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  • (slow, deliberate music)

  • - Today, I'm digging through an iPhone,

  • looking for a very particular material.

  • We've talked a bunch on the channel

  • about how different types of minerals and metals

  • can end up in electronics like this one,

  • and where they come from in the world.

  • So there's gold, which conducts electricity really well.

  • Lots of gold is mined in Nevada, Colombia, and China.

  • Lithium of course, is found in a lot of batteries,

  • and lots of lithium comes from South America.

  • But the material we're looking for is actually here.

  • This is a tantalum capacitor.

  • Or at least we think it's a tantalum capacitor.

  • Apple makes it really hard to identify parts

  • in our motherboard.

  • But we found some schematics that pointed us

  • in this general area.

  • Looks like it's right here.

  • It's a component that stores electrical charges.

  • Tantalum is an element that's derived from an ore

  • called columbite-tantalite, or coltan.

  • Tantalum is highly sought after because it's got

  • a very high melting point and it resists corrosion.

  • We wanted to get our eyes on this capacitor

  • because the tiny scrap of metal inside

  • has some huge implications.

  • It's a piece of a complex web we've all woven

  • between humans, nature, and resources.

  • And now, in the middle of COVID-19,

  • this web takes on an extra resonance

  • because it could cause the next pandemic.

  • (slow, deliberate music)

  • That's a big claim, so let's break it down.

  • A lot of coltan can be traced back

  • to The Democratic Republic of Congo.

  • Some comes from large industrial open pit mines.

  • The kind of mine we're used to seeing images of.

  • But most coltan actually comes from much smaller operations.

  • This is often called artisanal or subsistence mining.

  • It's often just people digging holes with shovels and picks

  • to make a living.

  • Subsistence mining means humans cutting their way

  • through really remote areas.

  • By clearing land to make way for mining,

  • people interact with wildlife in ways

  • they wouldn't otherwise.

  • And that's where things can get messy.

  • - Yeah, what we're talking about is spillover.

  • - Our environment reporter Justine has been looking into

  • all of this and she'll take it from here.

  • - So basically when humans intermingle with wildlife,

  • chances increase for something called a spillover event.

  • This is when a virus jumps from one species to another.

  • It's how most new infectious diseases emerge,

  • including COVID-19.

  • When one species bites, eats, gets pooped on by another,

  • viruses from one species might infect the other.

  • Artisanal mining offers up a lot of opportunities

  • for spillover between animals and humans.

  • To get some specifics, I called up Michael Nest.

  • - Can you hear me okay?

  • Can you see me okay?

  • - [Justine] He wrote an entire book about coltan

  • and he walked me through the details of how exactly

  • one spillover event could happen.

  • - You might not have much of a perimeter at all

  • between a pit where somebody is mining

  • and the forest itself.

  • So people might go into the bush,

  • or rely on people who live the forest to bring them food.

  • - [Justine] In this case, food is bushmeat,

  • wild animals hunted, killed, and eaten.

  • In the DRC, bushmeat can mean a porcupine, rat--

  • - [Michael] A bush pig, or part of a gorilla.

  • - It's a viable way for animal viruses to meet

  • their first human host.

  • And it happens pretty often.

  • One study of miners working in the eastern DRC

  • found that a majority of them relied regularly on bushmeat.

  • They had no alternative.

  • - If you are a poor mine worker and you get the opportunity

  • to kill a gorilla and eat it because it's free meat,

  • you're very likely to do that,

  • if you think you can get away with doing that.

  • - And it's not just about bushmeat.

  • Some animals might get drawn in closer by mining.

  • Bats, for example, might take up residence in mines.

  • That ups the odds of a miner getting scratched or bitten

  • or exposed to waste.

  • Other wildlife might get displaced.

  • They might run into new groups of animals

  • and those interactions mean more chances for spillover.

  • - So it's not just the access to bush food,

  • but it's also the very close proximity to forest

  • with very little attention paid to health infrastructure

  • or public health.

  • - So far there hasn't been a major viral outbreak

  • that we can trace back to coltan mining.

  • But all the ingredients for spillover are there.

  • It's a recipe for another pandemic.

  • And it has happened around other mines.

  • An outbreak of Marburg killed 128 people in the DRC

  • between 1998 and 2000.

  • Marburg is a viral hemorrhagic fever, similar to Ebola.

  • Most of those who died were gold miners

  • who probably picked up the virus from bats

  • or other critters in mines,

  • and then spread it to their families.

  • And in 1994,

  • 31 people died from outbreaks of Ebola

  • in gold mining villages in Gabon.

  • Scientists suspect that the virus could have jumped

  • from chimpanzees to humans.

  • And if you take the widest possible view,

  • you see that there are hotspots all over the world

  • where new infectious diseases are emerging.

  • In many of those cases,

  • it's happening where people are clearing land

  • for things like mining, logging, and agriculture.

  • (high pitched musical note)

  • Because of COVID-19,

  • there's been a lot of talk about China's wet markets,

  • where researchers initially thought the virus made the jump

  • from animals to humans.

  • But the journey of this phone's minerals

  • shows that the threat of spillover is so much bigger

  • than just one scenario.

  • - Everybody's talking about the wet market (indistinct).

  • But those just really literally

  • is the tip of the iceberg really.

  • - [Justine] Carlos Zambrana-Torrelio is a scientist

  • at EcoHealth Alliance,

  • a nonprofit that works to spot animal viruses

  • before they spill over into humans.

  • He says we need to think about the connection between

  • our demand for electronics, the destruction of habitats,

  • and the consequences.

