What a visit to a magnet factory in Oxfordshire teaches you about the state of the world, the race for minerals and the obscure processes happening all around us
Interesting read and I enjoyed Material World. Helium is used in many essential applications, during a global shortage in 2021 it severely restricted the frequency of several key lab analyses that needed to be done for product quality control at the oil refinery I was working with at the time.
Great writing, keep them coming. I was in a scanner last year, which was prompt, and rather brilliant with all that back up skill to read and understand the output. But the bottleneck in the NHS was and is subsequent treatment, and apparently sadly for me a rather extreme example of triage. I am not sure how to place triage on the scale of productivity.
Regarding the machines there is a useful article in Science, May 10th.
"Low-field magnetic resonance imaging can be engineered for widespread point-of-care diagnostic". The ideal appears to be 'permanent magnets' i.e. no helium, with some clever AI to offset the loss of image resolution at very low Tesla.
Low cost imaging (relatively sustainable without the need for helium) might be rolled out say for Africa where it could be useful for diagnosing TB etc., but thinking about your main point on 'productivity', the real gain would be to reduce in the first place the development of disease, especially for example chronic conditions well before they need expensive treatment. 'Lifestyle' related cardiovascular changes presage outcomes of death and disability, like stroke. John Burns Murdoch's charts comparing morbidity across advanced countries tell a gruesome tale. And the roll-out for instance of the so-called 'Western diet' has been fingered as the probable background for many increasing global ills: one of several perhaps unstoppable trends in 'reverse progress' in productivity?
Thanks for this writeup… an enjoyable read, as well as educating!
Someone should really create a positive-only media publication. We need to sometimes share and celebrate the azing achievements and wonderful things that happen in life.
The measurement or barometer is ultimately what guides our decisions. Nothing symbolizes this more than clamte change. Temperature is gauge/barometer used to justify all type of crazy ideas and hypotheses. But "if" we focus more on human development indexes, than you see a different prism. The point is the how we measure is just as important as what we measure.
Great article Ed. Loved your books Material World and the first one, The Summit. Just discovered the substack and look forward to more wonderful stuff from you.
Interesting read and I enjoyed Material World. Helium is used in many essential applications, during a global shortage in 2021 it severely restricted the frequency of several key lab analyses that needed to be done for product quality control at the oil refinery I was working with at the time.
Great piece Ed, thank you very much, and do keep them coming.
Great piece: more please
Great writing, keep them coming. I was in a scanner last year, which was prompt, and rather brilliant with all that back up skill to read and understand the output. But the bottleneck in the NHS was and is subsequent treatment, and apparently sadly for me a rather extreme example of triage. I am not sure how to place triage on the scale of productivity.
Regarding the machines there is a useful article in Science, May 10th.
"Low-field magnetic resonance imaging can be engineered for widespread point-of-care diagnostic". The ideal appears to be 'permanent magnets' i.e. no helium, with some clever AI to offset the loss of image resolution at very low Tesla.
Low cost imaging (relatively sustainable without the need for helium) might be rolled out say for Africa where it could be useful for diagnosing TB etc., but thinking about your main point on 'productivity', the real gain would be to reduce in the first place the development of disease, especially for example chronic conditions well before they need expensive treatment. 'Lifestyle' related cardiovascular changes presage outcomes of death and disability, like stroke. John Burns Murdoch's charts comparing morbidity across advanced countries tell a gruesome tale. And the roll-out for instance of the so-called 'Western diet' has been fingered as the probable background for many increasing global ills: one of several perhaps unstoppable trends in 'reverse progress' in productivity?
Thanks for this writeup… an enjoyable read, as well as educating!
Someone should really create a positive-only media publication. We need to sometimes share and celebrate the azing achievements and wonderful things that happen in life.
The measurement or barometer is ultimately what guides our decisions. Nothing symbolizes this more than clamte change. Temperature is gauge/barometer used to justify all type of crazy ideas and hypotheses. But "if" we focus more on human development indexes, than you see a different prism. The point is the how we measure is just as important as what we measure.
quite excellent, interesting and useful
hopefully scientists or engineers will find an alternative to Helium (for MRIs) eventually
Great article Ed. Loved your books Material World and the first one, The Summit. Just discovered the substack and look forward to more wonderful stuff from you.