Although worldwide immunization efforts have resulted in a steady decline of polio cases, the disabling disease is still a fact of life in a small number of countries. More than 1,000 cases were reported in Africa in 2004. A viral disease, polio can damage the nervous system and even cause paralysis, and in several countries, […]

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Photo: Aluminum, titanium and platinum, in unexpected colors.
Credit: Richard Baker, University of Rochester.
In 2006, U.S. scientists announced the first step to a perfect, pitch-black Batmobile for the hero of The Dark Knight. Using lasers (or more accurately, a quick beam of light called a femtosecond laser pulse), scientists discovered a way to alter the surface properties of […]

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Hedge fund manager with a big bonus? Just exited a major private equity deal? Got some cash burning a hole in your pocket? How about this? Lotus makers of fine English sports cars and with a rich pedigree in Formula 1 motor racing in the days of my youth are bringing out their first major […]

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Few metals are as emotive as uranium. Due to its not unique but certainly special properties, uranium can be both a source of unlimited low emission power or a potential method of mass destruction either in the form of a bomb or as with Chernobyl when human error can allow a plant operation to go horribly […]

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I grew up in a family of teachers, writers and musicians (though my mother should have been a mechanical engineer). So having a son who is obsessed with manufacturing processes (his favorite show is How It’s Made) gives me a chuckle. It’s not enough for him to know that his new Razor is made of […]

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I hope you all enjoyed your cookout as much as we did. I had a chance to catch up with my cousin Scott who was here from South Florida. Scott is a robotics engineer by trade working in the medical device industry. By night he is a part-time inventor/tinkerer. So I got a big chuckle […]

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Having gone on record a little under two months ago that the lead market had moved into over supply and prices would continue to come off we were a little alarmed to read that our predictions could be thrown into doubt by a recent article drawn from a Bloomberg report . According to this and […]

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One little side benefit of high commodity prices is companies start to quickly ramp up product substitution and new product innovation. Two years ago, when nickel skyrocketed, many firms moved toward 400 series stainless alloys and other product substitutions. High oil prices have a dual benefit - they change consumer behavior which in turn changes […]

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As a metal, molybdenum has had a funny life. For decades the price bumped along around $ 2-4/lb, largely produced as a by-product of copper production with a few pure play molybdenum mines operating as swing production if the price rose sufficiently to make them viable. Molybdenum grades are so thin, typically between 0.01 and […]

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Ever heard of Indium? Me neither. Well, not entirely true, I had heard of it but never taken much interest. According to Wikipedia it is a soft white rare metal, similar to aluminum or gallium and produced as a by-product of zinc. And therein lies the problem. Indium is the magic ingredient in making LCD […]

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