“Rare minerals represent Earth’s truest distinction from all other planets, reveal the sub-surface conditions that created them and offer insights into our planet’s past biological upheavals,” saysRobert Hazenof the Carnegie Institution in Washington DC, who compiled the list withJesse A...
You’ll frequently read that the total astatine supply in the earth’s crust at any given moment is about an ounce. As products of radioactive decay, astatine and the like are too scarce and ephemeral to tally directly but their abundances can be inferred from their parent elements’ well-...
Rare-Earth Metals and Their Significance Among the pantheon of materials critical to technological innovation,rare-earth metalscommand a special status. These elements are the linchpins of a wide range of high-tech applications, from the innards of smartphones and hybrid vehicles to the mechanisms ...
Some of the most poignant elements of popular culture originate in comic form, from Hollywood’s current obsession with superheroes, to the ever useful Bechdel test for measuring how well a cultural product does at representing women. Being such a powerful and important art form, there’s no w...
Of all the rare plants listed the Ghost Orchid or Dendrophylax lindenii, may be the oddest addition to this list. With an inability to complete the photosynthesis process, and severe issues with propagation methods, it is amazing that this plant is still in existence. In fact, since its dis...