Related topics: japan · china

Salvaging rare earth elements from electronic waste

Manufacturers rely on rare earth elements, like neodymium, to create strong magnets used in motors for electronics including hybrid cars, aircraft generators, loudspeakers, hard drives and in-ear headphones. But mineral deposits ...

Iron in the fire: Researchers pinpoint how iron deposits form

University of Alberta scientists have uncovered the formation mechanism behind a class of mineral deposits that have been hotly contested until now. The findings shed new light on how iron deposits, among others, form—and ...

Big data points humanity to new minerals, new deposits (Update)

Applying big data analysis to mineralogy offers a way to predict minerals missing from those known to science, where to find them, and where to find new deposits of valuable minerals such as gold and copper, according to ...

Rare-earths become water-repellent only as they age

Surfaces that have been coated with rare earth oxides develop water-repelling properties only after contact with air. Even at room temperature, chemical reactions begin with hydrocarbons in the air. In the journal Scientific ...

Earth's mineralogy unique in the cosmos

New research from a team led by Carnegie's Robert Hazen predicts that Earth has more than 1,500 undiscovered minerals and that the exact mineral diversity of our planet is unique and could not be duplicated anywhere in the ...

UA student finds 'Hawaiian beach' sand on Mars

(Phys.org) —The world's largest database of minerals, developed and housed at the UA, enables NASA to identify the minerals that make up the soil on Mars. As a member of the science team on NASA's Curiosity rover currently ...

Collaboration aims to harness the energy of 2,000 suns

Today on Earth Day, scientists have announced a collaboration to develop an affordable photovoltaic system capable of concentrating, on average, the power of 2,000 suns, with an efficiency that can collect 80 percent of the ...

Japan nano-tech team creates palladium-like alloy: report

Japanese researchers have created an alloy with properties similar to palladium, a precious metal used in many high-tech goods, a news report said Thursday, dubbing the breakthrough "present-day alchemy".

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