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A world-beating deposit of lithium along the Nevada–Oregon border could meet surging demand for this metal, according to a new analysis.

An estimated 20 to 40 million tonnes of lithium metal lie within a volcanic crater formed around 16 million years ago. This is notably larger than the lithium deposits found beneath a Bolivian salt flat, previously considered the largest deposit in the world.

‘If you believe their back-of-the-envelope estimation, this is a very, very significant deposit of lithium,’ says Anouk Borst, a geologist at KU Leuven University and the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. ‘It could change the dynamics of lithium globally, in terms of price, security of supply and geopolitics.’

The development of your baby’s brain could be influenced by the microbes in their belly, scientists have found.

The trillions of microbes that live inside our guts play essential roles in a range of bodily processes, from digestion to mental health. The gut contains more than 100 million nerve cells—the highest concentration in any part of the body other than the brain. Now, we are also beginning to learn about the roles of these microbes in the earliest stages of our lives.

“The microbiome plays an important role in the early development of several systems, such as the nervous and immune system, as well as providing another layer of protection against pathogens [disease],” Sebastian Hunter, a researcher from the University of British Columbia who led a study on the subject published Wednesday in the scientific journal PLOS One, told Newsweek.

Yet the automation of such tasks also means the chance to eliminate or reduce certain roles, not just in administration, but across many fields as the technology becomes more sophisticated. According to a survey of professionals by Thomson Reuters published last week, 67% of respondents believe AI will have a great impact on their profession in the next five years, while more than half predict the technology will create new career paths.

So exactly what are those new professional opportunities that the next generation of workers should be trying to pursue?

“There is no such thing as a future-proof career anymore,” says Dr Andrew Rogoyski, the director of innovation and partnerships at the Surrey Institute for People-Centred Artificial Intelligence at the University of Surrey.