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This year's <keyword id="20028513" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Olympic-Games" source="keywords">Olympic Games</keyword> are all set to kick off on Friday, July 26! The Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony will unfold in a spectacular six-kilometre-long floating procession along the Seine River. Athletes will traverse Paris aboard 160 boats, culminating their journey at the Trocadero, all while the Eiffel Tower gleams with lights.<br /><br />A key highlight of the ceremony will be the arrival of the <keyword id="21323045" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Olympic-flame" source="keywords">Olympic flame</keyword>, carried by the final torchbearer. Upon reaching the arena, the torchbearer will complete a lap before lighting the Olympic cauldron, marking the official commencement of the Games.<br /><br />But where does this iconic Olympic flame originate? Its creation involves a timeless ritual that bridges the ancient traditions of Greece with the modern Olympic Games.<br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Olympia's timeless tradition: Igniting the flame of peace and friendship" comment="subhead" text="Olympia's timeless tradition: Igniting the flame of peace and friendship"><span data-til="noop">Olympia's timeless tradition: Igniting the flame of peace and friendship</span></cmsannotation><br />To this day, the Olympic flame lighting ceremony takes place at Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the Games. This ritual, conducted months before the <keyword id="19933819" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Olympics" source="keywords">Olympics</keyword>, symbolises peace and international friendship.<br /><br />The Olympic flame's origins date back to ancient Greece, where a sacred fire was maintained at the altar of Hestia, the goddess of the hearth. This fire was ignited using the sun's rays, focused through a parabolic mirror—a method still employed today.<br /><br />During this ceremony, a group of women known as the Vestal Virgins performs a ritual at the <keyword id="22541691" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="temple-of-hera" source="keywords">Temple of Hera</keyword>. The high priestess, clad in traditional garb, calls upon the sun god Apollo and uses a <keyword id="22541690" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="parabolic-mirror" source="keywords">parabolic mirror</keyword> to concentrate sunlight onto a torch, ensuring the flame is ignited purely by natural sunlight.<br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Steps of the Olympic flame lighting ceremony" comment="subhead" text="Steps of the Olympic flame lighting ceremony"><span data-til="noop">Steps of the Olympic flame lighting ceremony</span></cmsannotation><br /><strong>Preparation</strong>: The ceremony starts with the high priestess and her attendants assembling at the Temple of Hera, where they perform preparatory rituals.<br /><br /><strong>Invocation</strong>: The high priestess prays to Apollo, seeking his assistance in lighting the torch.<br /><br /><strong>Ignition</strong>: Sunlight is focused through the parabolic mirror, generating intense heat to ignite the torch. If weather conditions are adverse, a backup flame from a previous rehearsal may be used.<br /><br /><strong>Symbolic acts</strong>: Once ignited, the flame is placed in an urn and handed to the first torchbearer, usually a Greek athlete. The ceremony includes the recitation of a poem by the ancient poet Pindar and the release of doves, symbolising peace.<br /><br /><strong><keyword id="22423490" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="torch-relay" source="keywords">Torch relay</keyword></strong>: The flame then embarks on its journey, travelling across Greece before being delivered to the host city of the upcoming Olympic Games. This relay serves as a living link between the ancient and modern Olympics, carrying a message of peace and unity.<br /><div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112005542" title="Paris Olympics 2024 opening ceremony – when is it, how to watch and all you need to know" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>The lighting of the Olympic flame is far more than a ceremonial act; it encapsulates the essence of the Olympics. It serves as a tribute to the ancient Games and their ideals, such as peace and international camaraderie, while emphasising the ongoing continuity of the Olympic movement from past to present and future.<br />

From sunbeams to Olympic dreams: How a simple mirror creates the legendary Olympic flame

<ul class="summary-list"><li>GameStop stock is still the fascination of day traders, even after many saw big losses in 2021.</li><li>The allure of striking it rich on the meme stock is too great to ignore, traders told BI.</li></ul><p><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/gme-stock">GameStop</a> stock has seen a resurgence this year, and traders who lost big time in the first round of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gamestop-meme-sales-3-billion-explained-2024-6">meme-stock mania</a> say they're still tempted by the possibility of striking it rich betting on the ailing video game retailer.</p><p>The stock is up about 43% year-to-date but was up as much as 178% in May when the 2024 rally kicked off.</p><p>Interest in the stock was revived overnight after the trader <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gamestop-stock-price-roaring-kitty-keith-gill-investing-markets-outlook-2024-6">Keith Gill</a> — known on social media as "Roaring Kitty" — began <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1789807772542067105">posting about it on X </a>in early May and then later on Reddit, where he shared screenshots of his brokerage statement showing a $116 million stake.</p><p>Based on data at the end of March, Gill's 9 million shares of GameStop made him <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/roaring-kitty-nearly-doubles-gamestop-position-to-9-million-shares-2024-6">the fourth-largest holder of the stock</a>.</p><p>His posts broke a years-long silence and reinvigorated the meme-stock faithful on Reddit and other forums.</p><p>Business Insider spoke with retail traders, who asked to use only their first name for privacy, about how past losses are impacting their decision to go long GameStop again.</p><h2 id="93ef0214-d7a9-49c4-8f8d-2f4f53d6b8ed">'I drank the Kool-Aid'</h2><p>Dan, a 29-year-old retail investor who jumped into the meme-stock world in 2021, estimates he put around $40,000 into GameStop during the pandemic after seeing several promising threads on the stock on the subreddit r/WallStreetBets.</p><p>His stake multiplied to around $200,000 in value before the stock tumbled again. He ultimately sold his shares for a loss, according to brokerage statements viewed by Business Insider.</p><p>"I found a lot of Reddit users, particularly on the Wall Street Bets community, come up with all this sort of diligence and research about GameStop. Then I kind of went down that rabbit hole," he said of his first foray into GameStop. "Then the initial dump happened, so to speak, from the $300 range back down to the $100 range, and I was needless to say very distraught. It was just a crushing blow to my spirit and everything."