Mittal figured he could cut his raw-material costs in half by buying direct-reduced iron rather than scrap.

FORBES: Carnegie would be jealous

The purchase made Ispat one of the world's largest producers of direct-reduced iron, at 7 million tons a year.

FORBES: Carnegie would be jealous

He read about something called direct-reduced iron, a technique for smelting without melting--removing the oxygen from iron ore while it's still solid, that is.

FORBES: Carnegie would be jealous

This liberates hydrogen ions for the acidity, turns insoluble sulfide into very soluble sulfate, and creates rust from reduced iron, a fascinating, if annoying, chemical process.

FORBES: Fracking With Bad Water

His political point regarding Malaysia is sharp and angry: when government, religion, and tradition put desire under an iron fist despite the free market in labor, humans are reduced to beasts of burden, and their desire turns beastly as well.

NEWYORKER: I Don't Want to Sleep Alone

Dishwashers, microwaves, non-iron shirts, washing machines, reliable cars, all these things have reduced household production hours by more than the increase in market working hours.

FORBES: America's Productivity Crisis

India is expected to become a net iron-ore importer in the fiscal year that began April 1 because of reduced output, but Thursday's order could mean a gradual turnaround in the situation.

WSJ: Court Eases Mining Ban in Karnataka

Blacksmiths did come into their own then, and iron tools increased productivity and wealth, and the submersion of states within great empires reduced barriers to trade.

FORBES: An Investment Strategy Based on Ancient History

Household waste, for example, would be reduced to pure carbon, oxygen and hydrogen, along with a handful of heavier elements (tungsten, iron, aluminium and so on) which could then be re-used.

ECONOMIST: Nuclear waste