A newly discovered huge concentration of rare-earth minerals—used by everything from phones to flat-screen TVs and lasers—could break China’s stranglehold on over 95 per cent of the world’s known commercially exploitable supply. A stockpile that it’s been holding to ransom. As a gadget lover, you can see why this is important.
In colonial times, Benjamin Franklin was fond of keeping a list of “13 virtues”. If he violated one, he would check it off, and use it as motivation to improve his moral standing. He was an original body hacker.
Foxconn is often held up as the poster child for tainted gadgets, but there’s far worse in war-torn Congo, from whence many of the minerals that ultimately make up the innards of our smartphones come.
