The History of Cobalt — The Goblin Ore Inside Every Battery
Relics & Realms
3,320 views
The History of Cobalt — The Goblin Ore Inside Every Battery
In the sixteenth-century silver mines of Saxony, miners unearthed a glittering stone that choked them with garlic-scented, toxic gas when exposed to a flame. They blamed underground demons for the lethal trap, naming the cursed rock 'kobold'. How did this venomous, seemingly useless trash become the single irreplaceable ingredient keeping the modern world from bursting into flames?
⏱ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The Goblin in the Silver Mine
1:57 The Pharaohs' Hidden Blue
3:59 The Venice Smalt Syndicate
5:55 Georg Brandt's Furnace
7:34 The Secret of Ming Porcelain
9:25 The High-Temperature Magnet
11:21 Elwood Haynes and the Stellite Blade
13:09 The Jet Engine Catalyst
14:45 The Katanga Copper Crescent
16:45 The Cobalt-60 Radiation Weapon
19:06 The Sony Camcorder Cathode
20:50 The Chemical Straitjacket
23:16 The Smartphone Demand Spike
25:08 The Electric Vehicle Bottleneck
27:00 The Artisanal Miners of Kolwezi
29:05 The Silent Refining Chain
30:50 The Race for the Zero-Cobalt Battery
32:42 The Demon Metal We Cannot Escape
If this surprised you, subscribe for more hidden histories behind the objects you use every day.
#history #documentary #cobalt
3 Comments
The History of Cobalt — The Goblin Ore Inside Every Battery
Relics & Realms
3,320 views
The History of Cobalt — The Goblin Ore Inside Every Battery
In the sixteenth-century silver mines of Saxony, miners unearthed a glittering stone that choked them with garlic-scented, toxic gas when exposed to a flame. They blamed underground demons for the lethal trap, naming the cursed rock 'kobold'. How did this venomous, seemingly useless trash become the single irreplaceable ingredient keeping the modern world from bursting into flames?
⏱ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The Goblin in the Silver Mine
1:57 The Pharaohs' Hidden Blue
3:59 The Venice Smalt Syndicate
5:55 Georg Brandt's Furnace
7:34 The Secret of Ming Porcelain
9:25 The High-Temperature Magnet
11:21 Elwood Haynes and the Stellite Blade
13:09 The Jet Engine Catalyst
14:45 The Katanga Copper Crescent
16:45 The Cobalt-60 Radiation Weapon
19:06 The Sony Camcorder Cathode
20:50 The Chemical Straitjacket
23:16 The Smartphone Demand Spike
25:08 The Electric Vehicle Bottleneck
27:00 The Artisanal Miners of Kolwezi
29:05 The Silent Refining Chain
30:50 The Race for the Zero-Cobalt Battery
32:42 The Demon Metal We Cannot Escape
If this surprised you, subscribe for more hidden histories behind the objects you use every day.
#history #documentary #cobalt