Round 2 Match 8: cuprosklodowskite X mannardite. I'm sorry mannardite you are awesome but I HAVE to take the absurd green explosion home. #MinCup25 #minerals #sciart

#MinCup25 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology 🔭🪐

Detroit Tigers, let me introduce you to everyone’s pals, the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies. vault.si.com/vault/1965/0...

Yes, cuprosklodowskite is the copper-bearing version of sklodowskite, the mineral named for Marie Curie (neé Sklodowska), but #Mannardite is the little goth rock who could! Jet black & found in the oldest terrestrial rocks, Hadean era crust! #MinCup25

Todays match is between two spooky minerals. One is named after a famous scientist how died from the same uranium radiation it gives off. The other can appear as phantom spiders in the most familiar crystals. You can vote for your favorite at mineralcup.org today! #geology #mineral #MinCup25

Goth black #Mannardite has form v green radioactive foes, winning by one vote over paddlewheelite in R1. Yet, it’s met its match in needle-sharp, radioactive cutie-pie #Cuprosklodowskite, which is set to skewer. Named for Marie Skłodowska Curie, the spiky, glowy Scrabble champ has my vote! #MinCup25

I want to live in a cartoon world Where the detectives are keen What matters stands out from the background And what's radioactive is green I want science to win in the end Unmasking what couldn't be seen This world isn't always so nice, but this once: What's radioactive is green #MinCup25 #MinPoem

While iron-nickel alloy taenite gets physics points for its meteorite origin, magnetism & Widmanstätten patterns kyanite gets physics points as an index mineral. Plus lovely blue kyanite definitely gets the arts vote for jewelry and use in porcelain and pottery glazes. #MinCup25

The later rounds of #MinCup25 are filled with heartbreaker choices!

Oh say cyan I see… Vote Blue. Vote #Kyanite! #MinCup25 Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r2...

Look, I loves me some meteoritic, space circuit board #Taenite, but I think if #Kyanite doesn’t win this round of #MinCup25, this sample below from the Smithsonian is going to come to life and, lets just say, open up a can of Big Blue Bust-Up. Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r2...

Things that make me happy: When @mineralcup.bsky.social & Fat Bear Week overlap.

I’m voting for one of three polymorphs that indicate metamorphic temperature and pressure: #Kyanite, Sillimanite, and Andalusite. Enjoy these photos in lieu of their phase diagram ; ) #MinCup25

It doesn’t need much help as it’s cruising to a victory, but #Dioptase really does tick all the boxes. Formed in coppery environments, a card-carrying member of #TeamPoison (Don’t lick it!), useful in art & just absolutely gorgeous. It literally means “see through.” It’s a #MinCup25 title contender!

Alright team, its my fave on the bracket. This is a call to action, which may happen 2 more times. #mincup25 #R2M6 ITS #Dioptase TIME! Pics below. VOTE FOR DIOPTASE. more like #mollybendone I need you all to take a second and vote for the desert enerald.

While molybdenite gets some physics points (source of Re for geochronology, Mo used as a catalyst, battery electrodes, alloys of iron & semiconductors), Dioptase can be made into jewelry & (though a rare pigment) has been on artwork used since Neolithic times so it wins my art vote! 
#MinCup25

Dioptase, quartz, and calcite Each shine on their own in the light But what's even more swell: They get along well Share a vein in this mineral fight! #MinCup25 #MinPoem

I have a computer engineer friend who also can be described that way! #MinCup25

Midway through this round, beautiful, green desert beauty #Dioptase is cruising with a big lead, but don’t sleep on this chance to learn more about geochronometer #Molybdenite, which is just an amazing entry and tells so much about Earth’s story. #MinCup25 Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r2...

Folks, there’s still plenty of time to get titanite’s gorgeous crystals (in my favorite colors) to make a run from behind and take over the lead from space jade. Y’all have another chance to vote for a space rock, coming up with taenite. Let’s go, titanite! #MinCup25

My #MinCup25 watching tonight. Oh, it's 4 a.m. Well. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I enjoyed this video on #Titanite (also called #Sphene). It was actually kind neat to see specimens that are in matrix and with some other crystals as well as the pure titanite. 13.5 mins, ads youtu.be/2VO4whhs-ZI?...

As magma cools, do crystals sink or float? Does viscosity change in the melt? U and REE isotopes in #Titanite record chemical differentiation and age of magmatic melts, important for understanding evolution of Earth’s crust. #MinCup25 sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology 🔭🪐

While it may be associated with jadeite & hence be carved, it’s a challenge to find sculpture that’s definitely kosmochlor so I’m giving titanite, prized for it’s beauty & a source of the pigment titanium dioxide white since ~1910, the arts vote. On the physics front it boasts trichroism. #MinCup25

With 5½ hours to go, #Titanite is gaining on azurite’s killer #Kosmochlor. Titanite is a great geochronometer & a source of titanium used in pigments so it’s key for both geology AND art. It’s time for titanite to close the gap & strike a blow for those of us singing Azurite’s blues! #MinCup25

Do you remember… youtu.be/Gs069dndIYk?...

