Inside your smartphone
Canadian Geographic|Canadian Geographic July/August 2021, Vol. 141, No. 4
How so-called rare earth elements are powering our modern tech — and where to find them
ABI HAYWARD
Inside your smartphone

There’s yttrium and lanthanum and cerium and terbium. Europium, gadolinium, dysprosium, neodymium… You may not know the slightly more obscure elements featured in Tom Lehrer’s catchy jingle that has helped generations of students memorize the periodic table of elements. But they’re likely in your pocket.

This story is from the Canadian Geographic July/August 2021, Vol. 141, No. 4 edition of Canadian Geographic.

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This story is from the Canadian Geographic July/August 2021, Vol. 141, No. 4 edition of Canadian Geographic.

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