</p><p>Never did it occur to Dan to sell his shares when GameStop peaked. The prospect that the stock would soar even higher was too intoxicating, he says.</p><p>"I drank the Kool-Aid, so to speak, of the Reddit community and the GameStop zealots," he said. "The FOMO or the fear of missing out was so high that at the time there was no part of me that even considered selling. So obviously in retrospect, it would have been a good call."</p><p>Dan ended up speaking to therapists to help him come to terms with his losses. Still, he couldn't help himself from scooping up more GameStop shares when the stock rocketed higher this year.</p><p>"I dabbled a little bit with this current uptrend, certainly nowhere near the levels I was putting in before. I made a little bit on it, then I lost a little bit on it, so it's just been kind of a wash," he said, adding that he was mostly drawn to the latest rally out of "amusement."</p><h2 id="12608954-744d-4fce-9d43-461833335e4a">Seeking financial freedom</h2><p>Brian, another retail trader who invested in GameStop in 2020, says he was also drawn back in amid this year's RoaringKitty-fueled rally.</p><p>"When he posted, I kind of dabbled into it," he told BI. "You see all the hype around it, and then you see the price just shoot up. It's hard not to want to just jump in."</p><p>The allure of GameStop stock has been the potential for a big, quick payday, Brian added, and plowing cash into a meme stock is like buying a lotto ticket for a chance at financial independence.</p><p>"[They] could essentially just make you financially free. You never have to work," he said. "I live in the Bay area of California, so it's very hard out here if you don't have a very well-paid job or if you don't have a dual income … So I was looking for something that could gain me the freedom to not have to work and grind it out every day."</p><p>Others echoed that sentiment, noting that the chance to hit it big is too enticing to sit it out as the stock starts going parabolic.</p><p>"I've been unemployed since November and I've been struggling to find work," said Zaine, another retail trader.</p><p>He never traded meme stocks but has bet against risky assets during the pandemic. His portfolio ballooned to as much as $75,000 before plunging to near zero, screenshots of his brokerage account show.</p><p>"You go to these outlets thinking, I can just make a little bit of money on the side to kind of just survive," he said. "And it ends up being this snowball effect that, if you don't look at yourself in the mirror, you can really end up losing everything."</p>

These retail traders lost big in the first meme stock episode. Here's why they won't stop betting on GameStop. 

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>A popular Reddit thread suggests a US scientist once lit his cigarette with a nuclear <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/explosions">explosion</a>.</li><li>The story appears to be true: Theoretical physicist Ted Taylor ignited his smoke with thermal energy released by a test blast on June 1, 1952, according to a book published in 1999.</li><li>Taylor used a cup-shaped mirror to focus the light from the detonation onto the tip of his <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/cigarettes">cigarette</a>.</li><li>A 1955 video by the US Department of <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="defense">Defense</keyword> suggests word (and emulation) of Taylor's gag may have spread among other <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/nuclear-weapons">nuclear weapons</a> testers.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>There all kinds of strange ways to light up a cigarette, from blowtorches to magnifying glasses. But few people on Earth have ever used as bizarre or overkill a method as devised by a Cold War physicist: the explosion of a nuclear bomb.</p><p>On Sunday, a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/cs5e2k/til_that_physicist_ted_taylor_was_the_first/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thread</a> in Reddit's popular "r/TodayILearned" community mentioned the <a href="http://awesci.com/nuclear-bomb-cigarette-lighter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">story</a> of how theoretical physicist Ted Taylor used the blinding flash of an atomic explosion to light a cigarette in 1952.</p><p>Records of "atomic cigarette lighter" events aren't exactly robust, but it appears Taylor was the first to come up with the idea. That's according to author Richard L. Miller, whose 1999 book "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Under-Cloud-Decades-Nuclear-Testing/dp/1881043053" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Under the Cloud: The Decades of Nuclear Testing</a>" chronicled the event <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=adI-6jRDipgC&amp;lpg=PP1&amp;pg=PA154#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in detail</a>.</p><p>Taylor apparently lit his cigarette during a Operation Tumbler-Snapper, which was a series of test blasts orchestrated by the US military at the Nevada Test Site. The operation happened in the throes of the Korean War - a conflict in which President Harry Truman considered dropping the bomb (<a href="https://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/how-korean-war-almost-went-nuclear-180955324/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">again</a>).</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-nuclear-blast-videos-2017-3">Hundreds of never-before-seen nuclear blast videos show terrifying explosions in the ocean and Nevada desert</a></em></p><p>Government officials codenamed the test explosion or shot in question "George" because it was the seventh in a series (and "G" is the seventh letter of the alphabet). Its purpose wasn't to light up a smoke, of course: Military researchers placed a roughly 3,000-pound nuclear bomb design known as the Mark 5 atop a 30o-foot-tall tower to try out a new blast-triggering technology, according to <a href="https://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Tumblers.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Nuclear Weapons Archive</a>.</p><p>The day before the test shot, Taylor apparently found a spare parabolic (cup-shaped) mirror, according to Miller's book, and set it up in the facility's control building ahead of time. Taylor knew exactly where to place the mirror so that it'd gather light from the test explosion - which would release <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nukemap-nuclear-blast-estimates-radioactive-fallout-shelters-2018-10">gobs of thermal energy</a> - and focus it on a particular spot.</p><p>Next, Taylor hung a Pall Mall cigarette on a wire so that its tip would float directly in front of the focused light beam. The arrangement wasn't too different in principle from holding out a magnifying glass to concentrate sunlight on a piece of paper and light it on fire.</p><p>On June 1, 1952, Taylor and other weapons experts huddled into the bunker-like control building near Area 3 of the <a href="https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/facility/nts-areas-1.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yucca Flats</a> weapons test basin in Nevada. Then they set off the bomb.