january 2016 bulletin of the new york mineralogical club · 2 bulletin of the new york...

The

BULLETIN OF THE NEW YORK MINERALOGICAL CLUB, INC

America’s Oldest Gem & Mineral Club F o u n d e d 1 8 8 6 I n c o r p o r a t e d 1 9 3 7

Volume 130 No. 1

January 2016

CHINESE AUCTION

GRAPHENE

WATER

METEOR IMPACT

ROCKS

KIMBERLY MINE

ELEMENTS CUBE

REAL LIFE

RELATIVITY

January 13, 2016

Tennessee Pink

Marble

Quartz!

See page 8.

The NYMC Has Much toLook Forward to in 2016

Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical ClubFounded 1886 Ë New York City, New York Ë Incorporated 1937

Volume 130, No. 1 America’s Oldest Mineral & Gem Club January 2016

January 13 Meeting:th

Mitch Portnoy: Pretty in Pink: TheJoys of Tennessee Marble”

Tennessee marble is a type ofcrystalline limestone found primarily inEast Tennessee, in the southeastern UnitedStates. Long esteemed by architects andbuilders for its pinkish-gray color and theease with which it is polished, this stone hasbeen used in the construction of numerousnotable buildings and monumentsthroughout the United States and especiallyin New York City. Tennessee marbleachieved such popularity in the late 19thcentury that Knoxville, the stone’s primaryfinishing and distribution center, becameknown as “The Marble City.”

Although its use (like all natural stone)declined for a while during the mid 20th

century, it has once again become a popularstone in our post-modern architectural ear!

Come see and hear how this attractive “rich man’s stone” is found in dozens offamous buildings and monuments in NewYork City.

Send in Your 2016 Club DuesIt is time to send in your 2016 club membership dues! Allmemberships run from January 1 to December 31 ofeach year (with a few exceptions).If your mailing labelsays “Status: 2015", you owe your 2016 dues.Please take the time now to mail in your dues in order toprevent uninterrupted delivery of your bulletin. A handyform appears on page 12. Dues are $25 for individual,$35 for family. Mail to: Membership Coordinator, N.Y.Mineralogical Club, P.O. Box 77, Planetarium Station,NYC, NY 10024-0077.

By Mitch Portnoy

The new year, 2016, the Club’s 130 ,th

will be filled with events, activities andpresentations to satisfy the varied interestsof the NYMC membership.

T he year ’smeeting lecture

series is almost fullypopulated and willfeature speakers,both familiar andn e w , g i v i n gpresentations on abroad range ofm i n e r a l o g i c a l ,geological, gemological, historical, andlapidary subjects.

The March meeting will feature one ofour most popular speakers, Alfredo Petrov.His specific topic is about flint from theNetherlands but you can certainly expect avisual education about other minerals aswell as entertaining collecting anecdotes.

Since New York City is a worldwideart capital, it should be no surprise that Maywill feature local artist and mineral collectorZachry Wiegand, who will present hiswork and show why minerals are soimportant to his philosophy of art and life.

And later in the year, in November, wehave geologist and art historian Ann

Pizzorusso who will show how the artistsand authors of the Italian Renaissanceaccurately used geological fundamentals toreinforce the power of their works.

The year’s gala banquet, whose themewill be opal, will feature a 3-part lecture onthat topic provided by Vivien Gornitz,

Anna Schumate and me. The popularsilent auction, held before the dinner, willhave an opal section to underscore theevening’s theme.

And speaking of auctions, I can alreadytell you that the lot selection for the Annual

Benefit Auction (voice) in June will not bea disappointment! We already have a widerange of minerals, gems, books, etc. of avery high quality. And a fully illustrated

catalog will be available for the first timeon our website!

The best material we have so far has allcome from the dealer donations at therecent Fall 2015 NYC Gem & MineralShow. There is every reason to expect thatthe dealers at the upcoming Spring 2016

NYC Mineral &

Gem Show in

March will beequally as generous.

Although notyet scheduled, wedo hope to havea n o t h e r O p e n

House sometimeduring the summermonths. This social

affair (with eating & drinking) has beenvery popular and if you would like to hostthis event in 2016, please let me know. Youwill be glad you did!

