Olympic Gold Made of Recycled Circuits

[Logan Westbrook]

Olympic Gold Made of Recycled Circuits

The medals for the 2010 Winter Olympics will contain metal salvaged from old printed circuit boards.

In a strange parallel to the inevitable future where robots wear the remains of humans as grisly trophies, the medals for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver next year will contain material reclaimed from old printed circuit boards, or PCBs.

The various metals that go up to making the weighty medals - each one weighing around 1lb - 1.5lb - have been harvested from PCBs where it otherwise have just been landfill, possibly even from the casualties of the secret robots wars of the 70s.

The medals already break from tradition, featuring work by Canadian artists Corrine Hunt and Omer Arbel, and are laser-etched with unique designs so that no two medals are exactly alike.

While a few pounds of metal, isn't going to make a huge dent in the problem of electronic waste, it's nice to see an organization - albeit an unexpected one like the Olympic commission - taking an interest.

Source: Technabob [http://technabob.com/blog/2009/10/16/2010-olympics-medals-recycled/] via Engadget [http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/17/2010-olympic-medals-include-material-from-recycled-circuit-board/]


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[Beefcakes]

...In a strange parallel to the inevitable future where robots wear the remains of humans as grisly trophies...

Thanks, now I won't sleep tonight...

On a more related note, I always knew there was gold in circuitry of things, but I always thought the amount was so insignificant that it would be worth heating a furnace to smelt it out (or how ever its accomplished)
And I always assumed that 'Gold' medals contained very little actual gold, if any at all

Well, the more you know...

 

[Abedeus]

I doubt I'll ever need to worry about what's in one of those suckers.

You should worry. The Canadians aren't making ordinary medals; They're making cybernetic mind-control medals out of computer chips to enslave the athletic elite of humanity and take over the world with a genetically superior master race! They'll doom us all.

Aww crap. Did you see our Polish shot-putting golden medalist? 120kg, 2.05m and he's got a monstrous BEARD. His wife is head and a half lower and at least three times smaller than he is.

I don't want to fight him, really.

 

[The Kangaroo]

They look awesome

 

[messy]

They do look pretty cool, just waiting for the nerd revolution where athletes are stripped of ultimately pointless trophies and they are used to make CPUs.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

I'd thought this was less of a statement, and more that Gold costs a he'll of a lot, and they couldn't afford new ones. Well the winter olympics don't really count anyway.

 

[Radeonx]

You should worry. The Canadians aren't making ordinary medals; They're making cybernetic mind-control medals out of computer chips to enslave the athletic elite of humanity and take over the world with a genetically superior master race! They'll doom us all.

Pfffahahahahaha.

They're going to enslave us with athletes?
All you have to do is wave something shiny in front of their faces.

War won!
Let's all go get some fucking waffles.

Yes! We'll use the new gold metals as napkins, too!

 

[SinisterDeath]

This isn't a new practice. Look at it this way. You have tons and tons of circut boards basically being tosses in the trash every day. And each board may have a few mgs of gold on it. No one wants it. But you'll say 'hey we'll take it!'. And we might even charge you a ridiculously low amount of money for handleing it! Assuming they can make enough from the charges to pay for actually disposing of the leftover materials, theres tons of materials in it, that can be resold.

Hell, Steel they say a good majority of Steel is recycles, and the more it gets 'recycles' the purer it gets. (course, I don't know how they can claim 'pure steel' when its a combination of varying metals...)

Recyling metal is nothing new dudes.

 

[Darth Pope]

This isn't a new practice. Look at it this way. You have tons and tons of circut boards basically being tosses in the trash every day. And each board may have a few mgs of gold on it. No one wants it. But you'll say 'hey we'll take it!'. And we might even charge you a ridiculously low amount of money for handleing it! Assuming they can make enough from the charges to pay for actually disposing of the leftover materials, theres tons of materials in it, that can be resold.

Hell, Steel they say a good majority of Steel is recycles, and the more it gets 'recycles' the purer it gets. (course, I don't know how they can claim 'pure steel' when its a combination of varying metals...)

Recyling metal is nothing new dudes.

Pure steel as in carbon, iron, and maybe the zinc coating if it's galvanized.

 

[Anacortian]

Metal is elementally basic and infinitely reusable. I really don't care whence the material comes. Scrap metal is a fine resource. Recycled metal is older than recycling as it is currently and greenly understood. My problem with the new medals is their look. I do not mind if they are made of junk, but they shouldn't look like junk.

 

[Pigeon_Grenade]

Awesome, im hoping Canada gets a Gold or 2 this time

 

[SilverHammerMan]

Damn it. This is why I hate the city of Vancouver and British Columbia in general.

 

[Lord_Panzer]

Damn it. This is why I hate the city of Vancouver and British Columbia in general.

Because they've found a clever way to recycle?

 

[Doc Theta Sigma]

...In a strange parallel to the inevitable future where robots wear the remains of humans as grisly trophies...

Yargh that's going to replace the whale in my nightmares. Cookie for the reference.

I love the design of the metals and its a sensible idea. After all who wants old circuitboards any more?

 

[Shapsters]

Awesome, im hoping Canada gets a Gold or 2 this time

They had better! Damn Canadians cant even get a damn Gold medal!

I think this is very cool and I am quite impressed. And being fairly close to the Olympics themselves, I am very excited!

 

[SilverHammerMan]

Because they're hippies. An unfair generalization true, but really? Recycled gold medals? COME ON!
Now recycled bronze medals I could see, just to add to the shame of getting the bronze medal.
Plus, why do all the medals have to look arty and unique, the one in the picture in the article just looks weird.