'Kryptonite' discovered in mine

[ComradeDavo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6584229.stm

'Kryptonite' discovered in mine

Very definitely not green
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.

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 literature - albeit fictional literature.

"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 Luther 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.

Elementary clash

Identifying its atomic structure required sophisticated analytical facilities at Canada's National Research Council and the assistance and expertise of its researchers, Dr Pamela Whitfield and Dr Yvon Le Page.

"'Knowing a material's crystal structure means scientists can calculate other physical properties of the material, such as its elasticity or thermochemical properties," explained Dr Le Page.

"Being able to analyse all the properties of a mineral, both chemical and physical, brings us closer to confirming that it is indeed unique."

Finding out that the chemical composition of a material was an exact match to an invented formula for the fictitious kryptonite "was the coincidence of a lifetime," he added.

The mineral cannot be called kryptonite under international nomenclature rules because it has nothing to do with krypton - a real element in the Periodic Table that takes the form of a gas.

Power possibilities

Instead, it will be formally named Jadarite when it is described in the European Journal of Mineralogy later this year.

Jadar is the name of the place where the Serbian mine is located.

Dr Stanley said that if deposits occurred in sufficient quantity it could have some commercial value.

It contains boron and lithium - two valuable elements with many applications, he explained.

"Borosilicate glasses are used to encapsulate processed radioactive waste, and lithium is used in batteries and in the pharmaceutical industries."

Awesomeness!

 

[Sidhe]

Ahhhhh cool! If only superman was real too.

 

[ferenginar]

No wonder I felt so tired during my last visit to Siberia, I even had to catch a plane back.

 

[Sashie VII]

Wow

Who'd have thought it eh

 

[Urederra]

Things scientists do to get their lame discoveries widely known.

But I am actually interested in the Rio Tinto group, since it has the name of a very peculiar spanish river that what has orange-red water due to the iron ores the river flows by. It has also weird microorganisms that generate their energy by oxidizing the iron dissolved in the river's water. It has been proposed that if Mars has some sort of life, it might be similar to the microorganisms that live in Rio Tinto waters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Tinto_river

 

[Abaddon]

Damn you fluorine... if only!

 

[Leonel]

Does that mean we'll have to redraw every pictorial reference to kryptonite to white instead of green?

 

[thetrooper]

I searched the web using the mineral's chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide

That's not a chemical formula.

 

[Babbler]

I think it's a cool coincidence.

 

[Bamspeedy]

It doesn't contain florine, so it doesn't count.

As to it being white instead of green, he could have argued it was White Kryptonite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryptonite

Forms of kryptonite

Variations
The various known forms of Kryptonite in the Superman comics include:

White Kryptonite Kills all plant life, whether Kryptonian or not. Induces decay immediately upon exposure, with a range of about 25 yards. The most prominent use of this variety in the comics was to destroy Virus X, which was revealed in a storyline in 1968's Action Comics #362-366 to actually be a form of plant life.

 

[Perfection]

That's not a chemical formula.

Yes it is:

If we extrapolate from Datolite, it becomes fairly obvious that it corresponds to NaLiBSiO4(OH),

 

[thetrooper]

Yes it is:

If we extrapolate from Datolite, it becomes fairly obvious that it corresponds to NaLiBSiO4(OH),

Very well mate, we have different opinions on what constitutes a chemical formula. At least I don't have to extrapolate.

 

[JtheJackal]

We shouldn't be basing our Superman facts from the films anyway.

 

[Paradigne]

Ahhhhh cool! If only superman was real too.

Great, next you'll tell me that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are made up

 

[GenMarshall]

Next comes DOLOMITE!! The Black stuff that wont cop out when there is heat around!

 

[Perfection]

Next comes DOLOMITE!! The Black stuff that wont cop out when there is heat around!

huh? Dolomite already exists, but it's not black:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolomite

 

[GenMarshall]

huh? Dolomite already exists, but it's not black:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolomite

Never watched Futurama I take it .

 

[Nylan]

Why would he?

 

[Perfection]

Never watched Futurama I take it .

If by "never watched" you mean "hasn't memorized the dialogue for every damn episode"

Why would he?

Becase Futurama is the Chapel's Snapple!

 

[Irish Caesar]

Does anyone else think it odd that there's no krypton in kryptonite?