Carl Gishnider is also a research scientist at the Ames Lab. The 17 elements are crucial, not just for the cloud, but for many of our advanced technologies. Electric cars, flat screen TVs, medical devices, even drones need rare earth magnets. But as fond as Mr. Rare Earth is of his name, when it comes to the elements themselves, he told CNN's John Sutter they're fairly abundant.
We continue our journey to the center of the cloud, by way of the earth: Rare Earth. China controls 95% of the market for the 17 Rare Earth elements that power our invisible technologies so your host decides to pay a visit to the Ganzhou region, to see the illegal mines in the with his own eyes.
********Click on the image for the whole story about this week’s installment********