Nuclear reactors rely on another: gadolinium. The rare earth cerium can serve as a catalyst to process crude oil into a host of useful products. They also have similar chemical properties. Those last two elements tend to occur in the same ore deposits as lanthanides. Also included in the rare earths are scandium (atomic number 21) and yttrium (atomic number 39). Known as lanthanides, they run from lanthanum to lutetium - atomic numbers 57 through 71. And demand for these metals has been skyrocketing.įifteen rare earths make up a whole row on most periodic tables. Called rare earths, these 17 elements are crucial to nearly all modern electronics. That was, of course, fiction.īack here on Earth, in real life, a group of metallic elements has made possible our own technology-driven society. It also became the basis of an intergalactic civilization. This spice granted people the ability to navigate vast expanses of the cosmos. Mining a precious natural substance called spice melange was a driving theme in that epic space saga. The first volume of Frank Herbert’s Dune series debuted back in 1965.
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