Science & Technology

A recent article by the Associated Press, “Oil Boom Bringing More than Construction,” describes the revitalization of Watford City, North Dakota—revitalization made possible not only in that town but in many others as well, by the fracking revolution. “Luke Allen, who moved here last summer to start his dental practice, finds the pioneer spirit exhilarating,” the AP reports.

“Russia's No. 2 oil producer, Lukoil, and France's Total agreed . . . to set up a joint venture to tap vast tight [shale] oil reserves in Siberia” Reuters reports. The move provides further evidence that the Russian government’s criticism of fracking in Europe is intended to maintain Russia’s position as a key supplier of European energy.

During the opening ceremonies for the World Cup June 12, a young paraplegic will walk onto the field in front of 65,000 fans and kick the first ball of the event. How? By means of a bionic exoskeleton, which he will control with his mind.

A consortium of space entrepreneurs plans next year to deliver to the moon’s surface a can of Pocari Sweat, an Asian sports drink. Yes, they’re doing it for the money—and that is a glorious thing. Part of the purpose of the mission is to inspire students to pursue careers in space exploration.

The notion of “peak oil” is scientifically fallacious because, with better methods of discovering and extracting fossil fuels, known reserves keep expanding, not contracting. Sure, there’s a theoretical limit to the amount of fossil fuels people can extract, but so far we’ve used the proverbial drop in the bucket.

Although many people take polyethylene for granted, almost everyone regularly uses myriad products made partly or entirely from it, including modern airplanes, trash bags, food storage containers, lightweight vehicles, stretch films, hard hats, detergent bottles, piping for natural gas and water, insulation for electrical wires, medical supplies, the list goes on and on.

Some things are seemingly so mundane, and we use them so routinely, that we scarcely notice how important they are to our lives. Take, for example, common kitchen supplies. Pause for a moment to consider how businesses developed four essential products—and how important those products are to our daily food preparation.

Oil producers in the "Bakken shale formation in western North Dakota and eastern Montana have produced 1 billion barrels of crude [oil]" as of the first quarter of 2014, reports the Associated Press. "North Dakota has generated 852 million barrels of Bakken crude, and Montana has produced about 151 million barrels."

Those of us who are not doctors, but who love our lives and our health, should not stand idly by as politicians and bureaucrats shackle the doctors on whom our lives and health may well depend. We should stand with those doctors who, like Craviotto, demand liberty to practice medicine in accordance with their own judgment.

Whereas in the United States owners of resources have a strong incentive to contract with frackers—development of Eagle Ford shale in Texas generated some $2.4 billion in leases in 2010 alone—European politicians and bureaucrats, who control the resources in question there, have little to no incentive (and likely negative incentive) to enable fracking.