Mining the seafloor for clean energy – but at what cost?

+ how teachers misbehave US Edition - Today's top story: Plans for deep seabed mining pit renewable energy demand against ocean life in a largely unexplored frontier [View in browser]( US Edition | 17 January 2023 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Deep below the ocean surface between Mexico and Hawaii, the seafloor is littered with what look like cobblestones. But these are no ordinary rocks. They’re made up of rare earth metals that are essential for today’s EV batteries and many clean energy technologies – metals that are in limited supply. The rising demand for these metals, and the hunt for what politicians call “friendly” sources, has set off a rush of interest in seabed mining and a fierce debate over whether it should be banned. Little is currently known about the deep seabed or what kind of impact seabed mining might have on the ocean and its inhabitants. Scott Shackelford, Kerry Krutilla, Christiana Ochoa and David Bosco, four Indiana University scholars who have spent years studying the economic, political and legal challenges posed by seabed mining, explained [the uproar, the history and the potential for both environmental damage and economic windfall](. Also today: - [Santos isn’t the only one with a likely fake charity]( - [To improve kids’ mental health, improve their parents’]( - [Moderna’s vaccine treats, but doesn’t prevent, cancer]( Stacy Morford Environment + Climate Editor Deep sea sponges and other creatures live on and among valuable manganese nodules like this one that could be mined from the seafloor. GEOMAR [Plans for deep seabed mining pit renewable energy demand against ocean life in a largely unexplored frontier]( Scott Shackelford, Indiana University; Christiana Ochoa, Indiana University; David Bosco, Indiana University; Kerry Krutilla, Indiana University Mining nodules from the deep ocean seabed could provide the metals crucial for today’s EV batteries and renewable energy technology, but little is known about the harm it could cause. Health + Medicine - [Parents in the US had alarmingly high rates of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic – and that has a direct effect on kids]( Lucy (Kathleen) McGoron, Wayne State University One way to prevent mental health challenges in children: Recognize and treat the mental health issues of their parents. Science + Technology - [Stopping the cancer cells that thrive on chemotherapy – research into how pancreatic tumors adapt to stress could lead to a new treatment approach]( Chengsheng Wu, University of California, San Diego; David Cheresh, University of California, San Diego; Sara Weis, University of California, San Diego Some cancers are notoriously resistant to chemotherapy and not curable with surgery. Stopping tumors from adapting to the harsh microenvironments of the body could be a potential treatment avenue. - [Moderna’s experimental cancer vaccine treats but doesn’t prevent melanoma – a biochemist explains how it works]( Mark R. O'Brian, University at Buffalo Preventive and therapeutic vaccines both train the immune system to fight disease, but they are used in different ways. Politics + Society - [New Israeli power broker seeks to rewrite history to justify violence against Palestinians]( Curtis Hutt, University of Nebraska Omaha A claim about how persecuted Jews were freed from the Soviet Union decades ago relates to how Palestinians might be treated today. Economy + Business - [Allegations that the charity George Santos claims to have run was fake highlight how scams divert money from worthy causes]( Sarah Webber, University of Dayton When a fake charity is uncovered, headlines abound with details of the fraud, while donors are eager to make sure they weren’t one of the victims of the scheme. Ethics + Religion - [50 years after Roe, many ethics questions shape the abortion debate: 4 essential reads]( Molly Jackson, The Conversation Looking at the underlying philosophical and moral questions involved in abortion debates can help explain why it’s such an intensely divisive issue. Education - [Sex, drugs and alcohol are the top reasons that Texas teachers get in trouble, but overall, such cases are rare]( Sarah Guthery, Texas A&M University-Commerce; Meredith Richards, Southern Methodist University A new analysis finds that teacher sanctions are relatively rare. But when they do occur, it’s usually related to sex and drugs. From our international editions - [How immortal jellyfish turn back time]( - [Why does Nepal’s aviation industry have safety issues? An expert explains]( - [From a ‘deranged’ provocateur to IBM’s failed AI superproject: the controversial story of how data has transformed healthcare]( Today's graphic [A chart showing the number of major U.S. labor strikes from 1980 to 2022.]( From the story, [Worker strikes and union elections surged in 2022 – could it mark a turning point for organized labor?]( - - More of The Conversation Like this newsletter? 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