WEBVTT - How Does Cobalt Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren boble Bomb here coming in at number twenty seven

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<v Speaker 1>on your periodic table. Is cobalt, an essential element in

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<v Speaker 1>rechargeable batteries and jet engines. In The U. S. Department

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<v Speaker 1>of Interior issued a list of thirty five critical minerals

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<v Speaker 1>that the U. S economy can't live without, including cobalt.

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<v Speaker 1>Cobalt is even considered a national security risk because most

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<v Speaker 1>of it is mined in a politically unstable region of

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<v Speaker 1>Africa and refined in China. Let's learn more about this

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<v Speaker 1>versatile metal, first prized for its ability to create vivid

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<v Speaker 1>blue pottery, and now the key to the future of

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<v Speaker 1>electric cars. We'll start off with a bit of folklore.

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<v Speaker 1>Cobalt got its name from Gnomes. Centuries ago, miners in

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<v Speaker 1>the Schnee Barrack Mountains of modern day Germany ran into

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<v Speaker 1>a problem. They carved into the mountain side in search

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<v Speaker 1>of metal rich ore, specifically silver and nickel, but when

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<v Speaker 1>they tried to smelt the ore into its valuable metal components,

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<v Speaker 1>some impurity kept spoiling the process. Being the Middle Ages,

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<v Speaker 1>the miners blamed their smelting issues on troublesome co Belts

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<v Speaker 1>or Copolds, a medieval German word for gnome or goblin.

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<v Speaker 1>According to legend, the Copolds lived in the Schneeberg mines

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<v Speaker 1>and liked to prank humans by replacing the silver and

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<v Speaker 1>nickel in their ore with a foul mineral that released

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<v Speaker 1>poisonous fumes during the smelting process. They were also blamed

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<v Speaker 1>for Caven's. As with all good ancient legends, the gnome

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<v Speaker 1>story had a grain of truth to it. The silver

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<v Speaker 1>and nickel smelting process was complicated by high levels of

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<v Speaker 1>naturally occurring cobalt in the Schneberg rock, and a related

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<v Speaker 1>mineral called cobalite contains arsenic and sulfur, which could be

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<v Speaker 1>deadly if released in an air tight mind shaft. Cobalt

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<v Speaker 1>as its own element was first isolated and named in

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen thirty five by the Swedish chemist Giore Brandt, an

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<v Speaker 1>early critic of alchemy and probably not a fan of

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<v Speaker 1>gnomes either. Although cobalt didn't get its name until the

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<v Speaker 1>eighteenth century, Cobalt based pigments and dyes have been prized

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<v Speaker 1>for their rich blue hue for millennia. The Cobalt Institute

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<v Speaker 1>says that pottery and glass containing cobalt based glazes has

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<v Speaker 1>been recovered from Egyptian tombs dating back at least two thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>six hundred years, and the famous blue Chinese porcelain from

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<v Speaker 1>the Tang and Ming dynasties were also glazed with cobalt

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<v Speaker 1>based minerals. Pure cobalt is a shiny gray color, but

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<v Speaker 1>it can be transformed into a bright blue powder by

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<v Speaker 1>taking certain cobalt oxides that is, compounds of cobalt plus

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<v Speaker 1>oxygen and treating them with a process called calcination, in

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<v Speaker 1>which they're exposed to temperatures in excess of two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>and twelve degrees fahrenheit, which is one thousand, one hundred

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<v Speaker 1>degrees celsius. The striking color known as cobalt blue, is

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<v Speaker 1>made by heating cobalt oxide with aluminum silicates at two thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred and ninety two degrees fahrenheit that's one thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>two hundred degrees celsius. A host of other hues mazzarine blue,

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<v Speaker 1>willow blue, blue black, can be made by combining cobalt

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<v Speaker 1>oxides with other minerals. Small amounts of blue cobalt hues

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<v Speaker 1>are also used as a d colorizer to cancel out

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<v Speaker 1>yellowish hints in glass from iron contamination. Cobalt was almost

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<v Speaker 1>exclusively used as an ingredient in pigments and paints up

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<v Speaker 1>until the twentieth century. In nineteen sixteen, more than seventy

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<v Speaker 1>of all cobalt mined and refined in the world, which

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<v Speaker 1>was only four forty tons by the way, was used

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<v Speaker 1>as oxides for colorings. Today, half the world's cobalt is

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<v Speaker 1>used for rechargeable batteries. The rechargeable lithium ion batteries in

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<v Speaker 1>your smartphone, tablet, and electric vehicle run at least in

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<v Speaker 1>part on cobalt. Cobalt is one of the key ingredients,

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<v Speaker 1>along with other metals like lithium, nickel, and manganese, inside

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<v Speaker 1>these fast charging, long lasting batteries that power our digital lives.

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<v Speaker 1>About fifty of the cobalt produced worldwide is used for

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<v Speaker 1>rechargeable batteries. Cobalt is found in the cathode, that is,

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<v Speaker 1>the positively charged trode of lithium ion batteries. When a

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<v Speaker 1>lithium ion batteries charged, lithium ions flow from the cathode

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<v Speaker 1>to the negatively charged anode, where they're stored. When the

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<v Speaker 1>batteries discharged, the ions flow back to the cathode and

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<v Speaker 1>electrons are released to power the phone or electric motor.

