STORY BY BOB JONES
Crystals of major industrial lithium ore spodumene showing red to red pink fluorescence in ultraviolet light. Specimen is from the Haapaluoma lithium quarry in Finland.
GETTY IMAGES
The age of technology depends on huge amounts of all sorts of elements, including the 17 rare earthelements listed separately along the base of a Periodic Table chart. We don’t hear much about elements such as praseodymium, neodymium, and other rare earthcompanions. But they are an important component of today’s smartphones, computers, and cell phones, among other technological devices.