This story grabbed my attention:

Researchers at the University of Strathclyde are joining partners in Canada to develop new methods for cleaning up contaminated water from mines.

The project is aimed at removing harmful dissolved metals from the water and recovering them for reuse.

This is the sort of thing that should be happening everywhere there are mines. And there are mines everywhere, so it should be happening all over. I like that this is a partnership between the UK and Canada. Canada’s economy depends on mining.

Mining is essential but it is wasteful and polluting. Not to mention having a history—a long, storied infamy—of exploiting and brutalizing workers.

If you dig a hole in the ground and process the stuff, none of it should be wasted. It should all be used in some manner. Mining uses a very large amount of water. It’s something mining companies don’t talk about because mining’s thirst is enormous and that demand makes huge impacts on local environments.

So it’s cool that these folks are doing this stuff. Both universities receive funding from their respective governments to do the work. That’s how the system works! Government funding of science and other research is a public good. It benefits society. And it keeps our growing knowledge base intact so other people can learn from it and the human race can improve.

This is why the Orange Asshole and His Fascist Minions are terribly stupid for attacking universities. And for slashing the budgets for research and for science facilities. You don’t get smarter by crippling the very institutions that do the work of helping the human race get smarter! But Emperor Don the First isn’t interested in intellectual advancement. And that’s unfortunate.

If we want a clean energy future and clean air and water we have to do a better job mining the earth. And farming, too. And manufacturing, and building, and everything else. And that takes a lot of brainpower and a lot of places to do brain-powering. From the story:

Professor Alejandro Adem, President of NSERC, said: “International partnerships like this one are essential to tackling global challenges such as critical mineral security. By combining Canada’s expertise with the UK’s, we can accelerate innovation and advance sustainable solutions to drive economic growth, resilience, and environmental responsibility.”

NSERC stands for Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.