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PC Recycler Strikes Gold in Old Computer Chips

November 28th, 2010 at 01:39am Under Technology Report

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This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.

Each year, Americans throw away millions of tons of electronic devices. That means business is good for a small electronics recycler in Chantilly, Virginia.

Company President Jeremy Faber established PC Recycler. He spoke to us from the floor of his company’s processing center. Workers were busy taking apart televisions, cell phones and computers — anything electronic.

Jeremy Faber says the flow of discarded electronics is only increasing.

JEREMY FABER: “Electronics recycling is the fastest growing waste stream in the United States right now.”

Recycling electronic waste is not a single job. Newer devices can be rebuilt and resold. Breaking down electronics into small parts for refiners to melt and purify is another part of the business. Operations Manager Andrew Portare says computer circuit boards are rich resources.

ANDREW PORTARE: “Boards have the highest scrap value in them so you can actually see on the back you’re looking at different types of metals. This one is a really good example. Some of the older ones are mainly all gold.”

Gold now sells for more than one thousand three hundred dollars an ounce. Twenty-five percent of PC Recycler’s sales come from selling parts to refiners.

Refining companies pay more than ten dollars a kilogram for computer boards. PC Recycler can also lift profits by holding metal-rich parts until prices rise.

ANDREW PORTARE: “If copper’s up one day, we can ship all of our copper extract and capitalize on the market.”

Computers also hold private or secret information. And securing that data is the fastest growing part of PC Recycler’s business. Completely removing data from a computer hard drive is not easy. PC Recycler can remove data magnetically or completely destroy and recycle the drives.

Discarding waste in a way that meets government environmental protection rules is also important. Old TVs can contain over a kilogram of lead as well as cadmium — both highly poisonous.

PC Recycler supports the Basel Action Network, which seeks to limit harmful waste and technology. The company says it does not export electronics to China, India or Africa where environmental rules are weak.

Jeremy Faber says PC Recycler has been in business since two thousand three, expanding from waste management to other, more technical services.

JEREMY FABER: “There really isn’t a lot of industries out there that are like this. There’s either the scrap industry where they’re shredding cars and shredding tires and there’s the refurbished PC market and we’re sort of sit right in between both of those.”

And that’s the VOA Special English Technology Report. Go to voaspecialenglish.com and click on the Classroom to explore our new English teaching activities. I’m Mario Ritter.

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Gelotophobia’ Is No Laughing Matter

March 12th, 2010 at 09:32am Under Health report

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Shy people often avoid situations that force close contact with other people. They worry that something they say or do will make others laugh at them.

But some people worry much more than others about being the target of laughter. These people are frightened. They suffer from an emotional disorder called gelotophobia. That long name comes from the Greek language. The word Gelos means laugh, while phobos means fear.

Victor Rubio is an expert on human behavior at the Autonomous University of Madrid. He says people laugh at others for many different reasons. He says being laughed at causes a fear response in the victim. That fear leads the victim to avoid social situations. Sadly, gelotophobia limits the way they lead their lives.

Victor Rubio was among researchers in a huge international study about laughter. The researchers wanted to understand the difference between normal shyness and true gelotophobia. Another goal was to measure the fear of being laughed at within different cultures.

A team from the University of Zurich led ninety-three researchers from many countries in search of answers.

The researchers surveyed more than twenty-two thousand people. They used questions provided in forty-two languages. Their findings were reported in the scientific publication Humor.

Some of the people questioned said they felt unsure of themselves in social situations. But they hid their feelings. Others said they avoided social situations where they had been laughed at before. People also admitted to differing levels of fear that they themselves were the targets of other people’s laughter. The researchers measured and compared all these reactions.

Fear of being laughed at, being made fun of, is a common emotion. But the researchers learned that these feelings differed from nation to nation.

For example, the study found that people in Turkmenistan and Cambodia are likely to hide insecure feelings when they are around others’ laughter. But people in Iraq, Egypt and Jordan who feel they have been victims before may avoid such situations.

People in Finland were the least likely to believe that people laughing in their presence were making fun of them. Only eight and a half percent of Finns said they would — compared to eighty percent of those questioned in Thailand.

What would you think? You can comment at voaspecialenglish.com.

And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Steve Ember.

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