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"Rare earth." This is the name given to the raw material from which a number of inner-transition metals are extracted. So scarce are they that at first they were called "rare earths", but the name was later extended to a group of elements that make up two rows in the lower part of the periodic table: lanthanides and actinides. Read this article

In the last issue we looked at "rare earth" and at applications for powerful neodymium magnets. In this issue we will delve deeper into the mysteries of these permanent magnets whose origins, in this case, are oriental: the city of Ningbo is situated in the northern Chinese province of Zhejiang and one of its industries is mining "rare earth" to produce neodymium and other rare metals. Read this article

When scientific operations begin at the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) astrophysicists will already have completed a great deal of work in preparation. An "action plan" will have to be ready in advance to make sure that the best use is made of observing time when operations get going at the telescope. Read this article

Sizes and measurements are all well and good but they are often difficult to visualise without making comparisons: a wood the size of ten football pitches, a vehicle as heavy as a fully grown elephant, a bug as small as a pinhead...there are endless examples of how dimensions can be made more meaningful. Read this article

A telescope would be nothing without the instruments it uses to observe. Developing instruments like these is vital to satisfy the needs of scientific programmes that could not be achieved without them. That is why the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) has been designed from the outset with its scientific objectives in mind. Read this article