orbit for longer than our planet, as we know it, will exist.”
what 20 years !!!!