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CMI Director Alex King Talks About Rare Earth Supplies (Video 2)

Posted by Roblimo on from the the're-still-looking-for-unobtanium dept.

Yesterday we ran video #1 of 2 about the Critical Materials Institute (CMI) at the Iowa State Ames Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. They have partners from other national laboratories, universities, and industry, too. Obviously there is more than enough information on this subject that Dr. King can easily fill two 15-minute videos, not to mention so many Google links that instead of trying to list all of them, we're giving you one link to Google using the search term "rare earths." Yes, we know Rare Earth would be a great name for a rock band. But the mineral rare earths are important in the manufacture of items ranging from strong magnets to touch screens and rechargeable batteries, so please watch the video(s) or at least read the transcript(s). (Alternate Video Link)

6 of 11 comments (clear)

  1. please watch the video (my summary sucks) by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    >> so please watch the video(s)

    Um...the summary makes it sound like some guy's going to read you some Wikipedia pages.

    Quick - can someone find an editor (maybe borrow one from TheRegister) that can make this sound at all interesting? To anyone? (e.g., "Rare Earth Expert Says (Shit You Would Not Believe)" or "Which 3 Rare Earths Will Be Exhausted in 10 Years" or "Is It True that Garbage Dump Mining Is a Good Way to Get Rare Earth" or...)

  2. So what's the state of hybrid materials? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    How far are we from no longer needing to rely on this 'rare' resource?

    1. Re:So what's the state of hybrid materials? by swb · · Score: 1

      The way he described it, basically never. They play a key role in so many things that you basically kiss metals and oxides goodbye without them.

  3. Re:Dupe by Richy_T · · Score: 2

    Yeah, for sure. What next, articles with multiple pages needing multiple Slashdot posts? This is just dumb.

  4. Re:Dupe by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

    This is just dumb.

    Also, the summary is dumb. A summary should summarize (give a brief, condensed, synopsis of TFA), not describe the logistics and rationale for splitting the video. There is no way I am going to sit through a 15 minute video, but I would be willing to spend 30 seconds reading a paragraph that summarized the main points.

  5. You won't believe what she does with Rare Earths! by swb · · Score: 1

    This one trick with rare earths will save you money (but don't tell the Chinese!)