4 ms·
Isn't it amazing that all of these elements have so many distinct industrial uses? How did people figure all of this stuff out? Real life is sometimes stranger
by Pyxl101 7y ago
Isn't it amazing that all of these elements have so many distinct industrial uses? How did people figure all of this stuff out? Real life is sometimes stranger than fiction.
Also, related: I read an article in WaPo about the only rare earths mine in the United States:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/2019/06/07/80a06794-8649-11e9-a491-25df61c78dc4_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/2019/06/07/8...
> This is Mountain Pass, the only mine in the United States that harvests rare-earth elements, the raw ingredients used to produce high-tech products such as smartphones, wind turbines, electric vehicles and fighter jets.
- pjc50 7y agoPeople essentially spent entire careers trying stuff, until comparatively recently when materials science theoretical modelling became good enough. The classic Ignition! is well worth reading to see the process from the inside. The basic figure of merit for rocket fuels, specific impulse, could be calculated on paper. All sorts of other critical properties like detonation resistance had to be found experimentally. As well as the trick to storing red fuming nitric acid without eating through stainless steel.
- dredmorbius 7y agoChemistry and materials science. See also the Harbord List and dawning awareness of strategic minerals during WWI. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0260982786900352 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0260982786... https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/dod/dnsc.htm https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/dod/dnsc.htm
- codeGreene 7y agoThank you, this stuff interests the hell out of me. I'll never be at MIT, but I can read it in my spare time!