I hope to see you at many of theseevents and activities so you can experiencehow valuable and fulfilling a membership inthe NYMC really is. And remember, ideasand suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Issue Highlights

Editor’s Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Meeting Minutes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Graphene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4And Stanene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Chinese Auction Offerings. . . . . . . . . 5Water!.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Microlattice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Rocks from Meteor Impact.. . . . . . . . 7The 100: Quartz is #1.. . . . . . . . . . . . 8Topics in Gemology: Such a Deal!. . 9Dying Universe.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10“Old Fossils” are Just Minerals. . . . 10New Glass Type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Relatively in Real Life. . . . . . . . . . . 12

2CO Elimination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13All-Elements Cube. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Diamonds from Acid. . . . . . . . . . . . 14Gem Cut & Light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Membership Renewal Form. . . . . 16

Club & Show Calendars. . . . . . . . . . 17

2 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club, Inc. January 2016

Editor’s MessageBy Mitch PortnoyAs Time Goes By

I hope this is not as shocking to you asit is to me but 2016 is actually thebeginning of my 21 year as editor of thest

New York Mineralogical Club’s monthlybulletin.

A lot has changed in my life over thesetwo decades. I live in a different part of thecity, my ever-diminishing quantity of hair isgrayer, and I am now semi-retired with adifferent job.

But the Bulletin has changed little. Ifyou look at the issues from 1996 (availableto all online on our website), you can seethat the overall look and content offeringsof them are about the same as those youcurrently receive.Have You Noticed?

The biggest change over the past fewyears is the bulletin’s size. I used to limitthe number of pages in each issue to twelve,due to production costs and the time it usedto take to copy, staple, fold, label and maileach month’s publication. The last time youreceived a bulletin with only that number ofpages was in February 2013! Thanks to factthat more than two-thirds of ourmembership now receive their bulletindigitally (no paper and little work!) and thecopy service I use each month charges us areally cheap rate (I do pay cash . . .), I nolonger feel constrained to keep thebulletin’s pagination at an even dozen.Content with Content

Unlike most mineral clubs, I never hada problem with having enough content tofill any bulletin. Over the years, thesealways seemed to be several club memberswho generously dedicated themselves towriting a monthly column of some sort. Inthe past, Saul Krotki, David Brand, Rich

Rossi and Karen Rice were regularcontributors. Currently Diana Jarrett

writes an engaging monthly articlepertaining to gemology, jewelry,gemstones, etc. Bill Shelton contributeswritings about minerals and mineralcollecting. And then we have been blessedwith Vivien Gornitz who has writtenperhaps 500 professional articles for usabout geology, mineralogy, and everythingelse relevant to our mineral club.

In addition, articles coming from otherclubs’ newsletters, the monthly papers sentby the EFMLS and AFMS, and timelyinformation from science-related websitescompelled me to expand the bulletin’s size.I think I will limit it to twenty pages at mostfor now. Maybe even that will change in thefuture.

But More is Better

Yet, I want even more. I am stronglyrequesting that even more of you write forthe bulletin. Your contribution(s) do nothave to be long or regular or scholarly.Perhaps you went to a mineral show or sawa relevant exhibition at a museum. Write upa few paragraphs and send them to me. Itcan be by regular mail or email. I’ll helpwith the graphics/illustrations and workwith you on any needed enhancements.Perhaps you read an interesting article orbook. Write a review or recommendation orcommentary. Your ideas and opinionscount. We all want to hear them. Askingyourself if you should do this? Just say“yes” to yourself!

Club Meeting Minutes forDecember 9, 2015By Vivien Gornitz, Secretary

Attendance: 42President Mitch Portnoy presided

Announcements:

� The regular monthly raffle was held.� There was a brief discussion about the

November 2015 NYC Mineral Show.� There will be a Chinese Auction at the

January 2106 meeting.� We will not have a January 2016

Special Sale. � There was a brief website update,

mostly about video links on the HistoryPage.

� The new digital-only cover for theBulletin was shown.