</p><p>"In a second or so the concentrated, focused light from the weapon ignited the tip of the cigarette. He had made the world's first atomic cigarette lighter," Miller wrote of Taylor's setup.</p><h2>'It is a form of patting the bomb'</h2><p>Taylor's nuclear-age antics likely did not stop with him.</p><p>Martin Pfeiffer, an anthropologist who researches humanity's relationship with nuclear weapons (and who frequently <a href="https://www.patreon.com/nuclearanthro" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forces the release of documents</a> related to the bomb) <a href="https://twitter.com/NuclearAnthro/status/1163216566151815168" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> that a 1955 Department of Defense film appears to show the concept in action.</p><p>About 19 minutes into the half-hour <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eD1mro_xq8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">movie</a>, titled "Operation Teapot Military Effects Studies," a narrator describes how parabolic mirrors were used to concentrate the light-based energy from nuclear explosions on samples of ceramics.</p><p>In the clip, a person's hand holds the tip of a cigarette in a beam of focused light, causing it to smoke and ignite:</p><p>Although this looks like another cigarette being lit by a nuclear weapon, that's unlikely.</p><p>There's no blinding flash - a telltale effect of a nuclear explosion - and the length of time the light beam stays on-screen is far too long as well. The person being filmed probably just held out his cigarette for the videographer so as to demonstrate the concept of a parabolic mirror focusing would-be bomb energy.</p><p>Still, it's not hard to imagine the story of Taylor's feat spreading among his colleagues over many years and hundreds of above-ground US nuclear test shots. A few others probably tried it themselves.</p><p>In any case, Pfeiffer isn't enamored by such stunts.</p><p>"Lighting a cigarette with a nuclear weapon ... is at least in part an effort of domestication of nuclear weapons through a performance articulating it to a most quotidian act of cigarette lighting," he <a href="https://twitter.com/NuclearAnthro/status/1163216566151815168" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>. "It is a form of patting the bomb."</p><p>That is to say: The act risks trivializing nuclear weapons, which can and have inflicted mass death and destruction. The US nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, for example, led to <a href="http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/cab/200708230009.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approximately 150,000 casualties</a> - and decades of suffering for many who survived the attacks.</p><p>Today, above-ground nuclear testing is mostly banned worldwide, since it can spread <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/survive-nuclear-explosion-go-inside-shelter-no-windows-2018-1">radioactive fallout</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nukes-electromagnetic-pulse-electronics-2017-5">mess with electronics</a>, be mistaken for an act of war, and more. But US-Russia relations have deteriorated to the point that each nation is racing to develop and test new nuclear armaments.</p><p>The Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, or <a href="https://www.ctbto.org/specials/who-we-are/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CTBT</a>, endeavors to ban nuclear explosions "by everyone, everywhere: on the Earth's surface, in the atmosphere, underwater, and underground." Russia has <a href="https://www.ctbto.org/the-treaty/status-of-signature-and-ratification/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed and ratified the treaty</a>, but eight other nations have yet to complete both steps and bring it into effect.</p><p>The United States signed on to the CTBT in 1996, but Congress has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-test-ban-treaty-countries-2015-10">yet to ratify the nation's participation</a> in the agreement. There are also nearly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-weapons-stockpiles-world-map-2017-8">15,000 nuclear weapons</a> in existence today, which means the atomic cigarette lighter trick could, almost certainly for worse, be tried again.</p><div><div style="position:relative; padding-bottom:calc(64.60% + 44px)"></div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/godzilla-wwii-japan-nuclear-bombs-monster-kaiju-fishing-boat-2019-6">The true story you probably don't know behind 'Godzilla' came from the devastation after Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Yes, a physicist once lit his cigarette with a nuclear bomb explosion. Here's how it worked.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Thousands of <keyword id="11895317" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cryptocurrencies" source="Orion">cryptocurrencies</keyword> now exist.</li><li>It can be difficult to pick winners in such a saturated space.</li><li>Insider has asked several experts about where they see the biggest opportunities in <keyword id="11961769" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="altcoins" source="Orion">altcoins</keyword>.</li></ul><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/crypto">Cryptocurrencies</a> have exploded in popularity over the last several months. Of course, the most popular remains <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd">bitcoin</a>.</p><p>But some other smaller cryptos are gaining serious steam as well, as the concept of digital currencies continues to seep into the public consciousness.</p><p>However, it can be difficult to know which cryptocurrencies to invest in, or whether you should in the first place. There are currently <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/tech/most-important-cryptocurrencies-other-than-bitcoin/">thousands of different types of coins</a> on the market. And some - like dogecoin, which was founded as a joke - don't appear to be serious. Others, like some built on the Ethereum blockchain, appear to have better use cases. </p><p>And overall, there are legitimate concerns over whether the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/altcoin-surge-crash-solana-cardano-binance-xrp-bitcoin-may-jpmorgan-2021-9">altcoin boom is unsustainable</a> and will soon come crashing down.</p><p>Crypto is an esoteric domain - its intricacies can be difficult to understand, especially for those new to the space.</p><p>To help cut through the noise, Insider has talked to several experts about which altcoins - cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin - they believe have the best upside. These experts also described the fundamentals and technicals that make these altcoins attractive. Their views are shared in the articles below.</p><p>img</p><p>hed with link and appendage </p><p>blurb</p><div type="image" title="This is a headshot photo of Coach JV. He's wearing a black t-shirt and smiling into the camera." height="4000" width="5333" msid="86439248" hostid="261"></div><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/altcoins-to-buy-upcoming-parabolic-bull-run-banking-veteran-crypto-2021-9?r=altcoins-lp">4 altcoins to buy: A 12-year banking veteran says the biggest generational wealth transfer that's about to take place will trigger a 'parabolic' bull run in crypto. He explains how he's maximizing gains on the cryptos he's holding.