A metal that rejects being metal. Sound, poison, and light. How is that possible？

When people hear the word “beryllium,” they usually picture something incredibly rare, outrageously expensive, and completely out of reach, some exotic metal reserved for spacecraft, nuclear reactors, and cutting-edge technology far beyond everyday life. Still, that image only tells part of the story, and it leaves out a much bigger reality. It’s true that beryllium is used in some of the most advanced industrial fields in the modern world, and yes, it’s generally considered a fairly expensive material compared to ordinary metals. But is it really as uncommon in everyday use as most people tend to believe, or is the truth actually very different from that impression? As it turns out, the answer is no, not at all. Even though the amount of beryllium, or Be, found within Earth’s crust is extremely tiny, this element is used far more widely than most people realize, not just in spacecraft, but in many familiar things that exist all around us in everyday life. For example, cars, smartphones, and countless products and structures surrounding us every single day almost always contain at least a small amount of beryllium somewhere inside them. At the same time, though, this element is also known for being extremely dangerous to human health under certain conditions. History of Discovery The Unusual Properties of Beryllium The Metal of Space The Dangerous Side of Beryllium