� The day’s and month’s historicalevents were presented.

� The recently-discovered 1111-caratdiamond from Botswana was shown.

� A new coin from Canada with anembedded jade polar bear was shown.

� The naming of steinhardtite after Dr.Paul Steinhardt, who lectured to theClub in 2014, was announced.

� A game about yellow minerals wasplayed.

� Members were reminded that dues for2016 were due.

� The new NYMC “End of YearAwards” were bestowed.

� Members were encouraged to buy thevarious available club items for gifts.

� Upcoming NYMC events for 2016were presented.

Special Lecture: John Sanfaçon – “Man-

Made Minerals & More”

John Sanfaçon has fascinated andenlightened Club members on a variety ofintriguing topics, including Russian lapidary

treasures, the Crown Jewels, agate and more.December’s presentation added to thegrowing list. In a hands-on demonstration,John selected numerous specimens from hisextensive personal collection to illustrate thevariety and qualities of lab-grown gems.

(Continues on next page)

Members in the News� Branko Deljanin will be participating

in the Mediterranean Gem andJewellery Conference in Spain in May

2016. (Theme: Diamond Treatments)� The EFMLS Wildacres weekend in

September 2016 will feature a returnengagement by renowned member,

mineral collector and dealer Alfredo

Petrov.

� Saul Krotki contributed an article tothe Mineralogical Record historical

archive with an entry entitled “KrotkiIron Mines”. Check it out online!

� Congratulations to Otis Kidwell

Burger whose poem, True Story (from

2014) , placed 9 in the national 2015th

AFMS Bulletin Editors Contest!

Welcome New Member!Andrea Ross. . . . . . . . . . . Manchester, VT

January’s Game:A Relevant Color!

And the February Game . . .

January 2016 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club, Inc. 3

The World of MineralsThe World of Minerals is a monthly column written by Dr. Vivien Gornitz on timely and interesting topics relatedto geology, gemology, mineralogy, mineral history, etc. – ON HOLIDAY BREAK!

John Sanfaçon – “Man-Made Minerals & More”(Continued from page 2)

John pointed out that although man-made gems find manynovel hi-tech applications today, growing gemstones in the lab

is nothing new. The first synthetic gemstones—synthetic rubiesand sapphires—were grown by the Verneuil process in the 1890s

in France. Synthetic sapphires are widely used as watch jewels.Inexpensive ($10/ct) and easy to grow, sapphires are hard and

chemically resistant. Emeralds, on the other hand, grow moreslowly and are hence more expensive to produce (up to $600/ct).

The replacement of Cr for Al can introduce strain in the crystalstructure, so emeralds often crack and contain multiple

inclusions, creating a “jardin”, or garden effect. Thus, growingemeralds requires special care.

The high value of diamonds has stimulated the creation ofa host of diamond “look-alikes”. Some of these artificial

pretenders include synthetic rutile, strontium titanite, YAG(yttrium aluminum garnet), cubic zirconia (CZ), and moissanite.

CZ’s physical properties—cubic (isometric) structure, hardness(H= 8.5), high index of refraction (2.2 vs 2.42 for diamond) and

dispersion (0.06 vs 0.044 for diamond) make it a crediblediamond substitute. While it can fool inexperienced jewelers, it’s

heavier and lacks the high heat conductivity of diamond, aproperty easily tested by a thermal probe instrument. Moissanite,

a synthetic silicon carbide (e.g., carborundum) displays more firethan a diamond. It can fool the thermal tester and requires a

special instrument to separate it from diamond. But it’s doublyrefractive, making facet junctions a bit blurry.

Man other natural gemstones now have lab-createdcounterparts, among which are spinel, opal, beryl, alexandrite,

and quartz. Other natural stones have been enhanced to improvetheir appearance. Sapphires and rubies routinely undergo heating

to make their colors brighter and clearer. Heat applied to bluishcrocidolite in quartz turns it into brown or reddish tiger’s-eye.

