The guys at LHC countdown are probably just excited to get the Large Hadron Collider up and running, but putting a countdown timer for its launch on their website feels too much like counting down to the end of the world. Then again, it does get me excited to have the thing launch already.

At any rate, we're still here, and the Collider's way over there (unless you live in Switzerland, in which case, warn the rest of us if a wormhole suddenly pops up beside you, and if you make contact with the Shi'ar) so now it's another edition of the Science Weekend Warrior!

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This week we go into politics. I know, I know, science and politics shouldn't mix. Separation of the church and state and all that. Still, it can't be helped. Science is power, and power is political. Biofuels, today's first topic at hand, is a prime example of how science can be used as a political tool.

 

Biofuels has been a hot topic lately. An extremely political topic too. Dare I say (beware, pun ahead) a hot potato! Get it? No? Anyway, while biofuels may be cleaner and greener than fossil fuels, it is extremely demanding on land resources. There is, after all, only a limited space on Earth to grow plants on.

The Bush administration has biofuels as one of its platforms, and claimed that producing it causes only a 3% rise in food price inflation. A leaked report from the World Bank, however, showed that the estimate is closer to 75%. It is believed the report was suppressed to spare the administration the political pressure, and the embarrassment.

The report states that as land is used more to raise crops for fuel rather than food, food becomes more expensive, aggravating the world food crisis to startling proportions. And the political hammer strikes: can the world afford biofuels? Can we afford to let parts of the world starve to spare the environment?

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This next one may be a better example of how science can be extremely political. The high demand for technology demands a metal that has a high tolerance for heat. For this, manufacturers turn to coltan, which is needed to make the element tantalum. Excellent capacity to withstand heat, and therefore good material for capacitors.

Demand for the material escalated, driven to insane heights when the world went crazy over the PlayStation 2. So high was the demand for the metal that in the Congo, where the material is found in abundance, the Rwandan army seized coltan mines and left millions dead in their wake.

Sony had since then took steps to make sure they don't use illegally mined coltan. Some manufacturing companies even went so far as to stop getting material from Africa just to make sure they don't get any stock that was mined illegally. Still, it was a high price to pay to learn how the metal was actually acquired.

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Knowledge is power. And what is science if not knowledge? Always try to know more about the world around you, so you'll have more control over it. And to quote the cliche (sorry Aunt May, but it is): with great power comes great responsibility.

Link: Large Hadron Collider activation delayed until August
Link: The price of green living? Biofuels causing world food crisis
Link: Demand for PlayStation 2 helped fuel African PlayStation War

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This week's comment of the week comes from last week's Science Weekend Warrior, from readers Donciclon and CHUCKINGROCKSATSPACESHIPS.

You're right guys, the blog isn't just for geeks, and I'm glad you guys pointed it out. I just enjoy geeking out sometimes that I just get carried away ;)