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<v Speaker 1>Cobalt has to innate properties that make it ideal for

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<v Speaker 1>battery applications, thermal stability and high energy density. Cathodes made

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<v Speaker 1>with cobalt won't overheat easily or catch fire, which is

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<v Speaker 1>a major safety issue, and they'll also be able to

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<v Speaker 1>store and transform more energy. Cobalt is not only found

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<v Speaker 1>in the cathodes of lithium ion batteries, but also in

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<v Speaker 1>other popular rechargeable batteries like nickel cadmium and nickel metal

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<v Speaker 1>hydride batteries. Since cobalt currently makes up between ten and

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<v Speaker 1>thirty three percent of rechargeable cathodes, the automobile industry is

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<v Speaker 1>going to need a lot more cobalt to power the

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<v Speaker 1>future of electric vehicles. One analysis predicts the cobalt demand

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<v Speaker 1>from passenger vehicles alone quadruple from more than twenty seven thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>five hundred tons in to over one and ten thousand

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<v Speaker 1>tons by and Furthermore, when aerospace engineers need a material

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<v Speaker 1>that can withstand the intense heat inside a jet or

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<v Speaker 1>rocket engine, they turn to super alloys made with cobalt.

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<v Speaker 1>Super alloys are high performance metals that earn their flashy

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<v Speaker 1>name from extremely high resistance to wear and heat. Nickel

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<v Speaker 1>based super alloys outperform cobalt alloys for stress resistance for

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<v Speaker 1>temperatures reaching up to one thousand, seven hundred and six

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<v Speaker 1>degrees fahrenheit that's thy degrees celsius. Beyond that extreme temperature, though,

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<v Speaker 1>cobalt based super alloys really show their stuff. Cobalt has

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<v Speaker 1>a higher melting point than nickel, and cobalt super alloys

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<v Speaker 1>are more resistant to heat corrosion. That's why you'll find

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<v Speaker 1>cobalt super alloys in the stationary fins of gas turbine engines,

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<v Speaker 1>which take the brunt of the intense heat generated by

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<v Speaker 1>jet engines without wearing down and failing. But one of

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<v Speaker 1>the main reasons cobalt landed on the U S Department

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<v Speaker 1>of Interiors list of Critical Minerals for National Security is

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<v Speaker 1>that half of the world's cobalt is mined in the

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<v Speaker 1>Democratic Republic of Congo, or the d r C. As

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<v Speaker 1>a report from the U S Geological Survey explains, the

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<v Speaker 1>d r C has a poor history of government corruption,

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<v Speaker 1>human rights violations, and environmental damage. Related to cobalt mining,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's not only human rights groups like Amnesty International

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<v Speaker 1>that are concerned with unsafe and unethical labor practices related

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<v Speaker 1>to unregulated cobalt mining in the d r C. The

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<v Speaker 1>political and environmental instability of the d r C means

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<v Speaker 1>that a huge chunk of the cobalt supply chain is

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<v Speaker 1>vulnerable to disruption. If the high tech economy relies on

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<v Speaker 1>a steady supply of cobalt, largely to be used in

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<v Speaker 1>rechargeable batteries, then troubles in the d r C could

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<v Speaker 1>slow economic growth worldwide. The U S Geological Survey report

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<v Speaker 1>also notes that China is the main refiner of cobalt

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<v Speaker 1>and one of the biggest financial backers of large cobalt

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<v Speaker 1>mining operations in the d r C. As it stands,

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<v Speaker 1>the u US tech sector is hugely dependent on an

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<v Speaker 1>unstable source in DRC and a contentious trade partner in

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<v Speaker 1>China for its cobalt supply, which accounts for the fact

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<v Speaker 1>that the US is getting into cobalt mining. According to

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<v Speaker 1>figures from the United States consumed ten percent of the

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<v Speaker 1>world's cobalt while producing less than one percent of the

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<v Speaker 1>global cobalt supply. Cobalt isn't everywhere, but it also isn't

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<v Speaker 1>a particularly rare mineral. It ranks thirty second in abundance

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<v Speaker 1>in the Earth's crust. Only two mines in Canada and

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<v Speaker 1>Morocco can extract pure cobalt ore, while the majority is

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<v Speaker 1>extracted as a byproduct of copper and nickel mining. One

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<v Speaker 1>of the world's richest cobalt deposits is in the Central

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<v Speaker 1>African copper Belt in the DRC. The United States is

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<v Speaker 1>not blessed with a lot of high grade cobalt deposits,

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<v Speaker 1>which makes it trickier to mine profitably. The mining industry

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<v Speaker 1>also has complained of a slow permitting process to allow

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<v Speaker 1>for mineral exploration, both on shore and offshore. The Trump

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<v Speaker 1>administration has directed the Department of Interior to speed up

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<v Speaker 1>the permitting process in an effort to decrease America's reliance

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<v Speaker 1>on foreign sources of critical minerals like cobalt. Despite permitting

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<v Speaker 1>and geological obstacles, there has been some progress in US

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<v Speaker 1>cobalt mining. In the Eagle Mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

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<v Speaker 1>began mining nickel and copper, with cobalt and other minerals

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<v Speaker 1>as a byproduct. And America's first mind dedicated to cobalt

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<v Speaker 1>is getting ready to go into production in in Idaho.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh And one more fact. Cobalt is an essential micronutrient

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<v Speaker 1>in animal and human diets. Ruminants like cows transformed cobalt

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<v Speaker 1>into cobal amen, also known as vitamin B twelve. The

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<v Speaker 1>food with the highest concentration of cobalt is chocolate. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode was written by Dave Ruse and produced by Tyler Clang.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio's How

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<v Speaker 1>multi purpose topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works

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