GE has started the wheels turning on an ambitious $3m research and development (R&D) project that is angling to create a next-generation permanent magnet (PM) using 80% less rare-earth materials than current neodymium-iron-boron versions, while being a third more powerful. The concept is rooted in nanocomposites - with the expectation that magnets made with nanoparticles of rare-earth metals would be stronger than similar-weight conventional ones.