Garishly-colored dyed chalcedony and agate finds its way intocountless trinkets and novelties. Irradiation transforms colorless

topaz into pale “sky blue”, brighter “Swiss blue”, or deep greenor “London blue” topaz. Thin iridescent coatings on topaz or

drusy quartz impart “mystic” qualities. One of the strangestsynthetic materials is “basalt fiber”—a hair-like fibrous

substance created by extruding basalt at very high temperatures.While basalts occurs as lava flows in many parts of the world,

curiously, the basalt from the nearby Watchung Mountains inNew Jersey makes the best fiber. The material finds many useful

applications as an insulator, in bullet-proof vests, and asprotective gear in highly corrosive, high temperature

environments. As an insulator, it makes a much safer alternativeto carcinogenic asbestos. Some gem materials have no

counterparts in nature. Some examples include a rutile-quartzdoublet, goldstone (copper platelets in glass) and

“winkies”—synthetic fiber optics. Calcsilica is a rainbow-colored, banded material evoking Southwest scenery. Either lab-

grown and/or artificially dyed, the name implies somecompound of calcium and silica.

Man-made gemstones can be quite attractive in their own

way and provide an affordable substitute for precious, and pricygems. Inasmuch as they share the same physical and chemical

properties as their natural counterparts, they offer a much betteralternative to simulants that bear only a passing resemblance to

the real thing. Thanks to John Sanfaçon for broadening ourhorizons on this fascinating topic.

More on Man-Made MineralsI was remiss by not mentioning the importance of

developing synthetic quartz after World War II, because

technical grade quartz (with no twinning internally) was in veryshort supply worldwide. Our technical grade Hot Springs,

Arkansas quartz was running thin. As a matter of fact, our clubPresident, Al Northup, who passed away about 20 years ago,

worked in the Army Corps of Engineers during the war in Brazil(which was neutral) trying to find technical grade quartz before

the Germans, who were scouring Minas Gerais to find quartz fortheir V-2 rocket program, which was aimed at London.

When German aerospace engineer Wehrner von Braun cameto America after WWII to head up our own missile program, he

wrote a book “I Aim for the Stars” (to which Mort Sahl quipped:“And I hit London”). It seems both we and the Germans found

out that quartz, when pressured on opposite crystals faces, emitsa electronic frequency which is very steady, and it allows an

army to send walkie-talkie messages (and guided missiles) withamazing accuracy.

This, of course, was later used in FM tuners(“quartz-locked”), where the tuner would stay on the desired FM

radio station, and not drift all over the dial. Before thatinnovation , FM car radios would drift even when you made a

turn in your car, because the FM signal was directional, not likeAM, which spreads out concentrically. I also remember the first

quartz digital watches (Seiko, $210) with a faint red dial youalmost had to go in a dark closet to read, and the first pocket

calculators, which cost $100, and had very limited functions.Nowadays, quartz watches are given away at ball games.

John Sanfaçon

Congratulations!American Mineralogist was established in 1916, with the firstissue appearing in July of that year, under the auspices of the

Philadelphia Mineralogical Society, the New York

Mineralogical Club, and the Mineral Collectors’ Association.

On December 30, 1919 the Mineralogical Society of Americawas formed and American Mineralogist became the society’s

journal.


Graphene Is Missing Ingredient to HelpSupercharge Batteries for Life on the MoveBy Mark Douthwaite

While our gadgets these days are constantly getting smallerand more powerful, the development of commercial batteries bothsmall enough and with sufficient capacity to feed theirpower-hungry demands has not quite kept pace.

Most people will have heard of Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries.They’re in almost all mobile electronic devices – from your mobilephone and laptop, through to back-up power supplies on jets andeven spacecraft. Surprisingly though, despite this huge demand,the fundamental design of Li-ion batteries has remained broadlysimilar in recent years.

Battery life is frequently the constraining factor in manyexisting and experimental applications. It’s key for the future oftechnologies such as electric cars, and for high-capacity energystorage for renewables such as wind and solar power. In fact thecomparatively slow progress with developing new batteries hasresulted in many electronics manufacturers turning to trying toreduce or maintain their products’ power requirements to find abalance.

