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Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Colonol Dekker on June 22, 2011, 06:04:45 am

Title: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on June 22, 2011, 06:04:45 am
Well, what is it? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minerals)

I'm loving Jamesonite (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamesonite) at the moment. It's just neat :yes:
Title: Re: What's you r favourite mineral?
Post by: Nuclear1 on June 22, 2011, 06:07:38 am
Tiberium.
Title: Re: What's you r favourite mineral?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on June 22, 2011, 06:11:29 am
Ultramarines? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramarine)
Title: Re: What's you r favourite mineral?
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 22, 2011, 06:12:51 am
Ultramarines? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramarine)

Papa Smurf, you say?
Title: Re: What's you r favourite mineral?
Post by: Kosh on June 22, 2011, 06:30:34 am
Malachite
Title: Re: What's you r favourite mineral?
Post by: SypheDMar on June 22, 2011, 06:32:40 am
Kyanite, I guess. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyanite)
Title: Re: What's you r favourite mineral?
Post by: lostllama on June 22, 2011, 06:35:33 am
Don't think I really have a favorite, but for some reason the pistachio nut green of epidote (http://planetgemstones.blogspot.com/2010/12/epidote-and-unakite.html) appeals. Those crystals remind me of Necrons.

Also naqahdah if we're talking fictional minerals.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Veers on June 22, 2011, 06:43:43 am
Does Tamahagane count?, I was never really good with anything like this.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Luis Dias on June 22, 2011, 07:05:23 am
Unobtanium. My fav ever.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: IronBeer on June 22, 2011, 08:24:17 am
Magnetite.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: StarSlayer on June 22, 2011, 08:30:24 am
IIRC Zinc combusts into sweet purple flame when applied to H2O
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Snail on June 22, 2011, 08:54:22 am
Aragonite is quite cool
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: perihelion on June 22, 2011, 09:09:25 am
Fluorite.  Definitely.

I've got a near-ultraviolet 405 nm laser I sometimes play around with.  Fluorite is probably my favorite thing to shoot with it because it fluoresces in so many different colors depending on the impurities.  That and it frequently looks like a bunch of overlapping cubes.  Somehow, that's just cool.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Snail on June 22, 2011, 09:12:52 am
That's quite cool too.

What octahedral blue minerals are there
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: T-LoW on June 22, 2011, 09:15:58 am
Moonstone! It maybe cures cancer... or causes it!
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: General Battuta on June 22, 2011, 09:25:18 am
Technetium
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Deadly in a Shadow on June 22, 2011, 09:33:48 am
What about molybdenum? In BP, the hull of the Deimos corvettes (and even more ships) are made of this.*

*If I remember right
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Destiny on June 22, 2011, 09:41:04 am
Tiberium. If not...hell, I don't want to settle for anything else :P
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: lostllama on June 22, 2011, 09:53:41 am
A friend of mine once put her clear(-ish) quartz crystal key fob into an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, which somehow turned the middle of it pink if I remember right. It didn't change back to its original colour for a while after it had been removed, which was kind of neat.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Scotty on June 22, 2011, 12:36:13 pm
Iridium.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Snail on June 22, 2011, 12:41:19 pm
What about molybdenum? In BP, the hull of the Deimos corvettes (and even more ships) are made of this.*

*If I remember right
It's not only in BP, it's also in canon.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: lostllama on June 22, 2011, 12:55:13 pm
Technetium
What about molybdenum? In BP, the hull of the Deimos corvettes (and even more ships) are made of this.*

*If I remember right
Iridium.
IIRC Zinc combusts into sweet purple flame when applied to H2O

My understanding is that these are elements, not minerals....at least, going by the geological meaning of the word. There is a mineral called molybdenite, and I think there's one called irite.

I'm guessing that uraninite/pitchblende is Nuke's favorite.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: General Battuta on June 22, 2011, 01:00:39 pm
Nope I am sorry, technetium is an important form of moon goo.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: lostllama on June 22, 2011, 01:10:19 pm
Ah, I should've known that you meant it as a reference to Star Control.

Oh wait... EVE Online, rather.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Angelus on June 22, 2011, 01:18:00 pm
Boobium and Wolframite.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Luis Dias on June 22, 2011, 01:35:59 pm
Amirite is also fashionable.

Amirite?






(gaaww that was so lame :lol: )
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: lostllama on June 22, 2011, 01:45:20 pm
I think mylonites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mylonite) are cool too.

Oh and pseudotachylite (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudotachylite) as well.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: sigtau on June 22, 2011, 02:00:34 pm
Chromium.  EVERYTHING needs a chromium finish.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: X3N0-Life-Form on June 22, 2011, 02:28:01 pm
Rubidium.

It was the name of an awesome ship in Imperium Galactica 2 demo, equipped with an ultra blue death ray of utter destruction.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Nohiki on June 22, 2011, 04:16:27 pm
Chernobylite (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobylite)
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Black Wolf on June 22, 2011, 04:36:45 pm
Silica. :p
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: watsisname on June 22, 2011, 05:16:35 pm
Celestine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestine_%28mineral%29) is kinda pretty, especially when it's the blue (http://www.rocksandcreations.com/graphics/minerals/celestite.jpg) variety.

Ametrine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ametrine) is cool, I was able to go into a mine of it down in Bolivia. :)

But I got to agree with perihelion in that fluorite is the most awesome mineral ever.  I have a golf-ball sized emerald-green specimen that glows a brilliant bluish white under UV. :3
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Pred the Penguin on June 22, 2011, 08:48:02 pm
Potassium alum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_alum) :D
Hurray for more conventional uses!
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Snail on June 22, 2011, 08:50:45 pm
ill admit it im a huge fan of sodium chloride


:(
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Bobboau on June 22, 2011, 08:55:25 pm
Calcite how is it that no one else has this as theirs.
I actually have a big ole chunk of this sitting on a shelf.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: watsisname on June 22, 2011, 09:21:50 pm
I almost forgot I had calcite in my collection -- a few crystals set within an amethyst geode slice.  It actually exhibits a minor form of phosporescence, glowing a demonic reddish/orange for about a second after exposure to near-UV light.  Pretty cool stuff.

