Editing Unobtainium (section)

== Contemporary popularization ==
Unobtainium began to be used among people who are neither science fiction fans nor engineers to denote an object that actually exists, but which is very hard to obtain either because of high price (sometimes referred to as "unaffordium") or limited availability. It usually refers to a very [[high-end]] and desirable product. By the 1970s, the term had migrated from the aerospace industry to the Southern California automobile and motorcycle cultures and, began to appear in industry publications such as early advertisements for [[Oakley, Inc.|Oakley]] motorcycle handgrips.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eyewearthese.com/glossary/oakley-terminology/ |title=Oakely Terminology |publisher=eyewearthese.com |date=2023-08-13}}</ref>

Other examples are rear cassettes in the [[mountain biking]] community,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://road.cc/content/review/49881-spin-unobtanium-monobloc-cassette |title=Spin Unobtanium Monobloc Cassette |publisher=Road.cc |author=Mat Brett |date=Jan 5, 2012}}</ref> parts that are no longer available for old-car enthusiasts,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/classic-cars/a2157051/hey-lancia-delta-integrale-owners-fca-found-some-unobtainium-level-stuff-you/ |title=Hey, Lancia Delta Integrale owners, FCA found some unobtainium-level stuff you might be interested in |publisher=autoWeek |author= Jay Ramey |date=Dec 10, 2019}}</ref><ref>Chris Petris, ''How to Restore Your Corvette, 1963-1967'', p. 13, CarTech Inc, 2012 {{ISBN|193470976X}}.</ref> parts for reel-to-reel audio-tape recorders, and rare vacuum tubes such as the [[1L6]] or [[WD-11]] that can now cost more than the equipment in which they were fitted.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.audiotechnology.com/PDF/TUTORIALS/ON_THE_BENCH/AT65_ON_THE_BENCH.pdf |title=On the Bench #65 |author=Rob Squire |publisher=AudioTechnology |date=Jul 18, 2018}}</ref> The eyewear and fashion wear company [[Oakley, Inc.]] also frequently denotes the material used for many of their eyeglass nosepieces and earpieces, which has the unusual property of increasing tackiness and thus grip when wet, as unobtanium.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/oakley-cycling-sunglasses/ |title=Oakley Cycling Sunglasses |author= Graham Cottingham |date=Jun 21, 2019 |publisher=Cycling News}}</ref>

By 2010, the term had been used in mainstream news reports to describe the commercially useful [[rare-earth metals|rare earth elements]] (particularly [[terbium]], [[erbium]], [[dysprosium]], [[yttrium]], and [[neodymium]]), which are essential to the performance of consumer electronics and [[green technology]], but whose projected demand far outstrips their current supply.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39268884 |title=Boeing launches search for crucial rare earth elements |publisher=NBC |date=Sep 20, 2010 |author=Jeremy Hsu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/03/congress-holds-hearings-on-unobtainium/ |title=Congress Holds Hearings on Unobtainium |publisher=[[wired (magazine)|wired.com]] |access-date=2010-06-04 |last=Hodge |first=Nathan |quote=[[House Committee on Science and Technology|The House Committee on Science and Technology]]'s investigations and oversight panel is holding a hearing today on rare-earth metal supplies, focusing on [[China]]'s near-monopoly on the stuff. |date=2010-03-16 }}</ref><ref name="Kosich2010">{{cite web |url=http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/3617/the-rare-earth-revolution-has-investors-stampeding-3617.html |title=The Rare Earth Revolution has investors stampeding |date=2010-01-13 |quote=Metals analyst Christopher Ecclestone suggests the hunt for Unobtainium storyline reminds him 'of some of the talk surrounding Rare Earths (REE) these days' |publisher=Mineweb |access-date=2010-06-04 |last=Kosich |first=Dorothy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201135754/http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/3617/the-rare-earth-revolution-has-investors-stampeding-3617.html |archive-date=2014-02-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

There have been repeated attempts to attribute the name to a real material. [[Space elevator]] research has long used "unobtainium" to describe a material with the necessary characteristics,<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Arnold |first1= James R. |last2= Thompson |first2= William B. |year=1992 |title=Advanced propulsion for LEO-Moon transport: II. Tether configurations in the LEO-Moon system: The Role of "Unobtainium" |journal= Nasa. Johnson Space Center, the Second Conference on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century, Volume 1 |publisher=Lunar and Planetary Institute |page=57 |bibcode=1992lbsa.conf...55A |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19930008232 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/elevator_update_020819.html |title=Going Up? Private Group Begins Work on Space Elevator |website=[[Space.com]] |access-date=2010-05-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406030118/http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/elevator_update_020819.html |archive-date=2010-04-06 }}</ref> but [[carbon nanotube]]s might have these characteristics.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://psmag.com/environment/building-elevator-space-65396 |title=BUILDING AN ELEVATOR TO SPACE |author=DAVID APPELL |date=Jun 14, 2017 |newspaper=Pacific Standard}}</ref>