King Midas was desperately poor, but had a good heart. As a reward for his compassion, the gods granted him a single wish and King Midas, seeking to alleviate his poverty, immediately wished that everything he touched would turn into solid gold.

The story illustrates the point that, like King Midas, when we think of gold we too usually focus on only the monetary value of it, whether it be the gold bricks in Fort Knox or even expensive jewelry. What we don't realize is that gold plays a much bigger role in all of our lives. So tonight we are going to explore the non-monetary uses of gold. To do this, we will first unearth the unique properties of this metal. We will then see how these characteristics have panned out in the medical field to both alleviate and prevent diseases. Finally, we will sift through some applications made by NASA.

Now, the first unique characteristic of gold is its extreme density. When we usually think of dense elements, we think of lead, which is extremely dense. In fact, lead is so dense that whenever we go to get an x-ray, we must first wear a lead apron to shield and protect us from radiation. Well, gold, according to the 1996 McMillan Encyclopedia for Earth Sciences, is one and a half times more dense than lead.

Engineers have already taken advantage of this characteristic by using extremely thin films of this metal to coat electronic switches and relays. [shows picture] In telephones, for example, there are over thirty-three [points to picture] of these gold-plated contacts, which work within the main component of phones, the diaphragm, by transcribing vocal variations into sound.

Now besides gold being one of the most dense of all metals, it is also one of the most ductile, [puts picture away] which means that it can be easily stretched while maintaining its shape. The Gold Institute states that gold is so ductile that a single ounce can be drawn out into a thin wire over five miles long. [shows second picture] The Mineral Yearbook, published by the U.S. Department of the Interior, claims that these thin gold wires are essential to the manufacturing of every single computer, and that other electronics, such as televisions and VCRs, also depend on these thin gold wires to process messages and sounds. [puts picture away]

Not only is gold one of the most dense and ductile of all metals, but it's also the least corrosive. According to the Joint Research Center for the Adam Technology printed in the June 5^th, 1994 issue of Nature, gold's surface structure provides little or no room for bonding. Now, what this means is that molecules tend to slip away, without chemically affecting, or latching to, gold's surface. This is why we can never find any gold with any rust or mold.

Now, combined, these characteristics set the stage for many applications within the health and medical field. For example, gold is being used to treat Lagophthalmos. Lagophthalmos is a condition caused by disease or injury which leads to the inability to close the eye because the eyelid muscle is too week. Now, in the past, doctors would have to use a needle and a thread to physically sew the eyelids shut in order to keep the eyes from drying out. But now, according to Dr. Donald J. Bergen at the Southeastern Eye Center for North Carolina, doctors are able to utilize the dense and non-corrosive qualities of gold in the form of a gold implant. These implants, weighing between .6 and 1.6 grams, are surgically inserted into the upper lid of the eye and work with gravity to give the eye the extra weight it needs in order to close properly. And what's more, because gold is so non-corrosive, it will not react with the human tear -- the reason, in the United States alone, over 15,000 patients are able to benefit from the use of this procedure.

But gold isn't only being used to treat conditions such as Lagophthalmos. It's also being used to treat diseases such as Rheumatory arthritis. Gold has been used in the treatment of this painful disease since 1927 when European physicians first discovered that injecting gold compounds into the body alleviated pain. The Arthritis Foundation states that when gold is injected into the human body, it affects the process which causes joint pain and swelling, therefore lessening the chance of joint deformity and disability. This has been so effective that the January 22, 1997 issue of The Lancet calls gold vital to the treatment of this painful disease.

Now, while studying gold treatment in Rheumatoid arthritis patients, scientists have discovered shocking new evidence suggesting possible ways to inhibit the HIV virus. According to AIDs Weekly, September 5^th, 1994, researchers at the University of Ohio have found that a complex mixture of gold and cyanide can inhibit the replication of the HIV virus in cell cultures. When testing how effective the mixture was in inhibiting the virus, researchers found that HIV activity was cut in half in the treated cell culture when compared to the untreated cell culture. The research continues to state that despite a high concentration of gold, the mixture had little or no effect on cell growth or viability, suggesting that this mixture may be safe to use in the human body. Now, although this research is far from being completed, it has shown enough progress that the university has already filed a patent application for the use of this therapeutic agent.

Now, the medical industry aren't [sic] the only ones who are able to take advantage of gold's unique characteristics. But, NASA is also using gold several different ways in space. The first is in the area of communication. According to Ned Rozell from the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, satellites in space depend on gold to process static-free signals when broadcasting messages back from the earth. In fact, the Pathfinder, the robotic geologist developed by NASA, which recently took photographs of rocks and soil on Mars, couldn't relay its findings back to the earth without the use of this circuitry.

But, besides enabling communication in space, gold also aids in the exploration of space in two unique ways. The first way takes advantage of gold's non-corrosiveness. Now, the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska continues to state that fine powder gold makes the world's best lubricant for rocket engines. It makes the best lubricant, because unlike oil, which inevitably breaks down due to solar radiation, gold is not affected by this or evaporation, therefore making it a critical element of space travel.

Now, the second way that gold aids in the exploration of space takes advantage of gold's extreme density. [shows third picture] According to a 1997 exhibit at the California State Mining and Mineral Museum, a gold coating of only 6 millionths of an inch thick can reflect all heat, all light and all radiation. [points to picture] As seen here, the astronaut's helmet, suits and visor are completely coated with gold to shield and protect this astronaut from harmful radiation. [puts picture away]

But besides enabling communication and exploration in space, gold, believe it or not, is also working to preserve a bit of our own culture. Now once formed, gold maintains its shape despite all environmental conditions. It is for this reason that gold is the material selected to press Sounds of Earth, [shows fourth picture] which according to Carl Sagan in his book Cosmos, was sent aboard the Voyager spacecraft in 1977 and is only now exiting our solar system. The record jacket gives instructions on how to play the record in scientific notation, while the record itself contains information about the Earth's culture and civilization, included on this record is information about our genes, our anatomy, our DNA. The record includes greetings from over 60 different cultures as well as the music. We launched the record with hope that a bit of our culture would be preserved or perhaps even found by distant beings. And because gold is so durable, this golden record, [points to picture] which tells so much about the Earth's journey through space and time, will long outlive all life on planet Earth. [puts picture away]

Now, while gold will continue to play an important role monetarily, it should now be clear that the non-monetary uses of gold have a much bigger impact on our daily lives. On Earth, doctors are able to utilize the characteristics of density, ductility and non-corrosiveness to treat conditions such as Lagophthalmos, Rheumatory arthritis and potentially even the HIV virus. In space, NASA is able to utilize these very same characteristics to enable satellite communication, exploration and to preserve a bit of our own culture. It should now be apparent that these doctors, researchers and engineers who are using gold in non-monetary ways, to enrich our every day lives, truly do possess the real Midas touch.