Which is not to say that there’s no research into new energystorage techniques. Far from it in fact. The past few decades haveseen an explosion of research in this area. Unsurprisingly, a gooddeal of this revolves around improving Li-ion batteries. The new“wonder material” graphene has also been suggested as a possiblekey to the solution. Graphene has a number of interestingproperties that have led researchers to suggest either modifyingcomponents of Li-ion batteries, or using graphene as theenergy-storage medium instead as promising solutions.

Just Add Graphene

Graphene has also been used to develop electronic deviceswith extremely low power requirements. This is possible (in part)because pure graphene has the lowest resistivity of any knownmaterial at room temperature – devices made of pure graphene canconduct electricity more efficiently than any other material (atroom temperature). As a consequence, very little energy is wasted.

Devices built with graphene would not experience the sameproblems of heating faced by current electronics – they could runindefinitely with very little increase in temperature. Heat is bad forelectronics; it means energy is being wasted and it often serves toreduce the efficiency of the device further as it heats up. Puregraphene virtually eliminates energy losses of this kind, whichmakes devices produced from it extremely energy-efficient. For

consumer electronics, this could mean significantly more powerfuldevices with massively improved battery life – a win-win scenarioif ever there was one.

What’s more, studies indicate that using graphene to replaceor enhance components of Li-ion batteries can significantlyimprove the energy density and longevity of the battery. Onepopular technique has been to make the anodes or cathodes inLi-ion batteries out of graphene.

Your Next Battery May Be a Supercapacitor

Another technique is to use graphene as the energy-storagemedium itself. This has been used to construct supercapacitors –perhaps the strongest future competitor to Li-ion batteries in usesthat require very rapid charge times, such as in the case of electriccars.

This is arguably their critical feature. A supercapacitor can gofrom fully discharged to fully charged many orders of magnitudefaster than comparable Li-ion batteries. In this context, it is thelarge surface area of graphene that is important, because theamount of charge that can be stored is related to the surface area ofthe materials from which it’s made. So again, graphene is ideal.

Despite supercapacitors’ potential to challenge the ubiquitousLi-ion battery, current supercapacitors are invariably too large andtoo expensive to replace them in the same roles. However,prototypes indicate that superconductors may meet therequirements necessary to replace conventional batteries in the nottoo distant future.

Ultimately, the challenge with any of these prototypes is theability to scale production to meet the demands of the consumerelectronics industry. Graphene-based solutions have so far beennotoriously difficult to manufacture on a large scale, thanks in partto the difficulty of isolating high-quality graphene. Nevertheless,the future for energy storage and energy-efficient technology looksbright. Whether graphene ultimately plays a part in the revolutionor not, its clear that the research into these technologies willeventually lead to the introduction of cheaper and more durableproducts with a higher capacity.

It’s no understatement to say that an energy revolution awaitsas a result of next-generation energy-storage devices, which couldhelp usher in the age of fully electric vehicles, large-scalerenewable energy generation and the end of our reliance on fossilfuels.

Mark Douthwaite is PhD Candidate in High Integrity SystemsEngineering (HISE) at University of York.

Source: www.iflscience.com August 11th, 2015

Supercapacitors of various sizes – but none of them small enough, yet.


Introducing Graphene’s Younger Cousin:StaneneBy Caroline Reid

Graphene, the super two-dimensional material, has someoutstanding properties. It is 200 times stronger than steel byweight, and it can conduct heat and electricity with ease.

But graphene might not be alone in the elite two-dimensionalstructure ranks for much longer, as it could soon be joined by itscousin: Stanene. This new compound on the block has someexciting and versatile properties that might just give graphene agood run for its money.

The compound was hypothesized two years ago, andresearchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University think that they havesucceeded in making it. The results can be found in NatureMaterials. Stanene is a two-dimensional compound. It hassimilarities to graphene, but instead of carbon atoms, stanene iscomposed of tin atoms. The tin creates a six-sided honeycombstructure, not dissimilar to graphene, that can be discerned at thenanoscale.

The layer is supported by a structure composed of atoms ofbismuth telluride, which can be seen in the side view of thefollowing diagram.