  • - Pretty much every year there's a new iPhone.

  • We should remember that it's coming from somewhere

  • in the world.

  • And then there's a whole chain that it's been affecting.

  • - [Justine] Since 2009, EcoHealth Alliance,

  • in partnership with USAID, found 1200 viruses in animals,

  • including more than 140 new Corona viruses

  • that could one day pose another global threat.

  • They'll continue to study the virus's behavior,

  • but virus behavior depends a lot on human behavior.

  • There's no getting around it.

  • - So we need to start thinking about the future as a whole,

  • as humanity, as a planet,

  • how we want to deal with this problem.

  • Do we want another pandemic 10 years from now?

  • Next year?

  • In the 50 years from now?

  • - [Justine] The next pandemic will almost certainly

  • come from some spillover in a viral hotspot.

  • And that really shouldn't come as a surprise.

  • - Usually humans, we see ourselves outside the system.

  • But we are really part of the system.

  • The reason that we share most of the diseases with animals

  • is because we are animals.

  • We are part of the animal kingdom.

  • (slow, deliberate music)

  • - Thanks so much for watching.

  • If you wanna see more of our COVID-19 coverage,

  • check out theverge.com and don't forget to subscribe.

(slow, deliberate music)

Subtitles and vocabulary

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B1 US spillover mining justine drc capacitor pandemic

Your next phone could lead to another pandemic

  • 231 27
    dnwsaa58 posted on 2020/08/08
Video vocabulary

Keywords

pandemic

US /pænˈdɛmɪk/

UK /pæn'demɪk/

  • adjective
  • (of a disease) existing in almost all of an area or in almost all of a group of people, animals, or plants
  • noun
  • a pandemic disease
deliberate

US /dɪˈlɪbərɪt/

UK /dɪ'lɪbərət/

  • adjective
  • Carefully thought out in advance
  • Done purposely
  • Done consciously and intentionally.
  • Done consciously and intentionally.
  • Careful and unhurried.
  • verb
  • To consider a problem or decision carefully
  • other
  • To think about or discuss something carefully in order to make a decision.
  • To think about or discuss something carefully in order to make a decision.
  • other
  • To discuss something carefully.
material

US /məˈtɪriəl/

UK /məˈtɪəriəl/

  • noun
  • Cloth; fabric
  • Supplies or data needed to do a certain thing
  • Substance from which a thing is made of
  • Supplies needed for a task or activity.
  • adjective
  • Relevant; (of evidence) important or significant
  • Belonging to the world of physical things
  • Relating to physical matter or substance.
  • other
  • A substance from which something is made or can be made.
  • Fabric or cloth.
  • Information or data used for a particular purpose.
interact

US /ˌɪntɚˈækt/

UK /ˌɪntər'ækt/

  • verb
  • To talk or do things with each other
  • other
  • To communicate or work together.
scratch

US /skrætʃ/

UK /skrætʃ/

  • verb
  • To rub your skin with your nails to stop an itch
  • To make a small cut or mark on a surface
  • To mark or damage the surface of something with a sharp object.
  • To rub your skin with your fingernails to relieve itching.
  • To withdraw from a competition.
  • noun
  • Action of rubbing your skin when itchy
  • A small cut or mark on a surface
  • A shallow mark or cut on a surface.
  • The beginning or starting point.
viral

US /ˈvaɪrəl/

UK /ˈvaɪrəl/

  • adjective
  • Of or caused by a virus
  • Relating to or caused by a virus.
  • Becoming very popular by circulating quickly from person to person, especially through the Internet.
  • Becoming very popular by circulating quickly from person to person, especially through the Internet.
odd

US /ɑd/

UK /ɒd/

  • adjective
  • Being unmatched with someone or something
  • Being a number not able to be divided by two
  • Being unexpected or different; out of the ordinary
component

US /kəmˈponənt/

UK /kəmˈpəʊnənt/

  • noun
  • One of the parts that something is made up of
  • A part or element of a larger whole, especially a machine or system.
  • A constituent part; ingredient.
  • A self-contained part or element of a larger mechanism or system, especially an electrical one.
  • One of two or more vectors whose sum is another vector.
  • A self-contained, reusable software module.
  • A part or element of a larger whole, especially a machine or vehicle
  • A substance that is part of a mixture
  • A self-contained part or element of a larger system, especially in mechanics or electronics.
  • A distinct part of something more complex.
  • adjective
  • Being a part of something
  • Being a part or element of a larger whole.
affect

US /əˈfɛkt/

UK /ə'fekt/

  • verb
  • To cause a change in something else
  • other
  • To have an influence on someone or something, or to cause a change in someone or something.
  • To pretend to have or feel (something).
  • noun
  • (Psychology) Emotion or feeling.
pitch

US /pɪtʃ/

UK /pɪtʃ/

  • verb
  • To suggest a product, idea to make someone buy
  • To throw a baseball to a batter
  • To plunge or fall forward or headlong
  • To set up a camp or tent for a length of time
  • To attempt to sell something to someone
  • To set a sound to a certain level
  • To throw the ball to the batter.
  • noun
  • Act of throwing a baseball for someone to hit
  • Playing fields in sports, e.g. for soccer
  • Attempt to sell/persuade someone of the value of
  • Degree of slope on e.g. a plane's wing
  • Measure of how high or low a sound is
  • Black substance that is very stick when heated
  • A persuasive sales presentation.
  • The highness or lowness of a sound.
  • An area of ground marked out for sports.
  • The angle of a slope.
  • A dark, sticky substance made from tar or resin.
  • adjective
  • Very dark black color