(http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/2729/beforejj.jpg) (http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9351/duringf.jpg) (http://img816.imageshack.us/img816/5036/afterc.jpg)
               before exposure                        during exposure to 405nm laser              ~0.5 seconds after exposure
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Mongoose on June 22, 2011, 09:23:33 pm
I've always liked the chunks of galena I have sitting around here somewhere.  It's like an explosion of shiny black cubes.

(Also I may or may not have spent a good four hours in the minerals and gemstones wing of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History once. :nervous:)
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Pred the Penguin on June 22, 2011, 09:56:20 pm
That doesn't sound like a bad way to spend 4 hours. :D
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Mars on June 22, 2011, 10:02:46 pm
Tourmaline
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Flipside on June 22, 2011, 10:59:27 pm
Adamantine ;)

or Mithril <_<
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Mongoose on June 23, 2011, 12:34:54 am
That doesn't sound like a bad way to spend 4 hours. :D
Oh no, it was great.  There's something a bit awe-inspiring about looking at a 4-billion-year-old rock from the Moon.  Along the same lines, if anyone's ever in Pittsburgh, check out the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.  They have a really good minerals collection too, plus a fantastic dinosaur exhibit to boot.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on June 23, 2011, 02:03:46 am
Element/Mineral difference highlight ;)
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: perihelion on June 23, 2011, 08:40:06 am
Minerals can be individual elements or specific compounds.  What matters is that it is a single substance, not an aggregate like "rocks."

...I'm sure most everyone here already knows that, but I think I'm seeing a little bit of confusion here and there.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: lostllama on June 23, 2011, 12:31:48 pm
Yep, this is indeed correct. I was wrong earlier.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Droid803 on June 23, 2011, 04:16:45 pm
(http://images.wikia.com/starcraft/images/2/2b/Minerals_SC1_Game1.jpg)
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: X3N0-Life-Form on June 24, 2011, 04:39:14 am
I was waiting for someone else to make that joke :P
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 24, 2011, 05:18:46 am
LSA.

(If you get that, congratulations, you got screwed by Sierra like me!)
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on June 24, 2011, 09:48:21 am
LSA.

(If you get that, congratulations, you got screwed by Sierra like me!)
I don't get it :(
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: watsisname on June 24, 2011, 03:07:31 pm
I only know of one LSA and I don't think it's a mineral.  :V
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Black Wolf on June 24, 2011, 03:42:12 pm
Minerals can be individual elements or specific compounds.  What matters is that it is a single substance, not an aggregate like "rocks."

Not strictly true. What matters is the regular crystalline structure. Pure elemental metals aren't minerals (although I do remember reading a paper thqt suggesged some situations where this wasn't strictly true wrt Gold, will need to check).
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Nuke on July 01, 2011, 06:36:47 pm
(http://images.wikia.com/starcraft/images/2/2b/Minerals_SC1_Game1.jpg)
I was waiting for someone else to make that joke :P

YOU'VE NOT ENOUGH MINERALS!!!
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on July 02, 2011, 08:12:27 am
YOU MUST CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL PYLONS!!
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Mefustae on July 02, 2011, 09:29:13 am
Tourmaline

This.

Because it's so bloody easy to identify. A real treat when you see it in an exam.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Pred the Penguin on July 02, 2011, 09:32:19 am
Saw some cool looking minerals at the local museum. I have no idea what most of them were called. o_o
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Goober5000 on July 04, 2011, 12:37:36 am
Dilithium FTW.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: JCDNWarrior on July 04, 2011, 12:57:48 am
Salt is my most favorite mineral, without it I don't think we can live ;)
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Mobius on August 04, 2011, 05:13:58 am
Uraninite.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Kopachris on August 04, 2011, 09:45:26 am
Silica because it has so many different forms: quartz, rose quartz, amethyst, agates in all different colors, jasper...
Also corundum because it's awesome.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: MP-Ryan on August 04, 2011, 12:44:27 pm
Minerals can be individual elements or specific compounds.  What matters is that it is a single substance, not an aggregate like "rocks."

Not strictly true. What matters is the regular crystalline structure. Pure elemental metals aren't minerals (although I do remember reading a paper thqt suggesged some situations where this wasn't strictly true wrt Gold, will need to check).

Thank you, Black Wolf.

There are a fair number of people around here in need of a periodic table, it would seem, because I'm seeing a fair number of elements that are most certainly NOT minerals (*coughmolybdenumchromiumiridiumcough*)

At any rate, pyrite is my favourite, though only if the person I'd be selling it to doesn't know what it is :P
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: MR_T3D on August 04, 2011, 01:09:16 pm
Always been an Iron-man myself.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Nemesis6 on August 04, 2011, 04:42:21 pm
(http://imagemacros.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/feldspar1.jpg)
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Bob-san on August 04, 2011, 06:24:00 pm
I'll take Ice for 1000, Alex.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: yuezhi on August 04, 2011, 06:45:39 pm
salt. love it as much as i hate graphite.
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: Snail on August 04, 2011, 07:30:11 pm
salt. love it as much as i hate graphite.
you suuuuuck
Title: Re: What's your favourite mineral?
Post by: watsisname on August 04, 2011, 09:19:23 pm
**** YEAH, OSBORNITE! (http://www.galleries.com/minerals/elements/osbornit/osbornit.htm)

/me plays Whole World's Fallin' Down