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Mar 17, 2015

Summit Spain: We’re Going to Rewire the Way Your Brain Views the Future

Posted by in categories: futurism, singularity

By — SingulartityHubhttp://cdn.singularityhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/SU-Summit-Spain-21-1000x400.jpg

There’s a story about Napoleon that goes something like this: At a state dinner, he gave his soldiers silver utensils and his court gold. But the guest of honor, the king of Siam, was given utensils of—aluminum.

Was it a not-so-subtle slight to the king? Not at all. Despite its relative abundance, aluminum was one of the rarest elements on Earth because it was hard to extract.

Fast forward a few decades, and a new extraction process using electrolysis had made aluminum abundant and cheap. Today, we use it everywhere. We cover takeout food in foil and toss it away without a thought.

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