NPR.

This is the Antiguaited from Planet Money, I'm Darien Woods.

And I'm Paddy Hirsch.

At the heart of every piece of machinery

powered by electricity lies the humble magnet.

Of course you know this, from your physics class at high school Darien, right?

Oh yeah, I was at the front row.

Anyway, most magnets, like the one in your battery powered clock, for example,

are cheap and easy to produce.

But the magnets in high-tech machinery, like electric vehicle motors, or I don't know,

space shuttle turbines are very different.

These so-called permanent magnets are subject to intense heat and pressure.

And to make the really high end ones, you need a special ingredient, rare earths.

These are elements that can be hard to find and are even harder to extract and refine.

Yeah, and the vast majority of rare earths right now are produced in China,

which means that China dominates that market.

Recently, however, scientists discovered a way to produce a metal in a lab

that could be used to make high-end magnets without using rare earths.

The metal is called tetra-tainite.

And on today's show, we're going to find out what it is, how it's made,

and how it came from space.

That's right, and we're going to hear how it could transform not just the market

...