Elon Musk just announced Tesla's eliminating the need for rare Earth elements, and many have discounted the announcement as hype to boost Tesla stock.

It isn't - A new breakthrough allows cheaper fabrication of a long known iron alloy, iron nitride, that yields a magnet more than 2X the strength of neodymium at half the cost and that cost will go down once fabrication is streamlined.

China has the global monopoly on rare Earth's and has been saber-rattling with Japan and Taiwan over territorial rights where major sea deposits lie.

Neodymium accounts for over 90% of global rare Earth demands, but iron nitride will also replace other rare Earth's.

American ingenuity is still alive and well.

China can stick to making trinkets for now.


Great video on the topic, I'm a big "Two Bit Davinci" fan, Ricky Roy's great - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xInA76a1eVs

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Americas ingenuity may be alive but alas its ability to manufacture is all but lost and even Elon who I respect is not above outsourcing to China so in the end it'll change little I fear.

And I beleive China invasion of taiwan is already in the post and the overall state of world affairs and relations edges us all towards conflict at a daily increasing rate.

Cheap labor isn't rare.

Sounds about right

The American Ingenuity is powered by the university of Cambridge UK




https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/new-approach-to-cosmic-magnet-manufacturing-could-reduce-reliance-on-rare-earths-in-low-carbon