Yes, Reddit, There’s Really a Magnet Shortage. (But It’s Complicated)
One of the most upvoted recent comments on Reddit has provoked a serious wave of worry online: Is the world really running out of magnets?
The Reddit community is famous for generating serious Internet buzz over everything from DIY swimming pools to McDonald’s secret menu items. This time, the worry may sound far-fetched, but it turns out there is some truth to it.
Novelty refrigerator magnets and DIY projects aside, the million-dollar question is why should you care? The magnets in question are actually rare-earth magnets, a shortage of which doesn’t put your garden-variety fridge decorations in danger. These rare-earth neodymium magnets supply components needed to build computer hardware, electric car motors, MRI machines, and more. Neodymium magnets are also crucial to the advancement of many green technologies.
There is plenty of iron and other metals for regular magnets. But the outlook for the rare-earth variety is indeed trickier.
TL;DR
The original post from Aug. 21 asked that PhD members of the Reddit community post a “dumbed-down version” of their thesis project. Thousands of users jumped on the thread and offered up their layman’s explanation, but the one gaining the most traction is Reddit user IAmAHiggsBoson (a reference to the elementary particle of the Standard Model of Physics), who plainly stated: “Making new magnets from old magnets because we’re running out of magnets.”
Neodymium magnets dwarf the power of iron magnets, having 10 times the power of a normal chunk of iron. This kind of strength translates into a magnet that can hold 1,000 times its own weight.
A 2013 report from Yale University explained that access to the rare-earth resources poses major issues to industries looking to use them in new and existing technologies:
“The move toward new and better technologies — from smartphones to electric cars — means an ever-increasing demand for exotic metals that are scarce thanks to both geology and politics.”
China currently possessed upwards of 85 percent of the earth’s supply of neodymium, according to an article from Forbes. The unrelenting demand for these rare-earth magnets gives China the upper hand in the industry. The controversy around the matter extends even further with questionable practices in harvesting these raw materials. Unauthorized and government-approved producers alike continue to dump “acid-rich, radioactive waste,” which can eventually spill into and pollute the Yellow River.
Scientists are hard at work with research that will allow manufacturers to recycle neodymium and create “new magnet alloys from recycled rare earths.”
The U.S. Department of Energy selected the Ames Laboratory in Iowa to be the recipient of a $120 million grant over five years as a part of the effort to alleviate the reliance on the rare-earth elements for magnets.
Reddit user IAmAHiggsBoson helped bring this issue to those who may not be as embedded in the scientific community and may perhaps one day be the one to bring us the solution. So put that on your fridge and mull it over!
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