</a></h2><p>John Vasquez quit a 12-year banking career to dive into crypto full-time.</p><p>He's betting that the massive wealth transfer from baby boomers to their younger heirs will lead to a crypto boom.</p><p>Vasquez, known as Coach JV on social media, explained what people should know about crypto before <keyword id="11896289" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="investing" source="Orion">investing</keyword> and the altcoins he's buying.</p><h2><strong><div type="image" title="Adrian Zduńczyk" height="1500" width="2000" msid="85684659" hostid="261"></div></strong></h2><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/altcoins-that-could-surge-in-next-legendary-altcoin-season-crypto-2021-8?r=altcoins-lp"><strong>5 altcoins that could surge 10-100x in the coming 'legendary' altcoin season that outshines bitcoin, according to a crypto technical analyst who's holding them</strong></a></h2><p>Crypto technical analyst Adrian Zduńczyk says some altcoins due to outperform bitcoin in a  "legendary" way. Zduńczyk is the founder and CEO of the Birb Nest, a trading platform. He shared five altcoins with us that he thinks could surge 10-100 times. </p><h2><strong><div type="image" title="Matthew Sigel" height="959" width="1278" msid="85684661" hostid="261"></div></strong></h2><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/altcoins-to-buy-competitors-ethereum-blockchain-digital-assets-smart-contracts-2021-8?r=altcoins-lp"><strong>The head of digital assets research at an $81 billion money manager breaks down 3 drivers fueling the $2 trillion crypto market's latest bull run - and shares 3 competing altcoins to ethereum, including one that could nearly double in the next year</strong></a></h2><p>Ethereum is the second-biggest cryptocurrency at the moment, sitting behind bitcoin. But it has problems like expensive transaction fees. Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, shares three altcoins to rival ether. </p><div type="image" title="China Evergrande property development" height="3869" width="5159" msid="86439250" hostid="261"></div><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-altcoins-to-buy-investing-strategy-evergrande-long-term-goodman-2021-9?r=altcoins-lp">A trader who warned of the 2017 and 2021 bitcoin bull market tops shares 4 altcoins he's bullish on for the long-term - but breaks down why Evergrande's crisis is keeping him away from crypto at the moment</a></h2><p>The looming debt crisis of Chinese real estate developer Evergrande sent shockwaves through global equity <keyword id="11893875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="markets" source="Orion">markets</keyword> in September - and crypto was not spared.</p><p>Given the recent sell-offs, Goodman said he was keeping his money on the sidelines in the crypto space until prices appear to be in an uptrend again. </p><p>He shared four projects he thinks can do well in the longer-term.</p><div type="image" title="Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum cryptocurrency coins and a graph are pictured in Kyiv on 08 July, 2021." height="2321" width="3095" msid="85689506" hostid="261"></div><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-crypto-ethereum-cardano-solana-altcoins-polkadot-chainlink-david-gokhshtein-2021-8?r=altcoins-lp" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bitcoin is ready for a 'monster run' up to $85,000 if it clears a key resistance level, a crypto evangelist predicts - and shares 7 altcoins he's bullish on now</a></h2><p>Ethereum's major upgrade in early August led to a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ether-dogecoin-xrp-bitcoin-price-forecasts-increases-crypto-ceo-gokhshtein-2021-8">9.6% intraday price spike</a>, and investors haven't yet sold the positive news. That's one reason why David Gokhshtein is bullish. He also told us his theses for six smaller altcoins he owns.</p><div type="image" title="A local business in El Salvador that accepts bitcoin payments." height="627" width="836" msid="86096815" hostid="261"></div><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/12-altcoins-to-buy-the-dip-crypto-crash-analysts-traders-2021-9?r=altcoins-lp">Why crypto crashed: 4 experts break down what Tuesday's sudden drop might mean for the altcoin season and NFT frenzy - and share 12 high-quality tokens that are likely to continue rallying toward the year's end</a></h2><p>Various cryptos tumbled on Tuesday September 7 as El Salvador officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender. By the following morning, more than $3.25 billion in crypto positions had been liquidated over 24 hours, affecting more than 300,000 traders, according to <a href="https://www.bybt.com/LiquidationData">Bybit</a>. We asked experts what was driving the sell-off, and where they recommended buying dips.</p><div type="image" title="GettyImages 1299388486" height="2666" width="3555" msid="85684665" hostid="261"></div><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dogecoin-price-surge-altcoin-elon-musk-mark-cuban-chainalysis-economist-2021-8?r=altcoins-lp"><strong>The chief economist of a blockchain data firm breaks down why the current dogecoin rally has more legs to run - and lays out why 'anything is possible' for the altcoin, including reaching $1</strong></a></h2><p>When dogecoin rose over 12,000% to $0.68 earlier this year, it shocked the investing community. It has since cooled off, though its price has picked up in recent weeks. It now sits around $.027. What will it do next? Chainalysis chief economist Philip Gradwell broke down why he think it will go to $1. </p><h2><div type="image" title="Crypto coins circle" height="2362" width="3149" msid="85684666" hostid="261"></div></h2><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-insiders-crypto-webinar-on-btc-eth-altcoins-and-regulations-2021-7?r=altcoins-lp"><strong>WATCH: Crypto analyst David Grider and venture capital investor Ria Bhutoria discuss state of the market, under-the-radar altcoins, and outlook on regulation</strong></a></h2><p>Insider recently hosted a live webcast featuring two crypto experts. They broke down their views on everything from the recent slump to the possibility of regulation.</p><div type="image" title="Lyn Alden Pic" height="600" width="800" msid="85689507" hostid="261"></div><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-ethereum-cardano-solana-crypto-bull-best-altcoins-to-watch-2021-8?r=altcoins-lp" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bitcoin to $100,000 and ether to $5,000: Famed investment strategist Lyn Alden explains her bullish predictions for the largest cryptos in 2022, and why there are only 2 altcoins worth watching</a></h2><p>Lyn Alden says most altcoins are "smoke and mirrors." But there are at least two with interesting technologies that are worth watching.</p><h2><strong><div type="image" title="Whale" height="1414" width="1885" msid="85684669" hostid="261"></div></strong></h2><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-investing-bitcoin-next-move-whale-control-market-china-gokhshtein-2021-7?r=altcoins-lp"><strong>A crypto evangelist explains why he's going 'all in on altcoins' - and shares why he's worried about bitcoin whales taking over that market</strong></a></h2><p>As some altcoins have shown, there is potential for huge appreciation in crypto outside of bitcoin. David Gokhshtein is one investor that's looking to take advantage of these opportunities. He shared two altcoins he's bullish on.