Why 'rare earths' matter to the Pentagon, and why '60 Minutes' says that's a problem

Anyone that caught “60 Minutes” Sunday walked away with this message: The Pentagon relies on rare earth elements for a huge percentage of its weapons, including the F-35, and China has a near monopoly on them.

What are rare earths, anyway? Basically, unusual metals, which you can find listed on a separate line under the main portion of the periodic table. They’re found in small amounts all over the place, trapped in what looks like ordinary rock.

But a couple of key points from the “60 Minutes”…