But what makes stanene extra special? In theory at least, it hassome properties that would make it especially suited to conductingelectricity without wasting much energy creating heat. Electronsrace down the edges of the stanene layer, bypassing the centrallattice. As a result, they don’t squander valuable energy interactingwith other particles, which means that this material has potential

applications in devices in many other fields. These conclusionscome from predictions made back in 2013 by Shou-Cheng Zhang,the coauthor of this new stanene study.

It is currently inconclusive that stanene has been created,according to other scientists. While the results so far arepromising, with the distance between the layers of atomsconsistent with the predictions, it will be clearer whether stanenehas been created when scientists have the opportunity to image itusing techniques such as X-ray diffraction. Unfortunately, theseprocedures require more stanene than the scientists have currentlygrown, so it will be some time before enough stanene can be madefor these sorts of conclusive tests to be carried out.

However, the evidence so far is promising. So far, stanene islooking like the next big thing in two-dimensional materials. Let’shope that the reality will be able to live up to the hype.Source: www.iflscience.com August 10, 2015

Chinese Auction Offerings: Quartz & More!1. Bag of Polished Rose Quartz Eggs and Spheres

2. Agate and Onyx Bead Necklace3. Boxed USA Mineral Collection.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . USA

4. Cast Metal Miner Figurine on Pyrite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peru5. Selection of Multicolor Polished Quartzes

6. Cactus Quartz (white).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . South Africa7. Cactus Quartz (amethyst). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . South Africa

8. Cactus Quartz (multi crystals). . . . . . . . . . . . South Africa9. Amethyst Crystal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nigeria

10. Botswana Agate Pendant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Botswana11. Picture Jasper Pendant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . China

12. Chalcedony in Silver Pendant13. Tiger Eye Bangle

14. Serpentine & Amethyst in Silver Pendant15. Spotted Agate Pendant on Cord

16. Huge Herkimer “Diamond” (Quartz).. . . . New York State17. Petrified Wood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SW USA

18. Green Smithsonite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arizona19. Starolite Specimen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kola, Russia

20. Calcite & Marcasite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Missouri21. Banded Carnelian in Silver Pendant

22. Amethyst Rocks & Minerals

23. Large & Color Collection of Tumbled Quartzes!

24. Animal Wood Carvings25. Selection of Fossils

26. Uncle Tungsten by Dr. Oliver Sacks.. . . . . . . . . . . . . Book27. The Gem Kingdom by P. Desaultels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Book

Several recent articles claimed Earth is headed for a “mini-IceAge” around 2030, but that assertion appears to be an

exaggeration. Consult snopes.com for the correct information.

Stanene at the nanoscale with a discerniblehoneycomb structure.

Front and side view of stanene’s structure (red and blue) resting atop a supporting compound(cyan and gray).


The Universe’s Most Miraculous MoleculeBy Richard Gunderman Chancellor’s Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and

Philanthropy, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

It’s the second most abundant substance in the universe. Itdissolves more materials than any other solvent. It stores incredibleamounts of energy. Life as we know it would not be possiblewithout it. And although it covers more than 70% of the Earth’ssurface, many parts of the world are in dire straits for lack of it.What is it?

The answer, of course, is water. In some ways, water is one ofthe substances we know best, in part because it makes up 75% ofour bodies. Every day we drink it, bathe in it, clean with it and useit to dispose of our wastes. Yet scientists are still striving tounderstand many of water’s remarkable properties, and the 21stcentury will force us to think about water like we never havebefore.

What Makes Water So Remarkable?

For most of human history, water was considered to be one ofthe four elements, along with air, earth and fire. It was only in the18th century that chemist Antoine Lavoisier passed an electricalcurrent through water and realized that it gives off two gases:hydrogen (literally, “water maker”) and oxygen.

The formula of water is H2O – two atoms of hydrogen andone of oxygen. One of water’s most remarkable properties istraceable to the hydrogen bonds that continually form and reformbetween its slightly negatively charged oxygen and slightlypositively charged hydrogen components. Thanks to these bonds,

water molecules attract one another far more strongly than thoseof almost any other substance.

