Buy a Playstation and help kill a gorilla.

I did not know this, but the Playstation contains an element called coltan.  Almost all the coltan comes the The Democratic Republic of Congo and is mined illegally.  They burn the forest and strip the soil for coltan.  In doing this, they kill rare and endangered gorillas.  Apparently there is a perfectly good substitute in a ceramic transistor, but it isn't being used enough.

Oona King huh? Moar liek Fabrikashun Gonzales.

Old.

April Fool's!

There's no April fools here >_>, this is in fact true. Coltan is a compound of Niobite and Tantalite

I was not aware it was used in PS2 though.


What's happening in the Congo is terrible, and it's due to many much wanted natural resources the country has, including this one. It's having a very destructive effect on all those that live there, not just the wildlife and the precious Gorilla's. The greed is fucking up that country severely and many people are dying in a war that is essentially about taking control of the resources.

Oona King used to be my local MP when I lived in East London during my University days.

I just live with this saying passing through my head at everything I read, see, or hear:

"Who cares? I don't."

"make sure you recycle your mobile to ensure that the coltan is extracted and reused."

OOoh... you'd be my best friend if you were around :(
Coffee and chocolate mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

In truth it's not just the west, India, China and Japan's economies are very dependent on the mineral given their investment in electronics. The alternative which can be used is more expensive...

What's happening in the Congo right now is shambolic, it's a dirty stain on this world and it bares testament to how this world works. It's little talked about by the powers that be, because nobody wants to kick up a fuss when they have their own interests to consider.

I could post some nasty videos here, but there's no need to sour this thread. All I will say is that what's happening in Congo is shocking, and everyone knows about it, yet nothing is done

And then you're supposed to believe when something does happen in another part of the world, which coincidentally holds certain interesting materials, it's purely done to save and protect people from tyranny and harm... When you get what you want, there's no reason to save anyone...

It's sad but I think it ranks pretty low on the list of cases organizations like Amnesty International [http://www.amnesty.org/] and Human Right Watch [http://www.hrw.org/] are trying to amend.  The situation in Darfur, Sudan alone has been a disgrace to humankind for years.

I had heard about this a while ago, but it wasn't as big of a shock to find out since other products from various companies contained coltan as well. If the PS2 wasn't so popular, they probably wouldn't have used coltan, or would have needed much less. Sad either way, but it seems Sony is using coltan from a variety of sources now.

I guess i'll get a ps3 then.

what exactly does the stuff do anyway

When surrounded in an electromagnetic field, Coltan provides the extra-dimensional capacity to render true 4D graphics, like only the Playstation 3 can do.

Coltan is also used in the majority of cell phones I believe.

*Looks left and right, quickly, with a silly grin on his face*

That's why I play Xbox!

*Runs away*