Do Resources Actually Run Out?

[Windevoid]

I don't know for sure, but what if there isn't a limit on
oil at all? What if quantum mysticism is right? What if there isn't a limit on
gold or silver or platinum either? I mean humans have made jewelry since at
least the time of the Celts but probably back to the Egyptians, but we're sill
using and having gold! And it's still plentiful enough to be sold in stores and
jewelry shops! Same with silver! What if there's no such thing as a
nonrenewable resource?

[l07971]

What if quantum mysticism is right?

"Quantum misticism" is a name given to a bunch of "claims" made by people who don't understand one bit of quantum mechanics, or the amazing math behind it. They have no idea what they talk about.

 

 

What if there isn't a limit on

gold or silver or platinum either? I mean humans have made jewelry since at

least the time of the Celts but probably back to the Egyptians, but we're sill

using and having gold! And it's still plentiful enough to be sold in stores and

jewelry shops! Same with silver! What if there's no such thing as a

nonrenewable resource?

If, at any moment, there's a finite amount of a material on Earth, then, it cannot be unlimited, unless it is being created in some way.

Gold, platinum and other elements cannot be created on Earth, since new elements can only be created inside stars or during their explosions.

So, no, those aren't "renewable" elements on Earth. However, new elements are constantly being created in universe, so it is "renewable" in that sense.

[John Cuthber]

Some resources have run out because they were over exploited.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Pigeon

There is no reason to suppose that it can't happen again.

 

Gold is getting more expensive, partly because it's getting rare.

[Ophiolite]

I don't know for sure, but what if there isn't a limit on oil at all? What if quantum mysticism is right? What if there isn't a limit on gold or silver or platinum either? I mean humans have made jewelry since at least the time of the Celts but probably back to the Egyptians, but we're sill using and having gold! And it's still plentiful enough to be sold in stores andjewelry shops!

All the gold ever mined in human history (and pre-history) would, it is estimated, occupy a cube 20.7 m on a side. A single mansion has more volume than this.

[StringJunky]

Through the ages the gold was constantly being recycled and up until the age of micro-components wasn't actually being 'used up' or unrecyclable. Apparently, we are now in a situation where we are starting to use gold in an unrecoverable manner and therefore could conceivably exhaust it.

Edited June 12, 2013 by StringJunky

[Windevoid]

I mean, if resources were going to run out, then we would have mined all of a resource
after about 4-12 years, but we are still ale to mine/get these resources!

[John Cuthber]

I mean, if resources were going to run out, then we would have mined all of a resource

after about 4-12 years, but we are still ale to mine/get these resources!

 

 

 

Do you realise that what you posted there is nonsense?

[Windevoid]

The USGS has a
mineral deposit map viewable in Google Earth. And Minex Consulting has
discovery and mining data.

[ACG52]

The USGS has a

mineral deposit map viewable in Google Earth. And Minex Consulting has

discovery and mining data.

And the figures you've posted are completely unsupported nonsense.

 

Word of advice, finish High School. If you dropped out, go back.

[Bignose]

I mean, if resources were going to run out, then we would have mined all of a resource

after about 4-12 years, but we are still ale to mine/get these resources!

I mean, if I thought I could fly, and I jumped off a building, what if I just missed the ground? Then I would be flying! *Hat tip to Douglas Adams

 

I mean, if I ran around my carpets with just socks and shocked a wondrous battery that held my shocks, then I couldn't have to pay an electricity bill anymore!

 

I mean, if only I could speak the language of cats, I would be the world's greatest cat whisperer and be able to put that smug bastard Jackson Galaxy in his place!

 

Wishing is fun.

 

But it isn't science.

 

You need to have some semblance of evidence to back up statements to even start to sniff science. Just posting random wishes doesn't qualify. Sorry.

Edited June 13, 2013 by Bignose

[SamBridge]

I don't know for sure, but what if there isn't a limit on

oil at all? What if quantum mysticism is right? What if there isn't a limit on

gold or silver or platinum either? I mean humans have made jewelry since at

least the time of the Celts but probably back to the Egyptians, but we're sill

using and having gold! And it's still plentiful enough to be sold in stores and

jewelry shops! Same with silver! What if there's no such thing as a

nonrenewable resource?

