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Have minerals you want to see run in #MinCup26? The nomination form is open! www.mineralcup.org/nominations

#MinCup25 Final: After a month of learning and laughter, we’re at the final match to determine the 2025 Mineral Cup Champion! We have blue blades of #kyanite up against optical magician #tugtupite. Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r5... Results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

#TeamPoison needs your vote! "Copper-rich #dioptase dust is toxic, leading to vomiting and liver or kidney damage if accidentally ingested." #MinCup25

Go vote #Tugtupite!!!

Team hematite! Because sometimes it forms an ominous orb. Hematite is well known for its botryoidal (lumpy, grape-like) habit #minerals #MinCup25

#MinCup25 Round 2 Match 7: It's high-pressure #kyanite against deep-space #taenite. Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r2... Results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

#MinCup Round 2 Match 4: It’s a battle of mineralogical oddities as organic mineral #Carpathite battles against vs #Tugtupite, a mineral that looks like reindeer blood! Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r2... Results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

#MinCup25 Round 2 Match 3: It's a heavyweight match between industrial powerhouses as soft #baryte competes against rusty red #hematite. Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r2... Results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

#MinCup25 Round 2 Match 2: It's all about how minerals interact with humans as dramatic #stibnite faces off against futuristic #perovskite. Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r2... Results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

#MinCup25 Round 2 Match 1: It's a pair of striking blue beauties as #pectolite the uncrushable faces off against #hauyne, the phoenix from volcanic ashes! Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r2... Results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

#MinCup25 Round 1 Match 12: It's the visually-unmistakable #zunyite vs the physically funky #molybdenite. Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r1... Results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

Team #titanite today even though thortveitite seems like a good mineral. Titanite has a cute and identifiable shape in thin section and its name tells us right away it has titanium in it. Though I admit that its old name of sphene is more fun to say. #MinCup25

#MinCup25 Round 1 Match 11: It's a pair of T-minerals with as versatile #Titanite faces off against the home of rare earth elements #Thortveitite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r1... Check results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

#MinCup25 Round 1 Match 9: It’s a battle of green vs blue as rare-but-vibrant chromium-bearing #kosmochlor up against the deep blue copper alteration mineral #azurite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r1... Results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

#MinCup25 Round 1 Match 6: Brace for oddness in a match between one of the very few hydrocarbon minerals #carpathite and the temperature-flipping mineral #leucite. Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r1... Results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

#MinCup25 fans: A #minerals themed Lego set is coming out in October! Featuring pyrite, tourmaline, amethyst, rhodochrosite, fluorite and tangerine quartz. It's based on a Lego Ideas design which was submitted back in 2023! ⚒️🧪 #geology www.lego.com/en-gb/catego...

So, I'm doing this MinCup side quest thing where I go to the museum and try to find the minerals of the day. Can I submit "goes to the museum with a to-do list for fun" to the neurodivergent council for a ruling?

It's a #MinCup25 side quest thread! I went to the @smithsonianmag.bsky.social Museum of Natural History to scope out some of our contenders and will add to this thread until my ADHD runs out or someone tells me to stop! I will use #MinCup25SideQuest hashtag if you would like to mute this thread.

While both form neat structures, I think the use of #stibnite in pyrotechnics is gonna take the win for me!

Both of these sound like a nightmare, tbh. #Pectolite I guess?? #MinCup25

I'm so excited! I became a real fan of stibnite and dioptase last year. I can't wait to learn about *even more really cool* minerals!

I should be able to choose a healthcare provider based on if they have a TV playing in the waiting room or not. I am watching Family Feud against my will at 7am.

south london periodontist office called "gums of brixton"

Nobody captured love, loss, and the fight for belonging more powerfully than Andrea Gibson did. Their words gave voice to the unseen and hope to the unheard. Colorado is better because of their words. Our hearts are with their loved ones and all mourning this profound loss.

Andrea Gibson. Poet. Powerhouse. Beacon of hope. Lover of life and the world. You will be missed forever 13/8/1975-14/7/2025

The Alt National Park Service account calls itself the official "resistance" team of the US National Park Service. With 887k followers, is one of the biggest accounts on Bluesky. It is the 11 most followed account according to some trackers. This thread will dive into its activity. 🧵 1/x.

Really good to see that other people are starting to talk about the resist networks and the fact that much of it is a massive network of interconnected and coordinated grifters like Muller she wrote, or conspiracy theorists like Jack Hopkins or Jim stewartson. It’s the blue anon ecosystem.

Today's #photo #photography #PhotographersOfBluesky #flowerreport

Is there a flag for "my sexuality is Brandon Lee in The Crow and Gina Gershon in Bound" Happy Pride from my '90s sexual awakening.

#photography #photographersofbluesky #succulents #crystals

Best star trek crew, wrong answers only

Photo I took yesterday at #BrooksideGardens #photography #PhotographersOfBluesky

Photo I took yesterday at #BrooksideGardens #photography #PhotographersOfBluesky

Getting a job in my childhood special interest of "government" feels like a real monkey paw situation.

Nothing will make me put my phone down faster than an incoming call. The virtual equivalent of ducking when someone knocks on the door.

Last month, DOGE shut down 18F, the digital services team tasked with modernizing government technology and services. For @lawfare.bsky.social, Hillary Hartley—a co-founder of 18F—writes with David Eaves on 18F’s legacy and lessons for the future. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lear...

#WMATA is back baby!! Someone is listening to music with no earphones and someone else is clipping their nails.

The fact congressional Democrats have not hired three dozen D&D rules lawyers with oppositional defiant disorder and turned them loose on parliamentary procedure with the goal of maximum obstruction is such a fucking missed opportunity

one of my online tics from years of timeline based brain poisoning is that i just cannot read a post past somebody using a nickname for a politician/public figure, regardless of party. like my brain turns off at 'felon musk' or 't-rump' or 'gavin newscum' or whatever

I have 3 different chat threads all excited that I got my union card in the mail today #union #nteu #UnionStrong

If you are a reporter and are describing anyone other than an executive branch official as “complying” with an executive order you are not doing your job and are confusing the public. Full stop.

For those interested in what 18F does, they helpfully put together an ENTIRE SITE. That is quality info architecture, design system, and UX work. In the (free!) guides but also the site itself. This material is sharper and more user-oriented than a lot of Big 5 consultant work I’ve seen.

Most members of the public have little reason to be aware of 18F, or will understand what its loss signifies. So this post tries to capture that, by including the voices of those who worked there. First, from @waldo.net

can't believe it's 2025 and i'm stressed about tariffs and measles, like am i a character in an american girl book

Anyway, periodic reminder that congress can, and should, end this any time

New, from me: Musk is not just destroying core government functions, he is also destroying the tech capacity of government. The people with serious tech skills who care about fixing govt have been fired. Both 18F and the US Digital Service are gone. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/skilled-te...

I got laid off today, with the rest of 18F. 18F was an elite federal software shop. We made gov't websites work better, more efficiently for the American people. We saved taxpayers from getting screwed over by contractors. And were fired for it. We made this website to tell our story: 18f.org