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'Kryptonite' Discovered in Serbian Mine
Posted by
Zonk
on Tue Apr 24, 2007 07:46 AM
from the okay-now-nobody-find-the-red-kryptonite-and-we're-fine dept.
from the okay-now-nobody-find-the-red-kryptonite-and-we're-fine dept.
Rubinstien writes "A mineralogist at London's Natural History Museum was contracted to help identify an unknown mineral found in a Serbian mine. While he initially thought the miners had discovered a unique compound, after its crystal structure was analyzed and identified the researcher was shocked to find the material already referenced in literature. Fictional literature. Dr. Chris Stanley, from the BBC article: '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 ... 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.'"
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The plan is almost complete! (Score:5, Funny)
Step 3: Build wheelchair ramp
Step 4: Rule the world!
Time to rename the Serbian mine? (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Excitingly unexciting (Score:5, Funny)
Exciting: Contains same elements as described in fictional cartoon
Unexciting: Superman could use it as a paperweight without feeling like he's dying of man-flu
"Superman could use it as a paperweight" (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:"Superman could use it as a paperweight" (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:"Superman could use it as a paperweight" (Score:5, Funny)
Unless of course it is really Red Kryptonite or Blue Kryptonite or even the Pink Kryptonite that has the power to turn Superman gay.
Then it wouldn't have to glow green.
Parent
Re:"Superman could use it as a paperweight" (Score:5, Informative)
"Pink Kryptonite
From an alternate timeline in a 2003 Supergirl storyline by Peter David, this bizarre variety of Kryptonite apparently turned heterosexual Kryptonians temporarily into homosexuals; it was seen in just one panel, with Superman giving flattering compliments to Jimmy Olsen about his wardrobe and decorative sense. It spoofs the more "innocent times" of the Silver Age (Lois Lane is depicted in this story as not understanding what's gotten into Superman)."
So from the sound of it (there's no orange kryptonite): "although it will react to ultraviolet light by fluorescing a pinkish-orange" they have in fact, found the substance to make superman gay. Then again, the bodysuit is rather gay to begin with... or then again maybe it's just superhero fashion, he's hardly the only one.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Jimmy Olsen, obviously.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
(It's very useful)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Because the scientist used it to hold down his stack of Superman comics...
Re:"Superman could use it as a paperweight" (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:"Superman could use it as a paperweight" (Score:5, Funny)
"mineral blah blah kryptonite blah blah blah they know it is kryptonite because a GIANT FUCKING SEMITRANSPARENT HEAD APPEARED IN THE CAVE AND TOLD THEM IT WAS"
Parent
Even more excitingly unexciting (Score:5, Interesting)
Unexciting:
Parent
Re:Even more excitingly unexciting (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent is correct.
FTFA:
"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."
IANAChemist but what little chemistry I had over 30 years ago says it can't be the same chemical formula if it has one less element. Thusly the article disagrees with itself and this sounds a bit like pushing things for the find to get extra attention. If we can leave out an element and ignore the chemical bonding requirements then we could sweeten our food with carbon dioxide instead of sugar.
Parent
Re:Even more excitingly unexciting (Score:5, Insightful)
They likely mean it has (or rather, would have) the same structure as the fictional kryptonite (based on nomenclature). Similar compounds usually share some characteristics such as reactivity (e.g. all alkali metals react with water in a similar fashion but with differeing severity), melting point, etc.
That assumption does not typically hold for complicated compounds with so many elements. For one, there are frequently many different possible crystal structures for the same molecule which exist under different conditions, which may have significantly different structures and properties. Additionally, there are often different molecular structures allowed for different formulae (called isomers), which often have drastically different properties. Additionally, the fictional and real versions differ in that the fictional contained fluorine, a very chemically active element that tends to drastically alter the properties of anything with which it bonds for a variety of interesting reasons.
So ultimately, it would be impossible to suggest that they would share the same properties based on similar but not identical chemical formulae, and that might not hold even if they were identical. As such, the press release is nothing more than some jackass wanting his 15 minutes.