</p><h2><strong><div type="image" title="Mack Lorden and Lucas Dimos" height="1500" width="2000" msid="85684671" hostid="261"></div></strong></h2><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-investing-altcoins-to-buy-bear-market-influencers-dimos-lorden-2021-6?r=altcoins-lp"><strong>2 crypto traders and TikTok influencers share their 6 go-to altcoins for riding out crypto bear markets - including one that's up more than 11,000% since its launch in 2017</strong></a></h2><p>The broader crypto space just went through a rough patch after huge gains earlier this year. Like any asset class, it has its bull and bear markets. When crypto bear markets do come, crypto influencers Mack Lorden and Lucas Dimos told us that six altcoins in particular help them hedge losses.</p><h2><strong><div type="image" title="GettyImages 1232274291" height="3404" width="4540" msid="85684674" hostid="261"></div></strong></h2><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-to-buy-ethereum-tied-tokens-defi-revolution-aya-kantorovich-2021-5?r=altcoins-lp"><strong>The head of institutional coverage at crypto trading platform FalconX shares 9 Ethereum-tied digital tokens to take advantage of the DeFi revolution - and breaks down why Ethereum still has 'significant' upside</strong></a></h2><p>Many altcoins are built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. Aya Kantorovich, the head of institutional coverage at crypto exchange FalconX, shared nine coins built on top of the ethereum blockchain that she thinks have solid use cases.</p><p>"I personally always like coins with application," Kantorovich said.</p>

ALTCOINS TO BUY: Crypto experts share the best investing opportunities they're seeing outside of bitcoin

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Siemens</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Eight hands may be better than two when it comes to mass production.</p><p>Earlier this month, engineers from electronics manufacturer Siemens completed prototypes on a 3D-printing spider robot that could be used to build entire car bodies and airplane fuselages.</p><p><span>Instead of relying on human workers for large-scale projects, companies could use the robots to cut costs and speed up production.</span></p><p>"We see this project as one of the first attempts in mobile manufacturing that will enable us to fabricate objects in places that we simply could not have built within before," Livio Dalloro, head of Siemens Corporate Technology's research group, tells Tech Insider.</p><p>The machines are called SiSpis, and they're not as creepy as you might think. Their big, longing eyes more closely resemble WALL-E than actual spiders - a design consideration Dalloro says was crucial.</p><p><span>"Based on the results from one of our test groups, we decided to add an eyeglass to the robots to soften its appearance," Dalloro says, a change that even <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/how-pixar-uses-lighting-to-tell-breathtaking-stories-2015-12">the folks at Pixar say they had to make</a> when creating WALL-E's oddly endearing goggles.</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Siemens</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Each SiSpi works in tandem with the other robots according to their specific programming. The "eyes" on the SiSpi face are actually laser scanners, which read the surrounding area and talk to the robot's extruder arms about where to build.</p><p>Based on software Dalloro and his team created, each of the robots can then work on a specific "box" of space without getting in the other robots' way.</p><p>Dalloro admits that it's too early to tell how many robots would be needed to construct a car or a fuselage, or how long an entire build might take. What the team does know is that even robot spiders get tired. When one SiSpi's battery is running low, which happens after about two hours, it'll alert a nearby team member that it's going to charge back up. The fully-charged spider will then take over the duties of the first spider until it returns at a full charge.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Siemens</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Right now, the only material SiSpis can handle is a mixture of corn starch and sugarcane known as poly lactic acid. It's one of two simple plastics that allow for rudimentary print jobs, the other being an oil-based plastic called Acylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, or ABS.</p><p>Dalloro says the next phase will focus on 3D-printing with materials "that will satisfy the industrial and scientific needs of Siemens," but he says he can't divulge which materials specifically.</p><p>Dalloro says he's most excited to contribute to technological innovation in the robotics space.</p><p>"Without the advancement in the optical manufacturing space, Newton wouldn't have manufactured the polished parabolic-mirrors to validate or advance his scientific ideas in astrophysics," he says.</p><p>Given the <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/companies-that-use-robots-instead-of-humans-2016-2">impending rise of robot automation</a>, an army of red and blue spider robots could very well be the next parabolic mirror.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Siemens</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lix-pen-draws-in-3d-2016-4">This pen draws in 3D</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="FpOHR4MjE6sTGkHZEMAPvhjrR1cjlofM" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Armies of these 3D-printing spiders could someday build airplanes and ships

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis</span></p><p class="caption">Greek actress Katerina Lehou , playing the role of High Priestess, lights a torch from the sun's rays reflected in a parabolic mirror during the dress rehearsal for the Olympic flame lighting ceremony for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the site of ancient Olympia in Greece.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Hello! Here's what you need to know on Thursday.</p><p><strong>1. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/jack-lew-heres-why-were-putting-harriet-tubman-on-the-20-bill-2016-4">The US $20 bill will now feature Harriet Tubman</a>.</strong> The noted abolitionist replaces president Andrew Jackson.</p><p><strong>2. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/more-than-500-dead-in-ecuador-earthquake-2016-4">The death toll from the Ecuador earthquake now tops 500 people</a>. </strong>Another 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit the country before dawn on Wednesday.</p><p><strong>3. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-venezuela-to-ration-electricity-in-10-states-2016-4">Venezuela is going to ration electricity in 10 of its most populous and industrialized states</a>,</strong> including Caracas.</p><p><strong>4.<span> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-obama-heads-to-london-on-mission-to-persuade-uk-voters-to-stay-in-eu-2016-4">US President Barack Obama is flying to London Thursday</a>, </span></strong>to help persuade <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword> voters to stay in the EU.