Afghanistan's Potential Billions in Lithium: Why It's Important

This weekend rare and fabulous news came from Afghanistan that trillion-dollar mineral deposits have been discovered. Chief among the riches is lithium, an element central to the most popular type of rechargable batteries used today. But what exactly is lithium and how do the batteries work?

Lithium the element

Lithium, properly discovered in 1817, is a an alkali metal in the same family as sodium and it's actually a soft metal under normal conditions--you can cut it with a knife. It's also...