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'Kryptonite' discovered in mine...

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Bolaleman...
Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:07 am
Guest
Kryptonite is no longer just the stuff of fiction feared by caped
superheroes. A new mineral matching its unique chemistry - as
described in the film Superman Returns - has been identified in a mine
in Serbia.

According to movie and comic-book storylines, kryptonite is supposed
to sap Superman's powers whenever he is exposed to its large green
crystals.
The real mineral is white and harmless, says Dr Chris Stanley, a
mineralogist at London's Natural History Museum.

"I'm afraid it's not green and it doesn't glow either - although it
will react to ultraviolet light by fluorescing a pinkish-orange," he
told BBC News.

- snip –
disappointed…
- snip -

Rock heist
Researchers from mining group Rio Tinto discovered the unusual mineral
and enlisted the help of Dr Stanley when they could not match it with
anything known previously to science.
Once the London expert had unravelled the mineral's chemical make-up,
he was shocked to discover this formula was already referenced in the
literature - albeit literary fiction.

"Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral's
chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide - and was
amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of
rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luthor from a museum in the
film Superman Returns.

"The new mineral does not contain fluorine (which it does in the film)
and is white rather than green but, in all other respects, the
chemistry matches that for the rock containing kryptonite."
The mineral is relatively hard but is very small grained. Each
individual crystal is less than five microns (millionths of a metre)
across.

Read the whole story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6584229.stm

Bolaleman
---------------------------------------
All-in-one Chemist Job Search Board: http://2ajobguide.com/employment_chemist.aspx
 
Madalch...
Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 10:19 am
Guest
On Oct 19, 9:07 am, Bolaleman <oswald_epp... at (no spam) hotmail.com> wrote:
[quote]Kryptonite is no longer just the stuff of fiction feared by caped
superheroes. A new mineral matching its unique chemistry - as
described in the film Superman Returns - has been identified in a mine
in Serbia.
"Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral's
chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide - and was
amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of
rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luthor from a museum in the
film Superman Returns.

"The new mineral does not contain fluorine (which it does in the film)
and is white rather than green but, in all other respects, the
chemistry matches that for the rock containing kryptonite."
[/quote]
This was news on a slow day in April of 2007.

If the film said it was sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide, yet
contains fluorine, then the filmakers clearly failed grade 9 level
chemistry.
 
Madalch...
Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 11:14 am
Guest
On Oct 20, 1:55 pm, Salmon Egg <Salmon... at (no spam) sbcglobal.net> wrote:
[quote]In article
1a34badf-7c67-4202-97b3-0cd3e8d3e... at (no spam) 12g2000pri.googlegroups.com>,

 Madalch <tress... at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote:
This was news on a slow day in April of 2007.

Was it delayed from April 1, 2007? If it were a really slow day it could
have come from 2006 or even earlier.
[/quote]
The date on the link is April 27, 2007.

And the Superman movie I remember had Richard Pryor listing out the
components of kryptonite as plutonium, uranium, neptunium, and...tar.
 
Salmon Egg...
Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 2:55 pm
Guest
In article
<1a34badf-7c67-4202-97b3-0cd3e8d3e4ea at (no spam) 12g2000pri.googlegroups.com>,
Madalch <tressure at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote:

[quote]This was news on a slow day in April of 2007.
[/quote]
Was it delayed from April 1, 2007? If it were a really slow day it could
have come from 2006 or even earlier.

Bill

--
Private Profit; Public Poop! Avoid collateral windfall!
 
 
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