These hydrogen bonds give water a very high specific heat,meaning that it takes a great amount of energy to warm it. It alsohas a remarkably high boiling point compared to other chemicallysimilar molecules, such as hydrogen sulfide. These propertiesenable human beings to dissipate large amounts of heat duringexercise by perspiring.

Another consequence of hydrogen bonding is capillary action(the topic of Einstein’s first paper), which occurs, for example,when a liquid is drawn up between the hairs of a paintbrush. Thewater molecules attract one another so strongly that they defy theforce of gravity. When water evaporates from the highest leaves ofa tree, it draws up other water molecules from the roots far below.

Still another consequence of hydrogen bonding is water’s highsurface tension. This accounts for its tendency to form droplets andenables some insects literally to walk on water. This force can beso strong that premature infants, who lack surfactant, a substancethat lessens it, can become exhausted just trying to inflate theirlungs. Fortunately, surfactant is now available as a medication.

The fact that water has slightly positively and negativelycharged poles also makes it the “universal solvent,” perfect fordissolving salts, sugars, acids, alkalis and even gases such ascarbon dioxide, accounting for the fizz in sodas. Such substancesare known as hydrophilic (water-loving), precisely because theydissolve so easily in water.

By contrast, fats and oils are classified as hydrophobic,because they do not have electrical charges at their ends. As aresult, they are attracted more strongly to one another than towater. To wash such substances from our hands or clothes, weneed soaps, which have both hydrophobic and hydrophilic endsthat help break them up into tiny droplets that can be carried awayby water.From One State To Another

Even more remarkably, water is practically the only substanceknown to man that, as it cools from its liquid to solid state, actuallyexpands. Virtually every other substance becomes denser as it“freezes,” but thanks to this remarkable property, ice cubes floatin our drinks. More importantly for living organisms, lakes andother bodies of water freeze from the top down.

Ice’s remarkably low density is attributable to the fact thatwater molecules need thermal energy to maintain the randomorientations they assume in liquid water. As the temperaturedecreases, the molecules begin to line up in a regular latticework.To do so, however, the distance between them must increase. Asa result, ice is about 9% less dense than liquid water.

The adage that no two snowflakes are alike seems hard tobelieve until you consider the fact that the patterns in which watermolecules freeze vary depending on temperature and humidity.When you add the fact that the average snow crystal contains about10 quintillion (10 followed by 18 zeroes) water molecules, it iseasy to see why the number of possible combinations isunimaginably large.A Continuous Cycle

Water is also incredibly dynamic, continuously moving allover the Earth in a cycle of evaporation, condensation,precipitation and runoff back to seas and lakes. The same is trueamong living organisms, where the hydrogen and oxygenconstituents of water are continually combining and recombiningthrough the processes of photosynthesis and respiration.

And while we cannot live without water, it should also be saidthat we are water producers. Each time we break down a molecule


of glucose, we produce six molecules of water, a reaction thattakes place in the typical human body about six septillion (6followed by 24 zeroes) times per day. Even so, we still don’tproduce enough water to meet our own needs.

Although droughts in the western US are garneringconsiderable attention today, it is likely that water will become aneven hotter topic over the course of this century. For one thing,only about 3% of the Earth’s water is fresh water, the other 97%being found in the oceans. And about 70% of this fresh water isfound in glaciers and the ice caps of Antarctica.

As a result, even though the Earth holds enough water to makea sphere about 860 miles in diameter, only a tiny percentage of thiswater is easily accessible to human beings, and increasingshortages loom in the future. Some scientists have predicted that,as some point in the 21st century, fresh water will become a morevaluable commodity than petroleum.

A saying often incorrectly attributed to Albert Einstein claimsthere are two ways to lead a life. The first is as though nothing isa miracle, and the second is as though everything is a miracle.Water is entirely natural, hugely abundant and so necessary to lifethat our cells are bathed in it. Yet it is also so remarkable that, asa physician and scientist, I regard it as little short of miraculous.Source: iflscience.com Oct. 10, 2015

Boeing Has Developed the Lightest Metal EverBy Tom Hale

Aerospace giant Boeing has released a video showcasing thelightest metal structure ever, which is also one of the lightestmaterials known to science, called Microlattice.

