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tv   Made in Germany  Deutsche Welle  April 22, 2020 6:30am-7:01am CEST

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beethoven is for. brito is for. beethoven 2020 for 250th anniversary year for him to do. oh but bush corny henry ford or mock back born in different eras and on different continents and yet they all have something in common they are all pioneers of industry with ideas and innovations they tread new ground and made a success of it welcome to made in this week's edition we want to look at how the
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pioneering spirit continues to change the world for better or worse and take this german teenager for example who started a company at the age of 72 years later he decided to try his luck in the u.s. he traveled to california silicon valley to find out for himself if he could make a splash with his ideas in the center of the globe to take industry and fortunately for us he made a video diary of his experiences take a look. this man don't do this to me the flights in and our.
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business is so awesome thank you on just one solo. i. can't believe it we're actually here. my hair is totally messed up but that's the golden gate bridge in the background it's crazy. i mean because america is a country of infinite possibilities we thought about it and decided to give it a shot for weeks in the states. we want to establish something pursuing the dishwasher to millionaire principle a $4.00 version of that. we're
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in an 8 room apartment 8 they said we can sublet rooms we have to cover the price and other costs. and they're letting us decide how much we want to charge on line so we can earn money with that. yeah. but so far only one woman has gotten in touch. it's a bummer that we've been here for 3 days already and haven't made a cent. you don't really feel like spending any money. to. expensive like 7 things at the store they end up costing 30 or 40 bucks.
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so. it's come to our next appointment is in the 6 minutes. it's a 10 minute walk from here. so i had to shower because i didn't take one this morning . is really running. can't be late. just want to be a lot more efficient to meet someone and have just half an hour and 3 things to talk about learning app and i do. show you which contacts what's the next step you have to do it in 20 or 30 minutes or just 15 minutes if that's all you have and then you're done.
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there's a there are so many buildings here it's like google has its own city. it's a little embarrassing talking to my camera here. with me right in the middle of the campus is a volleyball court and. soon we're done with our tour because we couldn't record inside them. but it's exciting to see how people work here you see the hierarchy is flat and you can get your ideas heard even the high level executives talk to you. know whose names and so. they can get
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something else to change here that's why today is a day a structured day from beginning to end. this is the 1st success for a little idea global connection. it's when we tell people we come from germany and a lot of them ask us hey can you hook us up with this company or that do you have an in at this big firm. enough to us so we thought hey german companies could do with a little more of that silicon valley fire and inspiration. maybe we could arrange a place for exchange also. in terms of our challenge we didn't do everything we wanted to do and the sense that we came here with no money no apartments and wanted to finance
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a doll and build something but we did manage to escape the confines of germany and europe and gain a more global view we looked west and also went to the east towards asia. so the 4 weeks of work here really did help us expand our horizons. you bite and. now and who bin laden to founder of the skills for school app and the guy who did this video diary he joins me in the studio now and of course he's a modern day pioneer good to have you here with us and being a modern day pioneer can you tell me what exactly inspired you to become one so i think i did this out of a problem i wasn't really thinking ok i need to be a pioneer i have to change something but i have problems myself in school at the beginning and then i decided. to try to make it to make a tense change and to see how far can we get and how can we change something maybe in the education system in germany or maybe in europe or over the world and this is
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how this just skillfull school app came about to changing the world like pushing the envelope is not that unusual it with the young people in particular but to actually do something hands on like founding a company is somewhat unusual and now you spend 4 weeks in the us and you say it extended you horizon can you explore a little bit on not yet told me so when we start of there i only had i knew the german ecosystem and the german start up system and you what's going on there but i wanted to see if pena spirit there is still alive and if you see it it is yes and the people there they have ideas and they think ok we can change something we can do that and we don't only want to work 9 to 5 and do our job and i know we would want to change something that makes a difference in the world and you really have the possibility there to. to see how it works and how the people there live and how they execute on the dreams but how
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does it differ to germany to the politics do it here i think in germany there is less pressure on the people because they know ok if something goes wrong or if we do not have work then nothing happens but in the us expression in san francisco if you have. if you earn under $100000.00 a year then you need to get money from the from the states and so if you really have to work hard they have to work more hours extra hours to earn their money and if they don't then they won't be successful and i'm sure that's quite different so what did what did you take away from those those 4 weeks united states for your work i really learned to focus on the. most important points and to keep the focus and then work on them execute on them just to go forward and to move forward in every step of the company in your own company i mean did you did it sort
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of enhanced your pioneering spirit when you say ok enough sort of creativity i now get a job somewhere else no i really i really got inspired and i really wanted to do with more like the americans because they dream big and they execute on the dreams very well and they stay focused so that's that's the main point ok staying focused that is certainly my takeaway there will be linda founder of the skills for school starts off and a modern day pioneers thank you so much thanks. now of course let's face it not all of us can't aout for treading new ground but why would we be without those people who are driven by curiosity and the need to discover something new no matter the personal cost or the impact of their actions have one of us history is full of pioneers who have changed our world and their spirit lives on. in. the
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impact of pioneering spirit pioneers chart new territory they have often discovered new worlds and conquered them. christopher columbus set off in search of gold silver and spices he was also looking for a western sea route to india he sailed under a spanish flag the aim was to get there before spain's rival portugal. but instead of reaching india columbus made landfall in what is now the bahamas he named the inhabitants indians it was 1492 columbus had accidentally discovered the americas on the heels of columbus came violent conquistadores disease war a misery francisco pizarro defeated the incas driven by greed for gold and naked ambition but not all pioneers murdered pillaged proselytized or exploited natural resources some of them have made crucial contributions to human progress
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for more than 400 years seafarer is sort of navigable route between asia and america in 1903 roald amundsen left the 1st expedition to traverse the northwest passage pioneering spirit has helped usher in new eras in 859 business men edwin l. drake became the 1st american to successfully drill for oil which became the fuel of industrialization but that same pioneering spirit has also had an environmental impact the new method of oil extraction is hydraulic fracking a well stimulation technique in which rock is fractured by a pressurized liquid in the process chemicals are injected into the rock. mining for gold rare rare earths and lithium also contaminates the ground but demand for these minerals and elements is vast. and today as a result of climate change the polar ice caps are melting and that's making
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supplies of all oil and gas more accessible the race to conquer the arctic is awakening pioneering spirit the world over and unleashing new conflict in the process. so what have we learned when pioneering spirit meets business interests it often means trouble take the arctic region as we heard it's got some of the world's largest deposits of rare and precious metals all to forget oil and gas something us president donald trump for one would like to get his hands on to the relief of environmentalists he'll have to keep waiting however a federal judge in alaska just blocked his bid to reopen drilling in arctic areas but trump is only one player in a huge cast of political leaders and investors keen to exploit the reach. me island is in the very north of canada's arctic archipelago in july 2017 an international team of geologists came to explore including some from germany's
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federal institute for geosciences and natural resources they're here to study the region they want to know what natural resources can be found in the arctic and where they're located in this previously untouched landscape. of any possible extraction of resources in the arctic would be taking place in a very fragile ecosystem 2nd beating interest must be weighed very carefully natural resources on the one hand the environment on the other the best basis for doing that is solid scientific data. across the arctic ice cover is shrinking at an alarming rate and that rate is speeding up greenland has been losing ice at a rate of about $250000000000.00 metric tons a year ice melt means rising sea levels potentially threatening the very future of humankind but in the meantime ice free land and navigation routes in the arctic mean access to resources is becoming easier 5 nations border the arctic ocean the
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united states canada greenland which is part of denmark norway and russia. much of the ocean is covered in sea ice. russia claims sovereignty over the area marked in red. the states involved are still negotiating about borders and hence the right to treasures in the ground and beneath the ocean the race is on to stay claims the arctic may be the last frontier for a whole host of valuable resources. take greenland for example. along ice free stretches of coast there are significant deposits of oil and gas as well as rare earths there are also precious metals such as the rainy i'm gold and platinum. a chinese firm is now the largest shareholder in a mining company in charge of the clan a field rare earths project. mining activities can further contribute to
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environmental degradation in addition to the effects of advancing ice melt still many of the 60000 greenlanders welcome the new economic opportunities and the government. so. these 2 geologists have created maps showing deposits of valuable resources on ellis mayer island it'll be hard to enforce environmental protection there and mining operations won't be easy either. we have to consider the poor energy supply difficult transport routes very little infrastructure and
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a scarcity of skilled personnel in the region but these deposits will become more lucrative as the ice melts and transportation becomes cheaper and equipment can be ships the year round. scientists predict that the arctic ocean could be entirely free of ice in the summer by 2050 or even sooner even before that happens the northwest passage might become a regular shipping lane mining companies would love that but environmentalists dread the prospect. that geologists completed their mission and published their findings of what natural resources can be found where it may have been pioneering work in a remote location but the consequences are as yet unknown. economically the ice melts could be viewed as a blessing for greenland its resources are attracting foreign investment creating
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jobs and boosting business but ecologically it could very well be a disaster so why are we allowing it to happen because we don't want to change our lifestyle and that includes being available anytime anywhere thanks to our smartphone and who would have guessed it's full of rare earths and precious metals . you know there's gold in your smartphone. but don't go smashing it with a hammer it's just a tiny amount a fraction of a gram but still. your device also contains 16 of the 17 rare earth elements they're what makes a smart phone smart. for example neodymium dysprosium and president medium make it vibrate. and terbium produces the vivid color in the display. the proximately one 3rd of the world's population already has
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a smartphone and increasing quantities of rare earths are needed to satisfy the growing demand. the good news is that rare earths aren't in fact all that rare. the bad news is that mining them is difficult and bad for the environment and reserves are finite supply of some rare earths could be exhausted in just a few decades what can we do to stop them running out. replacing your smartphone too often. and when you do get a new one take the old one to be recycled. now there's an idea it's not just smartphones though is it in our bid to save the planet we want to replace the combustion engine with electric motors and for that we need lithium the key element in producing the kind of high efficiency batteries needed for electro mobility the price of lithium is rising rapidly and the major
