Gold's superior electrical conductivity, its malleability,
and its resistance to corrosion have made it vital
to the manufacture of components used in a wide
range of electronic products and equipment, including
computers, telephones, cellular phones, and home
appliances.
Gold
has extraordinarily high reflective powers that are
relied upon in the shielding that protects spacecrafts
and satellites from solar radiation and in industrial
and medical lasers that use gold-coated reflectors
to focus light energy. And because gold is biologically
inactive, it has become a vital tool for medical research
and is even used in the direct treatment of arthritis
and other intractable diseases.