Scientists unearth Superman's "kryptonite"

[Gutboy Barrelhouse]

LONDON (Reuters) - Kryptonite, which robbed Superman of his powers, is no longer the stuff of comic books and films.

A mineral found by geologists in Serbia shares virtually the same chemical composition as the fictional kryptonite from outer space, used by the superhero's nemesis Lex Luther to weaken him in the film "Superman Returns."

"We will have to be careful with it -- we wouldn't want to deprive Earth of its most famous superhero!," said Dr Chris Stanley, a mineralogist at London's Natural History Museum.

Stanley, who revealed the identity of the mysterious new mineral, discovered the match after searching the Internet for its chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide.

"I 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," he said.

The substance has been confirmed as a new mineral after tests by scientists at the Natural History Museum in London and the        National Research Council in Canada.

But instead of the large green crystals in Superman comics, the real thing is a white, powdery substance which contains no fluorine and is non-radioactive.

The mineral, to be named Jadarite, will go on show at the London's Natural History Museum at certain times of the day on Wednesday, April 25, and Sunday, May 13.

[schild]

Why don't the name the goddamn thing KYPTONITE.

Jadarite? Just gay. They named a beetle after Gary Larson.

They can name this shit after a comic book rock.

Nerds would buy it up. You know what's wrong with science? It's not sexy.

GET TO THE CHOPPER!

[Nebu]

Why don't the name the goddamn thing KYPTONITE.

Well... Here's your nerd moment of zen.

Krypton is an element (a noble gas to be specific).  Were someone able to make a low valent oxide of Krypton, like [KrO2]+, it would be named Kryptonite (much like phosphite or chlorite).  While this has only been done by calculating potential energy surfaces, chemists are anal enough in their nomenclature that it's unlikely they'd give the name up to a mineral. 

[schild]

Like I (Arnold) said, science isn't sexy.

[Lantyssa]

And leave chemistry alone, you big meanie. 

[Paelos]

What kind of dress looks good on pandas according to that book?

[Ironwood]

Birthday suit, rears poised up in the air.

.
.
.

Apparently.

[NiX]

Dare I ask, Ironwood? Must be some scottish thing...

[Murgos]

Birthday suit, rears poised up in the air.

.
.
.

Apparently.

Funny, that works for me with human women too.

[Ironwood]

Dare I ask, Ironwood? Must be some scottish thing...

Indeed.  The wealth of Pandas roaming the Glens attest to these facts.

[Merusk]

Birthday suit, rears poised up in the air.

.
.
.

Apparently.

From the general lack of Pandas out there, I'm going to go with, "nope, that ain't it."

Maybe if we gussied them up in some expensive dental floss they'd be more interested in each other.

[Yegolev]

Hmph, at least name it kalelite or something.

[Teleku]

Yeah, from an article on the same topic by the BBC:

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."

I'm sure they could still make a crap ton more money carving it up into small chunks and selling it to nerds for great profit.

[Nebu]

I'm sure they could still make a crap ton more money carving it up into small chunks and selling it to nerds for great profit.

Better yet, grind it into dust and say that it contains midi-chlorians. 

[Etro]

I'm sure they could still make a crap ton more money carving it up into small chunks and selling it to nerds for great profit.

Better yet, grind it into dust and say that it contains midi-chlorians. 

Are you encouraging people to snort a white substance for super human affect?

[Nevermore]

And on the very same day, scientists also discover Krypton! 

[Llava]

Awesome.

Now I can say "If Republicans win the next election, I'm moving to Gliese 581 C."

[Merusk]

Only 20 light years away, wow.  I heard about this on the radio this morning, but since they used miles instead of light-years I had no idea how close it was or wasn't.  (No, not being a physicist or JPE, I *don't* have the SOL memorized.)

[Nevermore]

I don't think that particular article said it, but the star is a red dwarf.  Which, you know, is sort of what makes the whole 'Krypton' joke..  >.>

[Der Helm]

Only 20 light years away, wow.  I heard about this on the radio this morning, but since they used miles instead of light-years I had no idea how close it was or wasn't.  (No, not being a physicist or JPE, I *don't* have the SOL memorized.)

300.000 kilometers/second ?

[Furiously]

Bizarroite!

[Murgos]

Only 20 light years away, wow.  I heard about this on the radio this morning, but since they used miles instead of light-years I had no idea how close it was or wasn't.  (No, not being a physicist or JPE, I *don't* have the SOL memorized.)

300.000 kilometers/second ?

A good rule of thumb is 1 foot per nanosecond (.98 something really, close enough).  Of course this is probably only a useful rule of thumb in limited circumstances.

edit:  Now I remember why it's useful.  1 mile ~= 5 microseconds at the speed of light.  Both measures are useful when doing time sensitive network stuff or anything thats distributed over wide areas.

Also, it's good for figuring out what your ping should be and how bad the latency is.  I.e. if you are pinging a server 1000 miles away you should see a round trip time of 10 - 20 ms.  If you want to get complicated you can add in times for number of router hops too.  If you want to amaze someone with geek cred you can do the calculation in reverse and make guess at where a particular server is.

Like, ping a .ru domain and then state, "Oh it's in Moscow".

[Ravandor]

A good rule of thumb is 1 foot per nanosecond (.98 something really, close enough).  Of course this is probably only a useful rule of thumb in limited circumstances.

Another good one to remember is 8 light-minutes = 93 million miles = 1 AU; round it up to 100 million miles for quick estimates.

[Der Helm]

A good rule of thumb is 1 foot per nanosecond (.98 something really, close enough).  Of course this is probably only a useful rule of thumb in limited circumstances.

Another good one to remember is 8 light-minutes = 93 million miles = 1 AU; round it up to 100 million miles for quick estimates.

1 AU = Distance Earth/Sun, right ?

[Murgos]

Yes, if the sun goes out we'll know 8 minutes later.  It may have gone out already...

[FatuousTwat]

But instead of the large green crystals in Superman comics, the real thing is a white, powdery substance which contains no fluorine and is non-radioactive.

The mineral, to be named Jadarite, will go on show at the London's Natural History Museum at certain times of the day on Wednesday, April 25, and Sunday, May 13.

That sounds like a real fun night out... Staring at some white dust in a display case!

[Furiously]

That sounds like a real fun night out... Staring at some white dust in a display case!

Not if you are Superman!