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lithium produces chile argentina and bolivia are already being dumped the saudi arabia of latin america but lithium can also be found here in europe in wife's back in the austrian alps european elysium pioneers aim to help reduce the continent's dependence on imports. the gold of the future has a green here. this is a lithium mine in austria the deposit here was 1st discovered more than 40 years ago and it's the biggest in central europe. stephanie miller and. now want to turn this lithium into cash. they work for an australian mining company the firm plans to invest around $400000000.00 euros up until now the shares of their company have only been worth
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a few cents but lithium is becoming an extremely sought after more material. don't rely on our own evaluations it's standard practice in the mining industry to get forecasts from independent companies the forecasts are also bankable which is helpful for financing based on the survey we believe we could earn up to $130000000.00 a year if the operations go as planned that means moving $800000.00 tonnes a year from the mountain with. the would be by is of the metal located on the other side of the alps in germany. companies such as lift actually manufacturer the company needs lithium battery cells for electric cars it currently has to source all its but she sells in asia because there are no batteries cell manufacturers in germany. spend our wants to follow the example of the us company tesla and build
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a lithium ion production facility like tesla's gigafactory the lithium deposit in the alps looks just right for this project despite the risk remains high. when you start with the electrochemistry what with the coatings and all the necessary processes you initially have huge losses you have to write off lots of material even tesla had that problem in the startup phase it costs an awful lot of money and nobody likes that it's easy to say i'll just buy what i need from asia but that's the wrong strategic approach in the long term. lithium is the key element in producing the kind of high efficiency batteries needed for electric vehicle. and because asian firms dominate the market they also decide the prices including those for german battery makers. if electric cars do become more prevalent on our roads one day the demand for the base element in the energy cells will rise exponentially
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. the lithium pioneers in the austrian alps are betting on this they carried out numerous exploratory drilling in recent years and invested many millions of euros they've discovered veins of lithium up to 10 meters thick. as long as the lithium is not extracted it's worthless but once it is processed into battery grade lithium carbonate one ton costs around $14000.00 euros and that price could more than double in the next few years as demanding crease it's already more than $100000.00 tonnes of being used worldwide every year. in hopes of lithium produced here in the heart of europe in austria has a completely different level of sustainability from lithium that comes from developing countries for example where there's possibly child labor involved or where certain environmental codes are not observed or worked around for cost
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reasons. that's why it's extremely important for the european car industry to add value here in europe with respect to its battery great lives here. but if you give me some parts of. until now one of the main places where lithium is mind has been south america lithium mind here is cost effective but the extraction process is also very harmful to the environment so in the future it will be extremely important to recycle lithium the company i correct is working on this is specializes in the recycling of lithium ion batteries the company rarely gets batteries from electric cars the recently too few about cheaper with cars being scrapped. the founder of acura says you can't make money out of lithium from old doctrines recycled copper and steel sell for high prices but recycling lithium
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isn't worth it financially because the market price is still too low something a correct is convinced will change i. begin to who knows that's just looking at prices in 5 to 10 years we expect that for humans will rise to around $4000.00 tons per year and definitely be one of the big issues with them to. if electrum ability makes a breakthrough in europe it could mean a major boon for austria's locally so lithium but it's by no means a done deal. well and that is what is all about taking a risk without being sure of the outcome that's all from make this week for me and the team in berlin thanks for watching.
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the climate crisis is in danger in our planet and. now scientists hope to cool the earth's climate system artificially with geoengineering. but can we really control this technology. and how does it affect us and our environment. and global thermostat ways to cool the world. in 15 minutes on d w. that
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we were. when we were. 80 percent of americans at some point in our lives will experience hardship. listen up. that matters the. lines. in the art of climate change. africa. what's in store for. us to have for the future. e.w. dot com thanks for the megacity to double to get inside. the term. they were abducted by the nazis and taken to germany to be raised as citizens of the us. during world war 2 thousands of polish children suffer.
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even today many of them don't know who their real parents were and. they've lived with this trauma for decades. tellem children the kidnapping campaign of nazi germany starts april 28th w. . frankfurt to help watch international gateway to the best connection software road and rail. located in the heart of europe you are connected to the whole world. experience outstanding shopping and dining offers and try our services. be our guest at frankfurt airport city managed by from a bought. new
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flight from berlin to germany's biggest party is canceled they say just a very obsessive it's just too risky to allow the world famous october 1st to take place just yet they fear the festival could lead to a spike in the because roman empire is the protection also coming up. italy and spain one germany to help and sharing the costs of the recovery from the coronavirus endemic of berlin confidence so-called corona bombs to boom can european solitary she survived cold with 19. cost.

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