wikipedia is informative.
I wasn’t suggesting that the supply of rare earths really is infinite, but that the term “semi-infinite” is meaningless (or means the same thing as “infinite”). The supply of rare earths is finite (on earth, anyway; let’s not get into cosmology here). Not “semi-infinite”, “more than finite”, or any other bogus larger-than limited-but-less-than-unlimited amount.
When you have to explain yourself being pedantic, it’s even less funny. 
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“This product is guaranteed for the lifetime of this product.” (with a limited warranty, no doubt)
Good question. I suggest doing a massive bong rip then reading about Cantor Sets.
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Of course one the the reasons that they could come up with an agreement after the US bailed is they dumped the heinous IP provisions that the US was trying to cram down everybody else’s throat. I like to think that those parts are NOT coming back, even if the US crawls back and asks to be let back in.
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it is! And in responding to the link to it, I seem to have been given another link to it!
The last time we were super pumped about precious seafloor metals, delicious manganese nodules in that case, it turned out to be a little weirder.
So, rare earth metals or covert trade with R’lyeh?
(Edit: of all things manganese-nodule related; I remember getting a little reference book for christmas as a kid. It was full of all sorts of cool and rather eclectic information about all manner of things(I need to see if I can dig it up somewhere, to refresh my memory of what the organizing logic was). There were a few pages on manganese nodules, some maps of concentrations suspected of being of economic importance, that sort of thing.
Years later I learned that my childhood interest in seafloor ROV mining was actually just a tiny, irrelevant, pawn in a tale of Cold War intrigue. It barely nudges the needle by the standards of nefarious spook stuff; but I was much affected by the realization that not only was what had been presented as truth lies; but that it wasn’t even the CIA lying to me; my innocent childhood enthusiasm for manganese nodules was just a third-hand incidental effect.
I never cared about Santa or the Easter bunny or anything, those were clearly nonsense and so never created any sense of epistemic betrayal; but those spook bastards lied to young fuzzyfungus about the viability of seafloor nodule recovery and it hurt.)
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Project Jennifer?
Oh god, is there sort of a cheat sheet to go with the Laundry files for those who don’t know about every CIA moneypit?
It may be a translation issue. In my Catholic instruction a difference was made between beings that are infinite, without beginning or end, such as God, and beings that are perpetual, such as angels, devils, or human souls, with a beginning but no end. Semi infinite could try to signify that, something that has a beginning but no end.
I was under the impression that one of the main reasons China supplies the bulk of the planet’s rare-earth minerals is that they have fewer compunctions about destroying their own country’s environment to get them.
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Well, that is part of what makes it cheap…
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