 

 

 

If you can build some kind of bubble that will trap all energy in a small enough radius you will theoretically never run out of the energy you need to operate the initial conditions. As energy becomes dissipated it will build up more heat which in turn will fuel chemical reactions and re-emit that heat only to be used again. Otherwise, what you're saying doesn't make sense. The amount of energy that appears spontaneously produced from space is next to nothing, you can't get any usable amount energy from it even in a cubic mile, considering that nuclei take massive amounts of energy to hold together, elements won't be spontaneously created any time soon.

[Ophiolite]

If you can build some kind of bubble that will trap all energy in a small enough radius you will theoretically never run out of the energy you need to operate the initial conditions.

 

Have you heard of thermodynamics?

[SamBridge]

Have you heard of thermodynamics?

Yes, that's why I said to a bubble. Gradually the energy would be dissipated into heat energy through friction and kinetic energy from sound waves or in other words the entropy would increase, according to thermodynamics, so if you could make a bubble that trapped all energy inside from ever escaping, with mechanisms to support life that were powered by chemicals which released a lot of energy in one reaction and were fueled by the surrounding air temperature in a endothermic reaction, since the heat wouldn't ever escape the system, you could hypothetically have a small enough radius such that the thermal and kinetic energy builds up to power those chemical reactions that release that energy in the first place to support interior life in the first place. Though I would imagine you would have some initial energy because someone wouldn't want to start out at 1K and wait for a chemical reaction to heat everything up. I don't know of anything that can do that, but that's really the only time I can think of where resources wouldn't be limited considering the population stayed the same.

[imatfaal]

!

Moderator Note

Commenting on the level of another poster's education is not helpful and could be seen as running foul of SF.N rules. Please direct your responses at the argument not the member. Thanks.

[SamBridge]

Sorry???

[Ophiolite]

Yes, that's why I said to a bubble. Gradually the energy would be dissipated into heat energy through friction and kinetic energy from sound waves or in other words the entropy would increase, according to thermodynamics, so if you could make a bubble that trapped all energy inside from ever escaping, with mechanisms to support life that were powered by chemicals which released a lot of energy in one reaction and were fueled by the surrounding air temperature in a endothermic reaction, since the heat wouldn't ever escape the system, you could hypothetically have a small enough radius such that the thermal and kinetic energy builds up to power those chemical reactions that release that energy in the first place to support interior life in the first place. Though I would imagine you would have some initial energy because someone wouldn't want to start out at 1K and wait for a chemical reaction to heat everything up. I don't know of anything that can do that, but that's really the only time I can think of where resources wouldn't be limited considering the population stayed the same.

OK, you've heard of thermodynamics, but you don't understand it. Fair enough.

[Delta1212]

Yes, that's why I said to a bubble. Gradually the energy would be dissipated into heat energy through friction and kinetic energy from sound waves or in other words the entropy would increase, according to thermodynamics, so if you could make a bubble that trapped all energy inside from ever escaping, with mechanisms to support life that were powered by chemicals which released a lot of energy in one reaction and were fueled by the surrounding air temperature in a endothermic reaction, since the heat wouldn't ever escape the system, you could hypothetically have a small enough radius such that the thermal and kinetic energy builds up to power those chemical reactions that release that energy in the first place to support interior life in the first place. Though I would imagine you would have some initial energy because someone wouldn't want to start out at 1K and wait for a chemical reaction to heat everything up. I don't know of anything that can do that, but that's really the only time I can think of where resources wouldn't be limited considering the population stayed the same.

Yes, but eventually you'd run out of those chemicals that release energy. Saying that they'd be re-formed by an endothermic reaction using the ambient heat (that they released) is a bit like building an elevator that goes up by dropping a counter-weight, and then raises the counter-weight back up by dropping the elevator.

 

In that case, no weight is leaving the system, but your ability to use that weight to lift things decreases. It's the same with energy. It takes more energy than is released by a chemical reaction to store that energy again in the same form. You will always wind up with less usable energy at the end than when you started. That doesn't mean that the energy has left the system, it just means you can't use it to do work.

 

Eventually, your bubble will run out of energy that can do work and that resource will be "used up" even though the total energy in the bubble remains unchanged.