Perspective and point of reference is critical when making conversation. For example, I recently picked up a pair of ultralight ear bud speakers at an airport kiosk and casually remarked to a colleague travelling with me, “What would we do without rare earth metal?”. To which he responded, “Rare Earth was NOT metal, they were soul rock. I mean, c’mon.. you call ‘I Just Want to Celebrate’ metal?”. Apologies in advance to all the ‘70’s rock fans who will now be humming that Rare Earth ditty for the rest of the day. Obviously, my point of reference was technologically oriented around the magic of the rare earth metal neodymium, which is responsible for the incredibly small, lightweight and powerful magnets in most ear bud speakers. Rare earth metals, or REMs, are those exotically named elements such as cerium (one of the catalysts used to crack petroleum), europium and terbium (which are used to create the colors on the screen of your smartphone), the aforementioned neodymium (used to create freakishly strong and lightweight magnets used in virtually every high-tech electrical motor today), and include another thirteen elements whose names sound like exotic lands from Lord of the Rings. Despite their name,
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