Although the market for lithium and rare earth element metals is highly volatile, the compositions of geothermal fluids from New Zealand’s electricity-generating geothermal fluids appear potentially economic for lithium and possibly for rare earth elements (REE), providing a supplementary income stream to electricity production.

Sentiment analysis is here applied to narratives considered to be essentially descriptive of facts (which include actions around either the discovery of those facts), actions related to experiences of a chemist, and narratives with a more poetic or creative character. A continuum is envisaged between Western pragmatism on the one hand – most obviously shown in descriptive narratives – and Eastern mysticism on the other – most obviously shown in poetic works, with action narratives occupying a position between or even overlapping with these end-points. Such a continuum suggests that Western and Eastern thought may not necessarily be as independent from each other as has been often portrayed.

This paper uses metadata about the three papers that collectively announced the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953, specifically looking at references and citations. These data together with sentiment analysis of the books written by two of the scientists involved – James Watson and Maurice Wilkins – suggest that while an authoritative version of the history of the science might be possible, an authoritative history that includes the social dynamics of the research environment is unlikely. The closing section of the paper alludes to the advances in Māori and Polynesian ethnography made possible by post-discovery DNA-related research.