Rare earths are currently steering conversations on EV batteries, wind turbines and next-gen defence gear. Yet many people still misunderstand what “rare earths” truly are. Seventeen little-known elements underwrite the tech that runs modern life. For decades they mocked chemists, remaining a riddle, until a quantum pioneer named Niels Bohr

You can’t scroll a tech blog without bumping into a mention of rare earths—vital to EVs, renewables and defence hardware—yet almost no one grasps their story. Seventeen little-known elements underwrite the tech that fuels modern life. For decades they mocked chemists, remaining a riddle, until a quantum pioneer named Niels Bohr rewrote th