One of the greatest (and most slept on) problems of the 21st Century is the dearth of rare earth metals (REMs) around the world, with much of it being concentrated in countries like China.
First, it makes sense to talk about what the REMs are. From a purely scientific standpoint, REMs are a group of 17 elements (the lanthanides and couple of other elements). As is typical with scientific names, the rare earth metals are not even that rare, with the majority of the trouble in finding high enough concentrations in the earth to make mining financially feasible. Ever since the emergence of the Information Age during the 21st Century (a.k.a. the Computer Age), REMs have been having an increasing impact on the world, with REMs being one of the main components of several important hi-tech products. Things like high-power magnets in our speakers that use neodymium, screens on smartphones that use yttrium, and catalytic converters that run the cars that we regularly drive that rely on cerium all ensure that we are constantly in contact with the life-altering REMs.
I first became interested in REMs in my chemistry class, where we watched a video about REMs and how much of an impact they are having in our development into the Information Age. They also touched upon how China is one of the leading producers of rare earth metals. In fact, recent estimates state that 95% of all rare earth minerals mined in the world come from China. The video talked about how China was cutting off the supply of rare earth metals to countries like Japan as a result of political differences, like control over the highly important South China Sea. As a result, the United States has looked into finding areas that they could mine their own rare earth elements to get reduce the impact of China’s current monopoly.
The rare earth minerals, such as machining molybdenum and tungsten heavy alloy, are at a junction between science and economics, two of the fields that are most interesting to me to explore during my college because of their clear impacts on our lives. Science dictates everything we see in the world, from the sun and the stars that are immensely large to the subatomic particles and quarks that are on the smallest levels of matter. Additionally, through economics, I would be able to understand not only things about money, but the nature of capitalism and the way that our world operates. Rare Earth minerals are important because they connect these two fields.
Rare earth minerals will have clear, positive impacts on people. For one, with greater technological development and innovations, we can expect better technology and products in order to make our world function better. Additionally, because the United States is looking for ways to produce and mine rare earth elements, it will create jobs in the future, both in the mining and refinement industry, as well as in material science/engineering jobs to increase efficiency. These will surely impact my life as I look towards my future college major and career.
For more information, please visit http://www.samaterials.com/
First, it makes sense to talk about what the REMs are. From a purely scientific standpoint, REMs are a group of 17 elements (the lanthanides and couple of other elements). As is typical with scientific names, the rare earth metals are not even that rare, with the majority of the trouble in finding high enough concentrations in the earth to make mining financially feasible. Ever since the emergence of the Information Age during the 21st Century (a.k.a. the Computer Age), REMs have been having an increasing impact on the world, with REMs being one of the main components of several important hi-tech products. Things like high-power magnets in our speakers that use neodymium, screens on smartphones that use yttrium, and catalytic converters that run the cars that we regularly drive that rely on cerium all ensure that we are constantly in contact with the life-altering REMs.
I first became interested in REMs in my chemistry class, where we watched a video about REMs and how much of an impact they are having in our development into the Information Age. They also touched upon how China is one of the leading producers of rare earth metals. In fact, recent estimates state that 95% of all rare earth minerals mined in the world come from China. The video talked about how China was cutting off the supply of rare earth metals to countries like Japan as a result of political differences, like control over the highly important South China Sea. As a result, the United States has looked into finding areas that they could mine their own rare earth elements to get reduce the impact of China’s current monopoly.
The rare earth minerals, such as machining molybdenum and tungsten heavy alloy, are at a junction between science and economics, two of the fields that are most interesting to me to explore during my college because of their clear impacts on our lives. Science dictates everything we see in the world, from the sun and the stars that are immensely large to the subatomic particles and quarks that are on the smallest levels of matter. Additionally, through economics, I would be able to understand not only things about money, but the nature of capitalism and the way that our world operates. Rare Earth minerals are important because they connect these two fields.
Rare earth minerals will have clear, positive impacts on people. For one, with greater technological development and innovations, we can expect better technology and products in order to make our world function better. Additionally, because the United States is looking for ways to produce and mine rare earth elements, it will create jobs in the future, both in the mining and refinement industry, as well as in material science/engineering jobs to increase efficiency. These will surely impact my life as I look towards my future college major and career.
For more information, please visit http://www.samaterials.com/
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