THE QUANTUM GENIUS WHO EXPLAINED RARE-EARTH MYSTERIES

You can’t scroll a tech blog without spotting a mention of rare earths—vital to EVs, renewables and defence hardware—yet almost nobody grasps their story. Seventeen little-known elements underwrite the tech that energises modern life. Their baffling chemistry left scientists scratching their heads for decades—until Niels Bohr stepped in.

You can’t scroll a tech blog without spotting a mention of rare earths—vital to EVs, renewables and defence hardware—yet almost nobody grasps their story. These 17 elements appear ordinary, but they anchor the devices we use daily. For decades they mocked chemists, remaining a riddle, until a quantum pioneer named Niels Bohr rewrote the ru