</p><p><strong>5. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-one-year-later-rebuilding-lags-in-quake-hit-nepal-aid-groups-2016-4">Almost a year after the deadly Nepal earthquake, roughly three million people still live in temporary shelters</a>.</strong> Aid groups are calling for reconstruction to be sped up.</p><p><strong>6. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nginx-raises-8-million-telstra-2016-4"><span>Nginx - </span>one of the most important startups you've never heard of -<span> has raised $8 million</span></a>.</strong> 49.2% of the top 1,000 busiest websites in the world use Nginx.</p><p><strong>7. <span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/alphabet-q2-earnings-preview-google-2016-4">Google parent company Alphabet will report its Q1 earnings Thursday afternoon</a>.</span></strong> Last quarter, the company reported that it had lost $3.6 billion on moonshot projects that comprise its "Other Bets" businesses in 2015.</p><p><strong>8. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/does-bacon-cause-cancer-2016-4">A new report again linked bacon and other processed meats to cancer</a>. </strong>The links are similar to those found in a previous report on colorectal cancer and processed meat.</p><p><strong>9. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-is-seeking-deeper-military-ties-with-afghanistan-2016-4">China wants to have deeper military ties with Afghanistan</a><span>,</span></strong> including counter-terrorism intelligence cooperation and joint drills.</p><p><strong>10. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/2016-will-be-the-hottest-year-on-record-2016-4">2016 is already shaping up to be the hottest year on record</a>.</strong> This past March was the warmest month ever recorded.</p><p><strong>And finally ...</strong></p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-queen-elizabeth-ii-the-longest-reigning-monarch-2016-4">The Queen is 90 today: Here are the most important photos from every single year of her remarkable life</a>.</strong></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/game-of-thrones-economics-westeros-iron-throne-lannisters-2016-4">This hidden subplot of 'Game of Thrones' spells out the real trouble for the Lannisters</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="tvNncydDrkw0Adz4yS0Vsg8DPK1cte-i" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The 10 most important things in the world right now

<p><div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source">REUTERS/Carlo Allegri</p><p class="caption">Eclectica Asset Management's Chief Investment Officer and Founding Partner <keyword id="326001" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Hugh-Hendry">Hugh Hendry</keyword> gestures as he speaks during The Economist's Buttonwood Gathering in New York October 25, 2012. </p></div></div>Hugh Hendry of Eclectica is one of the more articulate and closely followed hedge fund managers in the world today.</p>
<p>Until today, he was also one of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/hugh-hendry">more bearish managers too</a>.</p>
<p>"I can no longer say I am <keyword id="46699" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bearish">bearish</keyword>," said <a href="http://www.investmentweek.co.uk/investment-week/news/2308814/i-cant-look-at-myself-in-the-mirror-hendry-on-why-hes-turned-bullish">Hendry today according to InvestmentWeek</a>. "When markets become parabolic, the people who exist within them are trend followers, because the guys who are qualitative have got taken out."</p>
<p>Speaking at the Harrington Cooper conference, Hendry argued that an ongoing currency war between the U.S. and China will continue to force the Federal Reserve to keep monetary policy loose and easy.</p>
<p>"I may be providing a public utility here, as the last bear to capitulate," he said. "You are well within your rights to say 'sell'. The S&amp;P 500 is up 30% over the past year: I wish I had thought this last year."</p>
<p>Hendry sounded pretty crestfallen. Here's more from <a href="http://www.investmentweek.co.uk/investment-week/news/2308814/i-cant-look-at-myself-in-the-mirror-hendry-on-why-hes-turned-bullish">InvestmentWeek</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"I have been prepared to underperform for the fun of being proved right when markets crash. But that could be in three-and-a-half-years' time."</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"I cannot look at myself in the mirror; everything I have believed in I have had to reject. This environment only makes sense through the prism of trends."</p>
<p>As Hendry said, he is not the first bear to "warn" that stocks are likely to go much higher from here. Here's a round up of some recent quotes we've heard from the long-time bears:</p>
<div>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc131111.htm"><strong>John Hussman</strong></a>: "...we should neither expect, rely or be shocked by a further blowoff..."</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/grantham-guesses-stocks-work-20-30-higher-2013-11"><strong>Jeremy Grantham, GMO</strong></a>: "My personal guess is that the U.S. market, especially the non-blue chips, will work its way higher, perhaps by 20% to 30% in the next year or, more likely, two years..."</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-russell-upside-explosion-in-stocks-2013-11"><strong>Richard Russell</strong></a>: "<span class="style_3">I continue to think that this bull market will end in an upside explosion.</span>"</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-crash-warning-signs-2013-11">Bob Janjuah, Nomura</a></strong>: "I still see end Q4 2013, through to end Q1 2014, as the window in which we see a significant risk-on top before giving way, over the last three quarters of 2014 and through 2015, to what could be a 25% to 50% sell-off in global stock markets."</p>
<p>Is there no one else?</p>
</div>

HUGH HENDRY: 'I Can No Longer Say I Am Bearish'

<p></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Sanivation</span></p><p class="caption">A woman demonstrates how to use Sanivation's blue box toilets.</p></div><p></p></div></div>It's easy to take something as ubiquitous as a toilet for granted when you live in a developed nation like the US.</p><p>But for many people around the world, lack of proper waste disposal and sanitation systems can cause widespread disease and even death.</p><p>To help solve this problem, Andrew Foote and Emily Woods started <a href="http://www.sanivation.com/">Sanivation</a> - No. 55 on the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/top-100-business-visionaries-changing-the-world-for-the-better-2016-6">BI 100: The Creators -</a> a sanitation startup that installs in-home toilets in East Africa and turns the waste into briquettes of sustainable, environmentally friendly fuel.</p><p>Foote and Woods came up with the idea for turning waste into fuel as undergraduate students at Georgia Tech University in 2011. The pair developed a thermal treatment system for human feces as a research project and later entered their work into <a href="http://startupchile.org/">Start-Up Chile</a>, a business accelerator in South America.