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Why stop there? Since we are processing large volumes of water, let's genetically modify the kelp to extract the gold dissolved in seawater which "contains 3-4 MG/TON (0.004 PPB) AU" http://www.speclab.com/elements/gold.htm.

It's a crime that instead we are burning coal - releasing more "natural" radioactivity than any reactor ever has, as well as poisoning our seafood with mercury.

Coal which is 3 parts per million Uranium.

It's not so bad when you consider that soil on average contains 1.8 parts per million of Uranium. Source.

Also of note here, is that with coal and soil, we are talking about natural Uranium, not enriched uranium used in plants, which can take 100 years to return to natural radioactivity levels.

Yes, actually. This isn't just some sand scooped off a beach. Solar panel grade silicon comes from the leftovers after semiconductor grade silicon users have picked through their crystal wafers, which is why there is a shortage in the first place, since there is a narrow range of quality ("almost" good enough for semiconductors). As for titanium, my 30 year old encyclopeda says its one of the 10 most common metals on the planet. Titanium Oxide is cheaply produced and used liberally in paint.

Titanium is malleable when hot (meaning you can flatten it into foil). So producing titanium foil is probably not a difficult task, depending on how hot "hot" is. (Though the article mentions that the titanium foil used is thinner than household aluminum foil. The process looks like it would be easy anyway, but time consuming.)

As for your post on waste products, the most common smelting procedure in use works without catalyst or flux to produce pig-iron and Titanium Oxide, though this process is common because of its use in paint. This process was recently developed for producing metallic titanium, its outputs are salt (NaCl), titanium, and whatever impurities get washed into the liquid sodium stream and removed later.

Your numbers for lifting power don't seem to compute. If you check out the data available from Spec Lab (Hydrogen) (Helium) you'll see that the lifting power is quite different from what you assumed. Using the volume that you computed, I calculate 1118 tonne (metric) lifting capacity for Helium, or 1241 tonne lifting capacity for Hydrogen... Of course that's assuming that the volume that you calculated is correct...

Your numbers for lifting power don't seem to compute. If you check out the data available from Spec Lab (Hydrogen) (Helium) you'll see that the lifting power is quite different from what you assumed. Using the volume that you computed, I calculate 1118 tonne (metric) lifting capacity for Helium, or 1241 tonne lifting capacity for Hydrogen... Of course that's assuming that the volume that you calculated is correct...

well, this is fine indeed. I can finally realize my dream of melting basalt at my house. But now what to do with all those old CDs I was keeping to make a solar oven with?

Info on the elements, OT but close (no bronze or basalt, but iron: http://www.speclab.com/elements/ Has melting points and a lot of other data apparently cribbed from CRC.

P.S. don't forget this

well, this is fine indeed. I can finally realize my dream of melting basalt at my house. But now what to do with all those old CDs I was keeping to make a solar oven with?

Info on the elements, OT but close (no bronze or basalt, but iron: http://www.speclab.com/elements/ Has melting points and a lot of other data apparently cribbed from CRC.

P.S. don't forget this

Just out of curiosity, have you ever taken a class on nuclear energy? The "fact" that a tablespoon full of plutonium could kill every human on earth is the most blown out of proportion ridiculous fact ever. Consider this, uranium is a natural element. It exists everywhere, everywhere! ...

Actually, it's not the radioactivity of plutonium alone that makes it so lethal. It is a very powerful carcinogen because the body accumulates what it absorbs over long periods of time, although its near-insolubility in water reduces its effective toxicity to far below what many people believe. However, if it reaches the bloodstream, it accumulates in the bone marrow and in the liver, where it has a half-life of elimination of 70 and 35 years, respectively, and inhalation of fine Pu dust can cause significant alpha exposure in the ~500 days that it takes the lungs to eliminate it.

To put it simply, it's neither a massive threat nor a relatively benign substance, and it gets a lot more bad PR in the press than other, much more worthy, scapegoats.

While I won't comment on the morality of hunting, one of the biggest dangers to American endangered species is lead and mercury poisoning from pollution and... expended bullets.

Mercury poisioning from expended bullets? Interesting, because mercury isn't associated with either the production or discharge of bullets.

Lead poisioning seems reasonable though, but actually the major initial recipient of lead into the enviorment is the atmosphere. In fact ammunition discharge is not even listed as a contributor to the enviormental lead content, one would assume it is under misc, which contributes .1%. Even if you're still worried about disposal, and entering the enviroment via runoff, us geeks are probably more responsible, as more lead is used in battery production than in ammunition manufacture. Beyond that, the majority of ammunition doesn't go to huters.

Now, that said, Hg and Pb in the enviroment is a serious thing, but the real culprits need to be held accountable, don't draw conclusions because it looks logical, or you saw an indoctrination--er... documentry.

Fact is, with out hunters and sportsmen(and women to be PC). We wouldn't have the natural areas left to pollute today.

Don't believe me? Look at the facts for yourself, check the Envirmental Fate section.

Lead
Mercury

While I won't comment on the morality of hunting, one of the biggest dangers to American endangered species is lead and mercury poisoning from pollution and... expended bullets.

Mercury poisioning from expended bullets? Interesting, because mercury isn't associated with either the production or discharge of bullets.

Lead poisioning seems reasonable though, but actually the major initial recipient of lead into the enviorment is the atmosphere. In fact ammunition discharge is not even listed as a contributor to the enviormental lead content, one would assume it is under misc, which contributes .1%. Even if you're still worried about disposal, and entering the enviroment via runoff, us geeks are probably more responsible, as more lead is used in battery production than in ammunition manufacture. Beyond that, the majority of ammunition doesn't go to huters.

Now, that said, Hg and Pb in the enviroment is a serious thing, but the real culprits need to be held accountable, don't draw conclusions because it looks logical, or you saw an indoctrination--er... documentry.

Fact is, with out hunters and sportsmen(and women to be PC). We wouldn't have the natural areas left to pollute today.

Don't believe me? Look at the facts for yourself, check the Envirmental Fate section.

Lead
Mercury