Parent
Re:Excitingly unexciting (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
No wonder (Score:5, Funny)
Really Kryptonite? (Score:4, Funny)
It's been a while since I've seen the movie, but the question that comes to my mind is: "Was the box in superman Returns correctly labeled?". Perhaps it was only labeled sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide, but someone had mistakenly identified the kryptonite as that substance. After all, why would Lex Luther steal a box containing white powdery substance... oh, wait, never mind.
Re:Really Kryptonite? (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
duh (Score:5, Funny)
Re:duh (Score:5, Insightful)
What was super about him was his ability to still contribute to society as a quadriplegic.
Well, he was a quadraplegic with a lot of money who wanted to be cured, and thus spent a lot of money on himself. That's not as high on the respect-o-meter as someone who does things without a personal stake.
Parent
Beware! (Score:5, Funny)
And somewhere on Earth, in an unknown fortress, a stranger from planet Jadar knows fear...
Apparently no one reads..... (Score:5, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryptonite [wikipedia.org]
Green, Red, Gold, White, Blue, etc.
White (the color referenced in the article) kills all plant life.
Pink (since no pinkish-orange is listed) turns people gay.
Take your pick.
Layne
Re:Apparently no one reads..... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
More information... (Score:5, Informative)
More information about Jadarite at: http://www.mindat.org/min-31570.html [mindat.org]
Jolyon
Called Jadarite (Score:5, Interesting)
Still, couldn't they have made a push for another superman-inspired name. Some suggestions are: Jorelite [wikipedia.org], Kalelite [wikipedia.org], Metropolite [wikipedia.org], or Lutherite [wikipedia.org].
For sale? (Score:5, Funny)
My henchmen are already on their way to pay the scientists a visit.
They need to print a correction, Quickly! (Score:5, Informative)
Everybody knows Superman's arch-nemesis is Lex Luthor--not Lex Luther.
Yahoo picked up the mistake from Reuters, people on Slashdot are typing it wrong, and now even the BBC [bbc.co.uk] has screwed it up.
What kind of poor excuse for an arch-nemesis would spell his name "Lex Luther?" Sounds like some kind of religious observance.
Even deadlier to Superman... (Score:4, Funny)
Kryptonite colors (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Kryptonite colors (Score:5, Funny)
This is one of those situations where you realise wikipedia's superiority over the competition. (I mean how much help would Encyclopedia Britannica have been for this question?;)
Parent
Why does nobody read the article (Score:5, Funny)
So basically,
1) it's not green,
2) it's doesn't cause radiation of any kind,
3) it's not a crystal
4) it's not even the same set of elements
How about "I was dating a girl a while back, I realised she was Cindy Crawford, oh yeah, she's not actually Cindy Crawford, just has some similarities. PS, She's a man."
This is VERY significant (Score:3, Funny)
Why is this news? (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe I should quit doing real research and learn how to sell mundane stamp-collecting work as sexy and exciting.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Technically, Kryptonite should be an oxide of Krypton (given the -ite extension). However, Kryptonite is one of then most unreactive elements in the periodic table and it is very unlikely that it exists in nature at all.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:So... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:So... (Score:4, Funny)
Oh yeah? Well, Vin Diesel could pronounce Kryptonite.
Parent
Re:So... (Score:4, Funny)
I can imagine that Vin's repertoire of movies is indeed quite toxic to Superman, as well as the average viewer...
Parent
Re:So... (Score:5, Informative)
And melanophlogite (SiO2 + organics) is an oxide of melanophlog?
How about hematite (iron oxide)? Shouldn't that be ferrite?
Minerals tend to not conform to SI naming conventions for compounds.
Parent
Re:So... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:So... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:So... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
So, in Serbian mines, Jadar contains kryptonite.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
That would read better as:
"In Socialist Serbia, Jadar contains Kyyptonite"
(AFAIK, Serbia was never a Soviet state, but was allied with Russia)
Re:Sigh... (Score:4, Funny)
Parent