</p><p>While in Chile, they explored the sanitation space, encountering several startling statistics about developing countries, including the fact that 90% of waste is disposed of without treatment and that <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs330/en/">diarrhoeal disease is the second-leading cause of death</a> of children under the age of 5. From there, Foote and Woods decided to go all in with the business.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Sanivation</span></p><p class="caption">The storefront for blue box toilets.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Sanivation set up shop in Naivasha, Kenya, in 2013 with Foote as CEO and Woods as chief technology officer. Today, the company serves 650 people in the community there.</p><p>Foote and Woods knew from the beginning that to succeed they'd need to cover the entire system from start to finish. The lack of existing infrastructure in some parts of Kenya means that providing toilets or a treatment system wouldn't make much of a difference; both must exist to effect systemic change.</p><p>So instead of providing one component of the waste-treatment business, Sanivation operates an end-to-end service. It installs private, container-based toilets in homes, and they are maintained for a $7 monthly fee. The waste collected from the toilets is taken to a processing plant, where it's turned into fuel briquettes that work as an alternative to charcoal. This full-circle model takes a necessary system and elevates it into something sustainable and useful.</p><p>"People always joke that we're running not one business but 10 businesses," Woods says. "As a startup, it's complicated, it's logistically difficult. But we haven't found anyone to reliably source any one component of this to. Right now, if we want it done right, we have to do it ourselves."</p><h2>Getting toilets into homes</h2><p>The concept of in-home toilets was a hard sell to locals, much less an entire system.</p><p>"How do you market something that people feel uncomfortable talking about?" Woods says.</p><p>In Naivasha, where outdoor pit latrines are the norm, the mention of an in-home toilet led many to immediately picture an open latrine inside their home - not a preferable alternative to the outdoor version. So Sanivation branded their version as "blue boxes" to dispel the negative connotations potential people had with the word "toilet."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Sanivation</span></p><p class="caption">Burning briquettes.</p></div><p></p></div></div>On top of that, Sanivation had to convince clients, many of whom can't count on a steady monthly paycheck, that paying the monthly fee for the toilet was a worthwhile expense.</p><p>Training customer-service representatives and maintaining communication with clients proved to be another challenge, especially once the team realized that many homes in Naivasha don't have addresses. Undeterred, they developed an address system themselves.</p><p>In the end, these bumps in the road, and a host of others, helped Sanivation improve its product. The company thrives on client feedback, constantly seeking constructive criticism directly from their customers.</p><p>"If we're not doing a good job, our client is not going to pay the next month," Foote explains. "By being beholden to our clients and delivering quality services to them, we always learn that keeping good, open communication channels is really important."</p><h2><strong>From feces to fuel: how it works<br /></strong></h2><p>No existing toilet system meant that no existing treatment plant existed in Naivasha, so Sanivation designed and built one from the ground up. Led by Woods as CTO, the team developed a parabolic mirror treatment system themselves, harnessing the natural energy from the sun to heat up waste and kill germs.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Sanivation</span></p><p class="caption">Manufacturing briquettes.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Sanivation combines two waste streams in a metal bucket - human excrement and carbonized agricultural biomass waste, which comes from things like sugarcane gas, corn cobs, rose farms, and rice husks - and heats it to a temperature that neutralizes harmful pathogens and allows the waste to be transformed into a briquette of fuel.</p><p>The briquettes have been a hit with local businesses, which purchase them directly from the Sanivation team.</p><p>"Our charcoal briquettes outperform traditional charcoal," Foote says. "So we're actually selling them at a higher price than traditional charcoal per kilogram, <em>and</em> we're saving our clients money because they burn longer and have less smoke."</p><p>Sanivation sells 7,000 kilograms, or 15,400 pounds, of the alternative fuel each month and consistently empties its stock.</p><p>"We need more poop to be able to keep up with demand," Woods says.</p><p>The entire treatment process demonstrates a core aspect of Sanivation's business model: relentless innovation. With no outside infrastructure to rely on, Woods and Foote must adapt and change almost daily to meet needs and advance their mission.</p><h2><strong>Looking to the future</strong></h2><p>Going forward, Sanivation's biggest goal is also its biggest hurdle: scaling the company.</p><p>Sanivation operates 100 toilets in Naivasha and plans to expand to more than 500 by the end of 2016. The company is also working with refugee camps to build customized systems and train residents to operate them on their own.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Sanivation</span></p><p class="caption">Sanivation cofounder Foote explains the blue box toilets.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Though a few other businesses are attempting similar container-based sanitation systems, none have reached a large scale yet, which leaves the space open for innovation and growth.</p><p>Woods says the company is going to have to change to be able to reach the scale it wants.</p><p>Sanivation may still be small, but it's already affecting people's lives. Foote recalls an older customer coming up to him one day and bending over with her hands pressed together in a salute of gratitude.</p><p>"You could just see that the toilet had so much more impact than as a public-health thing," he says. "This lady typically had to squat over some feces and urine-laced slab, and now she had a nice, comfortable way to go to the bathroom. And she was <em>so</em> thankful for that."</p>

This sanitation startup in Kenya turns poop into a sustainable source of fuel

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>WaterFX</span></p><p class="caption">A parabolic trough collects energy from the sun. The heat is used to evaporate clean water from the salty agricultural drainage water of irrigated crops.</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>This year, farmers in California's Central Valley will likely receive no water through the federal irrigation program, a network of reservoirs, rivers, and canals that is normally replenished yearly by ice melt from the Sierra mountains.</p>
<p>Crippling water shortages have made desalination technology more attractive, including a startup, <a href="http://waterfx.co/" target="_blank">WaterFX</a>, that uses the sun to produce heat. The heat separates salt and water through evaporation.</p>
<p>WaterFX has fewer environmental repercussions than traditional methods of desalination that rely on fossil fuels to generate electricity.</p>
