| 內容簡介 | 手機、風力發電機、電動車。這些全部要用到稀土，最近才被視為重要原料的化學元素。名稱包括鈰及釹等等，這些元素長久以來處境晦暗不明，不是不為人知，就是被視為無用。今日，工業沒有它們就無法存在。稀土不如名稱暗示般稀有，比方說它們的藏量比黃金更豐富，但是萃取過程耗資巨大。
Mobile phones, wind turbines, electric cars – they all use rare earths, chemical elements that were only recently recognized as important raw materials. With names such as cerium and neodymium, these elements for a long time led a shadowy existence, either unknown or considered useless. Today, whole industries could not exist without them. Rare earths are not actually as rare as the name suggests – they are more abundant than gold, for instance – but extracting them is an expensive business.<摘錄自媒體封面或內頁> |