We’ve heard it said … titanite is used to help date pink diamonds. #MinCup25 eos.org/articles/con...

Both minerals have Greek names, but only one can continue on the heroic journey to the next round. You can choose which by voting at mineralcup.org today! #geology #mineral #MinCup25

Space Green v Progenitor of the Gods green. Still not over #Kosmochlor beating my beloved Azurite, and in the first round no less! It’s going to take some convincing from kosmochlorians to get me not to vote for #Titanite, which tells stories of the early Earth, on the revenge basis alone! #MinCup25

From @theoatmeal.bsky.social on some other site. This is what I want, 100%.

Tugtupite is so pretty when it’s polished too. Looks like preserved cherry blossoms 🌸

Closing in, #Tugtupite has a big lead over #Carpathite & no surprise as the “Reindeer Blood” mineral is just incredible. Fluorescent, phosphorescent AND pleochroic, also generating an electric charge under pressure? It’s going to give #Perovskite all it can handle & maybe more next round! #MinCup25

#MinCup25 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology 🔭🪐

When the sun fades, I fade Though a snowy sparkle stays When the sun's bright, I'm bright Sudden waking, warm as life #MinCup25 #tugtupite #MinPoem

I forgot to say, for more Mineral Cup fun, pin the feed below, & use the #MinCup25 hashtag when posting. There are no wrong answers, just lots of fun, & sometimes you learn something cool! Join us! See the comment for the vote link. #MinCup25 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology 🔭🪐

Image of the GL-Justice after being illegally attacked by Ziontis criminal settlers in international space, while transporting first aid supplies to Pralestine Mayor. Once again, the corrupt Galaxy Council offered a feeble condemnation but did nothing. #spaceship #shiptember

In the decade since the first sighting of gravitational waves, LIGO (working with partners in Europe & Japan) has detected 300 gravitational signals. These are now weekly events. Soon we could map the entire space-time sky--if we continue to explore. 🧪🔭 www.ligo.caltech.edu/news/ligo202...

Ten years ago @ligo.org detected gravitational waves for the first time. I visited LIGO to retrace this historic discovery, which changed not only our understanding of the universe, but our understanding of perception itself. My latest column: 🧪🔭 invisibleuniverse.substack.com/p/the-day-we...

Use of #Baryte helped detect my wife’s cancer. Yet, #Hematite has been a fave since I was a kid, turned Mars red (BEFORE I was a kid, OK?), there now in weirdly cool “blueberries,” super imp in art & tells a story of Earth’s habitability. Artist Wife says: “Hematite obv!” So there it is. #MinCup25

#MinCup25 A vote #hematite is a votes for BIFs! And a vote for a mystery. There’s still disagreement regarding what led to BIFs. Learn more here. But first go vote for hematite. Thanks. www.geologybites.com/clark-johnson1

A planet strange to see if we could For curiosity's sake Not far away, just long ago And not one good breath could we take There were oceans, yes, and life of a kind Though nothing to talk to or meet But just maybe enough to alter a world Leaving traces that lie at our feet #MinCup25 #MinPoem

Baryte might be useful geochronology but you can’t vote against 164,000 years of art history! From cave painting to today! Electrically conductive hematite is a pigment with a storied history in red ochre & chalk. Vote for art & human culture. Vote hematite! #MinCup25

You are perovskite The rain of starlight Love your dendritic And cubic way Like in the mantle You handle pressure Please do vote perovskite today #MinCup25 #MinLyrics

Resistance is (hopefully 🤞🏼) futile! Vote for the Borg cube. Vote #Perovskite #MinCup25

Imagine the #Perovskite Starship is ready for its scientific mission. Make sure your seatbelts are securely fastened and enjoy the ride. See more below. Vote for the future. #VotePerovskite Mineral Cup. Anyone can play. Vote below. #MinCup25 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology 🔭🪐

It's no calcite, but perovskite is still music-worthy. Vote in #MinCup25 here: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r2...

#Perovskite will be up next in #MinCup25 and we are warming up the engines... Guess what this picture is 👇 and vote #Perovskite. If it comes victorious I will show it! No kidding. It is beautiful! #TeamPerovskite #VotePerovskite #Perovskita

This one is simple. I supported it in #MinCup24 & am on board once again for Borg cube #Perovskite. It has me at “found in the rain in brown dwarf stars,” thrills me with “in volcanic fumaroles” & seals the deal with “in pipes rocketing from mantle to crust.” Be cubular. Vote Perovskite. #MinCup25

If I wasn’t already voting for #Haüyne in #MinCup25, I would be now. Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r2... Though of course, speaking of Haüyne-colored eyes…

#MinCup25 #haüyne Haüyne should get the art vote, the history vote, and the optoelectronics vote! It’s a winner from the past and into the future. Also, blah blah blah … not my field. 😬