China restricts rare-earth metals export, so Japanese devise an alternatives

Rare-earth metals, 17 in all, are used to produce small batteries for hybrid cars, handheld gadgets, lasers, magnets, camera lenses, computer memory chips, weapon systems, and more; China produces about 90 percent of the world's rare-earths; as part of its policy of crippling the economies of industrial states who may compete with it, China in July announced that it would slash exports by 40 percent; in an effort to thwart these Chinese restrictions, Japanese manufacturers have developed technology that can make motors without them