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A dying industry dies a bit more
How did one of the world's most cost-competitive plants become unsustainable in only a couple of decades? Here's what happened to the ethylene cracker…
Jun 25
190
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A dying industry dies a bit more
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31
Tinned Soup and Tariffs
A dive down the rabbit hole of what it actually takes to make a seemingly simple supermarket product - and what happens when that product gets embroiled…
Jun 20
108
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Tinned Soup and Tariffs
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15
April 2025
The Strange, Unsettling Story of British Steel
Why the fate of a blast furnace in Scunthorpe might have much deeper implications for this country
Apr 12
265
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The Strange, Unsettling Story of British Steel
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114
March 2025
The Weird and Wonderful Logic of Aluminium
Finally, an excuse to witness the one major metallurgical process I never saw when writing Material World.
Mar 22
231
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The Weird and Wonderful Logic of Aluminium
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27
Would FDR have done a minerals deal with Ukraine?
Given, back in 1941, he actively considered taking possession of the Crown Jewels and Magna Carta in exchange for Lend-Lease, the answer must surely be…
Mar 10
68
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Would FDR have done a minerals deal with Ukraine?
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10
February 2025
America still needs Canadian oil. Here's why
And why the tariffs on Canada could plausibly lead to America doing deals with considerably more shady countries. A dive into the weird and wonderful…
Feb 2
310
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America still needs Canadian oil. Here's why
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57
January 2025
The Technological Revolution that could Supercharge the World's Batteries
Silicon carbon batteries are a real game-changer. But they also have a big problem. To see why, you need to dive deep inside a battery. So let's do…
Jan 26
176
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The Technological Revolution that could Supercharge the World's Batteries
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20
Forgotten Minerals #2: Caliche
What happens when you find a perfect substitute for a scarce resource? You carry on mining the scarce resource!
Jan 14
98
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Forgotten Minerals #2: Caliche
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9
Time to talk about the Panama Canal
Apparently Donald Trump wants to bring it back under American control. Here's a crazier idea
Jan 3
95
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Time to talk about the Panama Canal
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8
December 2024
No, Kerosene did NOT save the Sperm Whale
How we carried on exploiting sperm whales long after the conventional wisdom said we'd stopped. Forgotten Material #1
Dec 30, 2024
146
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No, Kerosene did NOT save the Sperm Whale
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28
Hang on, are there ANY lost minerals?
I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that the answer is: probably not
Dec 23, 2024
158
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Hang on, are there ANY lost minerals?
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31
The Most Hopeful Chart in the World
And its evil twin...
Dec 19, 2024
256
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The Most Hopeful Chart in the World
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40
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