Cobalt

The electric-vehicle business is facing a bit of bother. A key ingredient in the lithium ion batteries that power electric cars is in short supply. Prices doubled in 2017, and demand is predicted to jump by quite a bit this year.
Cobalt has found many applications over the centuries. It’s been used as a dye for ceramics, and in alloys for jet engines. It’s also a main ingredient in vitamin B12.
Like all but a few of the chemical elements, cobalt was forged in stars. It was made in the hearts of heavy stars, and in powerful stellar explosions.
In the hearts of stars, elements are bombarded with neutrons — the neutral particles in the nuclei of atoms. That builds heavier elements, including a radioactive form of iron. As the iron undergoes radioactive decay, it turns into the stable form of cobalt.
The element also is created when stars explode as supernovae. Such a blast releases enormous amounts of neutrons, which stick to atoms to make heavier elements.
Supernova blasts also make a ra