<p>The technology could not have come at a better time.</p>
<p><strong>No end in sight</strong></p>
<p>During a drought-free year, the federally run Central Valley Project provides enough water to <a href="https://www.usbr.gov/projects/Project.jsp?proj_Name=Central+Valley+Project" target="_blank">irrigate 3 million acres of agricultural land</a>. Last year, farmers only received 20% of their allotment. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The lack of water is not just worrying for growers. It affects all people who eat food. </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/magazine/californias-central-valley-land-of-a-billion-vegetables.html?hp&amp;_r=0" target="_blank">One third of the nation's produce is grown in the Central Valley</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> - composed of Sacramento Valley in the north and San Joaquin Valley in the south - and the deep water cuts mean that </span><a href="http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-drought-cvp-20140221,0,3521779.story#axzz2vWnC8jiE" target="_blank">more than half a million acres of crop land</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> will be left unplanted.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Some scientists predict </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/california-drought-could-last-for-a-century-2014-3">California's drought could last as long as a century</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">. Going forward, the state is going to need a substantial water supply that doesn't rely on the aqueduct system, says Aaron Mandell, WaterFX chairman and founder. </span></p>
<p>However, in order to counter California's water problems, the push must be toward renewable desalination plants rather than fossil-fuel dependent facilities that further contribute to climate change.</p>
<p><strong>Making freshwater from sunshine</strong></p>
<p>In WaterFX's system, a solar trough, which looks like a jumbo-sized curved mirror, collects energy from the sun's rays and transfers that heat to a pipe filled with mineral oil. The mineral oil feeds the heat into a system that evaporates the salty water being treated. Steam is produced, which condenses into pure liquid water. The remaining salt solidifies and can be removed, says Mandell. That salts can be used in other industries as building materials, metals, or fertilizers.</p>
<p>In order to operate continuously, the solar trough is very large so that it collects extra heat during the day. The energy is stored and used to run the system at night when the sun isn't shining.</p>
<p>By using sun as the fuel source, WaterFX uses roughly one-fifth of the electricity consumed by traditional desalination plants, according to Mandell. Less electricity means lower operating costs. With conventional desalination, electricity makes up 50-60% of the water costs, says Mandell. A typical desalination plant in San Diego operates at about $900 per acre-foot, while it costs around $450 to produce an acre-foot of water with WaterFX. (An acre-foot is 325,000 gallons, or the amount of water it takes to cover an acre at a depth of one foot).</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>WaterFX</span></p><p class="caption">WaterFX chairman and founder, Aaron Mandell.</p></div><p></p></div></div>"Solar desalination is still a very immature technology so there's a quite a bit of room to drive that cost down even further," said Mandell.</p>
<p>Many desalination facilities, including the $1 billion <a href="http://carlsbaddesal.com/" target="_blank">Carlsbad plant</a> set to open in 2016, use a process known as reverse osmosis that forces seawater through billions of tiny holes that filter out salt and other impurities. This method can produce fresh water on a large scale, but has economic and environmental drawbacks. It uses an immense amount of electricity and only about half of the seawater that goes into the system comes out as clean water. The remaining half is dumped back into the ocean as salty brine where it can be harmful to marine plants and animals.</p>
<p>By contrast, Mandell says that WaterFX has a 93% recovery rate, meaning that for every 100 gallons of water that goes in, 93 gallons of usable water are spit out.</p>
<p>WaterFX also helps solve an issue that has long plagued irrigated land. Soils in the arid west of San Joaquin Valley naturally contain a lot of salt as well as high concentrations of metals, like selenium, <a href="http://www.bay.org/assets/drainage.pdf" target="_blank">which can be toxic to humans and wildlife</a>. When the soil is irrigated, the salt, selenium, and other elements become concentrated in the drainage water that collects in a system of drains and pumps under the crops. In the past, harmful drainage water might have been <a href="http://www.c-win.org/poisoned-lands-polluted-water.html" target="_blank">discharged into rivers, wetlands, and aquifers</a> in the San Joaquin Valley. Now, that otherwise unusable water can be diverted to WaterFX and turned into irrigation water again.</p>
<p><strong>The first test</strong></p>
<p>The Panoche Water District in Central Valley is home to the first demonstration plant, a 6,500-square foot system that is capable of producing around 10 gallons of freshwater a minute, or roughly 14,000 of freshwater each day.</p>
<p>When the demonstration plant is operating in commercial mode, running 24 hours a day, it can put out 25 to 30 gallons of freshwater a minute, says Mandell.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>WaterFX</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>The pilot project, funded by the California Department of Water Resources, will hopefully prove that the WaterFX system is more reliable (it doesn't depend on the Sierra snowpack) and affordable than other freshwater sources.</p>
<p>The water that's being treated by the pilot plant streams in from a canal that collects salty drainage water from around 200 farms in the area and brings it to a single location. In the pilot phase, the clean water that's produced is blended back in with the drainage water, but a commercial plant would send the water back to farmers through a series of canals that are already in place.</p>
<p>Additionally, small-scale systems could be used by individual farmers on site to recycle their own waste water.</p>
<p><strong>A bright future</strong></p>
<p>WaterFX is not the first company to experiment with solar desalination. The Sahara Forest project in Qatar and an Australian company called <a href="http://www.sundropfarms.com/about/" target="_blank">Sundrop Farms</a> are using the technology to grow food in greenhouses. But this is the first time a company has focused on using the sun's energy "to produce a scalable, long-term water supply," Mandell said.</p>
<p>The goal is to eventually be able to treat salty groundwater in addition to drainage water.</p>
<p>The immediate next step for WaterFX is to expand operations in Panoche to produce 2 million gallons of water per day. "From there it's about laying out a pathway for replicating this model all up and down the Central Valley," Mandell said. "We're trying to put a plan in place so that by 2020, we may be in a position to wean ourselves off the aqueduct system entirely."</p>

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