Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #MinCup
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Today’s distraction:
The winner of this match will face #Magnetite for the finals with a shot at the #MinCup2020 crown. Both are beautiful & bizarre with odd properties and a lot of charm.
The winner of this match will face #Magnetite for the finals with a shot at the #MinCup2020 crown. Both are beautiful & bizarre with odd properties and a lot of charm.
Both are Safe But Boring to lick. They even have similar texture (smooth). As far as your tongue in concerned, it’s a wash. You’ll need different criteria to pick your fav.
(One #MinCup we’ll have either a Fun To Lick or a Do Not Lick finalist and I will be overjoyed)
(One #MinCup we’ll have either a Fun To Lick or a Do Not Lick finalist and I will be overjoyed)
#Fluorite is a basic calcium fluoride (CaF2), which didn’t give me headaches when memorizing composition for mineralogy exams.
Amusingly, the element is named for the mineral, not the other way around. Same for fluorescence: the effect named for the rock’s distinctive property.
Amusingly, the element is named for the mineral, not the other way around. Same for fluorescence: the effect named for the rock’s distinctive property.
I promised I’d be nice to #Quartz this #MinCup, although SOME people think it’s mean to point out you can access quartz’s electrical properties by hitting, squishing, or sawing it.
So, fine. Strategy tip. Why not tap existing Steven Universe fans to recruit voters?
So, fine. Strategy tip. Why not tap existing Steven Universe fans to recruit voters?
The .gif opportunities are amazing considering Amethyst (the purple gem of #Quartz) is a major character.
Here she is getting a helping hand from #MinCup2018’s champion #Garnet:
Here she is getting a helping hand from #MinCup2018’s champion #Garnet:
One of the reoccurring #MinCup2019 arguments is that #Quartz is more stable than #IceMin at surface temperatures.
You’ve got a .gif for that. NO ONE USED IT THE ENTIRE CUP. Come on, it’s in the first handful of “Amethyst Steven Universe” .gifs pre-loaded into the Twitter app!
You’ve got a .gif for that. NO ONE USED IT THE ENTIRE CUP. Come on, it’s in the first handful of “Amethyst Steven Universe” .gifs pre-loaded into the Twitter app!
I’m totally amused how #quartz is catering the pity vote. All of #MinCup was created to make it feel special, yet every year other minerals win. Poor quartz.
Meanwhile #calcite is both fun & a climate indicator.
Meanwhile #calcite is both fun & a climate indicator.
#Calcite is a mineral with neat optical properties, fizzes with acid, flags your attention when you stumble on to an ancient sea floor in the mountains, was a critical plot point for the premiere of #Stargate #SGU, and tracks climate.
But I lost a bet.
Whoo #quartz.
But I lost a bet.
Whoo #quartz.
So. #Quartz.
It’s most of Earth’s crust. If you’re only learning one mineral, quartz is a good default guess.
I can’t help with ID more than”uh, it’s hard?” unless it happens to be a pointy crystal, but I’ve never found those in the wild. It’s the white bits of granite.
It’s most of Earth’s crust. If you’re only learning one mineral, quartz is a good default guess.
I can’t help with ID more than”uh, it’s hard?” unless it happens to be a pointy crystal, but I’ve never found those in the wild. It’s the white bits of granite.
We’re in the semi-finals of #MinCup2019 & I Have Opinions.
This is the year of #ClimateChange, the year we hit the tipping point of enough people caring to finally get to the large-scale hard work.
Our winner has to be ice or #calcite (tomorrow’s semi-finalist). #IceMin
This is the year of #ClimateChange, the year we hit the tipping point of enough people caring to finally get to the large-scale hard work.
Our winner has to be ice or #calcite (tomorrow’s semi-finalist). #IceMin
#Olivine is a good mineral, a former 2017 #MinCup champion & one I campaigned for in past years.
It has so many cool quirks, including making green sand (!!). But it already won before.
It has so many cool quirks, including making green sand (!!). But it already won before.
Every year, people are startled to learn #IceMin is a mineral!
It’s naturally occurring, solid, has definite composition, & a repeating crystalline structure. As long as you find it in the wild, it checks every box.
Want it solid at room temperature? Ice VII trapped in diamond.
It’s naturally occurring, solid, has definite composition, & a repeating crystalline structure. As long as you find it in the wild, it checks every box.
Want it solid at room temperature? Ice VII trapped in diamond.
It’s the last match of Round 1.
#Halite is salt, the deliciously lickable mineral.
#Serpentine is an entire group (including asbestos) sneaking in to a single-mineral competition.
You know how to vote.
#Halite is salt, the deliciously lickable mineral.
#Serpentine is an entire group (including asbestos) sneaking in to a single-mineral competition.
You know how to vote.
I went off about #halite recently. But surely Hot Tubs of Despair is enough by itself to earn your vote:
To be fair, I totally love #Serpentine. It’s a highly-pettable green snake of a rock that makes wine tasty.
Just don’t lick it.
Or breathe it.
And it’s still a cheater of being a whole group.
Just don’t lick it.
Or breathe it.
And it’s still a cheater of being a whole group.
I had exactly 30min entry-to-exit to explore @hmns.
I’d heard they have a solid collection of trilobites & the massive cut blue sapphire Siren of Serendip is a special exhibit.
But with the clock ticking down, I raced up the stairs & tumbled into Cullen Hall of Gems & Minerals.
I’d heard they have a solid collection of trilobites & the massive cut blue sapphire Siren of Serendip is a special exhibit.
But with the clock ticking down, I raced up the stairs & tumbled into Cullen Hall of Gems & Minerals.
#Crocoite: Shiny red-orange spiketastic lead chromate.
Despite being named for colour-matching saffron, lead makes it firmly “Do Not Lick.”
This particular spikefren is from Adelaide Mine, Tasmania, sticking with “everything cute in Australia can secretly kill you” theme.
Despite being named for colour-matching saffron, lead makes it firmly “Do Not Lick.”
This particular spikefren is from Adelaide Mine, Tasmania, sticking with “everything cute in Australia can secretly kill you” theme.
#Fluorite: a honkin’ massive cube of calcium fluorite with that particular dull-waxy translucence I wanna pet so bad.
No UV light to see if it’d fluoresce pretty colours for me.
From Nikolaevskiy Mine in Russia where hot sulfide solutions crystallized in limestone caverns.
No UV light to see if it’d fluoresce pretty colours for me.
From Nikolaevskiy Mine in Russia where hot sulfide solutions crystallized in limestone caverns.
Oh no. It’s the most contentious time of the year for geo-folk. I usually stay out of it, but some of these minerals are going to make me stan hard.
Lineup below. Hashtag to Follow or Mute is #MinCup2018
Lineup below. Hashtag to Follow or Mute is #MinCup2018
Round 1: Olivine vs Diamond:
Olivine is the defending champion. Here’s why it’s badass from my Ode to Olivibe last #MinCup:
