At this point it’s worth noting that copper is not the only metal capable of conducting electricity. Aluminium does a decent enough job, and since it is significantly lighter it is often used for high-voltage long-distance cables that need to hang high on wires rather than under the ground. Silver is even more conductive than copper and can rival its ductility if not its strength, but this underlines another one of those recurrent lessons from the Material World. As with concrete or steel, what matters just as much as a substance’s powers is its ubiquity. Silver is rare. Copper might not be as
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