Could gold help us find space aliens?
It just might!
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is scheduled to launch into space in 2021. NASA claims the $10 billion telescope will allow scientists to “look back in time to see the very first galaxies that formed in the early Universe.” And thanks to its golden mirror and incredibly sensitive camera system, it may allow us to detect alien life out in space.
3D printing is a rapidly evolving technology that could potentially change the world like the internet did. People are most familiar with 3-D printing due to the controversy surrounding 3D printed firearms. But the technology can be used to produce everything from tiny precision components to houses.
Now gold has a role to play in the evolution of 3D printing technology. Scientists at Vanderbilt University have developed a process using gold nanoparticles to reveal tiny defects in 3D printed parts.
We continue to see amazing new technical applications for gold.
Now scientists have used the yellow metal to develop thermal camouflage that can make a person invisible to night vision cameras.
Gold demand in the technology sector grew for the seventh consecutive quarter according to the World Gold Council’s Gold Demand Trends Q2 2018 report.
Demand for gold in tech grew 2% overall to 83.3 tons last quarter.
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A new tech development using gold could help doctors diagnose and manage health issues in real-time.
Scientists at Australian National University developed the tiny, wearable optical sensors. The device is 50 times thinner than a human hair. Researchers told Printed Electronics World that the sensors combine very small gold nanostructures with semiconductors. Scientists say the sensors’ unique properties enable it to detect gas molecules at very low concentrations.
It’s like something out of a sci-fi movie – tiny robots zipping around through your veins zapping dangerous microbes. Except this isn’t some fictional scenario out of a Star Trek movie. It’s real-life technology thanks to gold.
Scientists have developed gold “robots” coated with a membrane that neutralizes dangerous pathogens such as MRSA.
This is just the latest in a growing list of technological applications for the yellow metal.
According to the World Gold Council, overall global demand for gold was soft in the first quarter of this year. But demand in the technology sector was particularly strong, marking its sixth consecutive quarterly gain.
Overall, demand for gold in technology and industry increased 4% to 82 tons year-on-year.
Industrial silver demand rose, US silver jewelry sales were solid, and mine supply fell in 2017.
The Silver Institute highlighted silver supply and demand trends from its World Silver Survey 2018 along with some new technological innovations utilizing the white metal in its latest edition of Silver News.
In recent years, gold has been increasingly valued for its use in various technological applications. In a report late last year, the World Gold Council reported the demand for gold in the technology sector has been growing since 2016 and that growth is continuing to accelerate due to new innovations.
Some of the most amazing developments utilizing the yellow metal have been in the field of medicine. For instance, researchers at the University of Queensland have developed a blood test using gold nanoparticles that could help oncologists in their treatment of cancer patients. According to the university, the test will provide doctors with an early and more accurate prognosis of how cancer treatment is progressing and help guide ongoing therapy.
