NASA has announced that it is planning to send probes to the outer edges of the Solar System and beyond and new methods of powering the long-term probes will be required. It will not be possible to power these craft with solar panels. They will have to be powered by nuclear power packs of Plutonium. As we know Plutonium is an unstable dangerous element and needs to be treated with respect. The Plutonium that will make up the power packs comes to the manufacturing process as a liquid and has to be refined. This is a very complicated affair. We were acquainted with the manufacturing process which takes place behind thick glass and inside liquid oil. All done by using mechanical hands.
We then turned our attention to gold. As we know gold is not manufactured inside our solar system. Our Sun only produces lighter elements and heavy metals can only be manufactured when vulcanisation occurs in Supernovae explosions when a star collapses or when neutron stars collide. Extreme heat is required. Gold has had to come to the earth in asteroids. Gold nuggets are found on the surface of the earth in specific areas and is not scattered randomly. Nor is it found in the earth’s core. It could not have been present when the earth formed and its molten core was established. If gold was present, being heavier than most other elements it would have sunk to the bottom.
We then watched a video showing the gold vault of the Bank of England. This is quite a large room full of gold ingots. Both the UK and other countries gold reserves are held in this room. An interesting piece of information is to calculate just what a human being would be worth if they were valued at their weight in gold. One kilogram of gold is worth $95346.00.
We also saw a report on the planned expansion of high-rise buildings in Melbourne’s CBD. If anyone has been surprised at the number of recent new high-rise buildings in Melbourne, then please note many more have been approved.
Neville Gibb