Rare earths, critical raw materials and precious metals are elements that all major nations seek, no matter what the cost. On their control and the ability to transform them into the ecological and digital transition, into the enablers of artificial intelligence, into complex and common medical equipment, is the game of who will control the future, because this century is building tomorrow using strategic metals, precious minerals, and complex material alloys. This essay is the result of research and numerous interviews with industry experts, and describes how these new materials, the true “physical matrices of the future”, are shaping our world, and allows to understand their importance, bringing order to a complex topic that ranges from chemistry to materials science, from geopolitics to the sociology of consumption. We will understand what the big six are, what the most coveted critical raw materials are, why rare earths are so important, what scientific research is doing, where some of the major wars that are bloodstaining the planet and some of the main factors in Western socio-political crises originate. Finally, we will understand what is our role in this new scenario, because in the change in the way we consume we can find one of the most effective keys to open the door to tomorrow and overcome some of the critical issues of the era we are living.

Gianluca Schinaia is an awarded journalist specializing in sustainability and collaborates with the Italian newspapers and magazines “Wired”, “Il Fatto Quotidiano”, “Avvenire”, “Il Sole 24 Ore”, and “L’espresso”. He also teaches at the Catholic University and at the European Institute of Design in Milan, and has given lectures and seminars for the European Commission’s JRC, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, and the University of Milan. He published the books Lavori in corso (Netwon Compton 2010, with Mimmo Torrisi), and the international scientific publication Interdisciplinary Approaches to Climate