The entire structure is 99.99% air and is comparable to thehollow honeycomb architecture of bone. The structure is composedof a network of super thin, hollow struts. The struts are around 100micrometers in diameter and have walls just 100 nanometers thick.It’s this design that makes Microlattice 10 times lighter thanStyrofoam. However, despite it being insanely light, it is alsoextremely strong.

Microlattice was first announced in 2011 when anickel-phosphorous alloy prototype was developed in collaborationbetween University of California, Caltech and HRL Laboratories– the Boeing-owned lab that built the first laser in 1960. As thevideo explains, this development has many possibilities, rangingfrom use in aerospace, high-performance vehicles, as well as shockabsorption and vibration insulation.

Source: iflscience.com from October 13, 2015

Simulation Shows What Happens to RocksAfter a Meteor ImpactBy Alfredo Carpineti

Using a computer simulation, scientists from the University ofStanford in California have managed to visualize what happens tothe Earth’s crust after a meteorite impact. The findings, publishedin Nature Materials, were used to predict how minerals wouldmutate under the extreme conditions produced by such an event.

The researchers wanted to recreate the first nanosecond – abillionth of a second – of impact. The computer model simulateshalf a million molecules of silica and what happens when they areput under the intense pressure and temperature brought about byimpact-induced shockwaves. Silicas are minerals made of siliconand oxygen, the two most abundant elements in the Earth’s crust.Silicas constitute 90% of the rocks found on the planet’s surface.

The study uses the conditions created by the Barringer meteorcrater impactor. The Barringer Crater in Arizona (pictured) isprobably one of the most famous meteor craters in the world. Itwas created 50,000 years ago when a nickel-iron meteorite 50meters (160 feet) in diameter hit the Earth at a speed between 12.8and 20 kilometers per second (8-12.4 miles per second). The craterthat it formed is 1,200 meters (3,900 feet) in diameter and 170meters (560 feet) deep. The impact energy is estimated around 10megatons (around 500 times the energy released by the Nagasakiatomic bomb explosion).

In the team’s simulation, the impacted ground experiencedshockwaves traveling at speeds over 7 kilometers per second (4miles per second), which led to temperatures rising to 3,000degrees Celsius (5,400 degrees Fahrenheit) and pressure reachinghalf a million atmospheres.

According to the study, within the first 10 trillionths of asecond the shockwaves forced the silica molecules to form anincredibly dense structure that in the first nanosecond crystallizesinto a rare mineral. The mineral, called stishovite, is chemicallyakin to quartz, but it can only be formed through a powerfulmetamorphic event that changes how silicon and oxygen are boundtogether in the silica molecule.

This result is in agreement with the geological findings inArizona. Stishovite is found in abundance in shocked rocks aroundthe Barringer crater. The development of these kinds of simulationis important in materials science as they help predict how materialstransform under stressful conditions.

Source: iflscience.com October 14, 2015

Aerial view of Barringer Crater by Shane Torgerson, via WikimediaCommons


Collector’s Series – “The 100"The 100 is a monthly feature of interest to mineral collectors written by Bill Shelton, based upon his many years of experienceas a mineral collector, educator, author, appraiser, philanthropist and dealer. Comments as well as suggestions for new topicsare most welcome. Contact him at [email protected].

Quartz, the Number One Collector’s SpeciesYes, many will agree that this is true – quartz is unmatched

because it is extraordinarily diverse and noted in various forms. Allof the types are readily available for a modest cost. From beachsands to agates to crystals of amethyst, citrine and colorless quartz,there is no end to what collectors may find. Crystals with oddhabits like Japan twins, scepters and fadens help to expand thepossible specimen variations one can encounter. Among themindat.org data I have provided for number of localities, which isfor about 100 common minerals, quartz has 55,639 localities listed.Only five others exceed 20,000; one exceeds 35,000. Hence, wecan consider it the most common in those terms. Furthermore,even a casual glance at a gem or mineralshow will convince anyone quartz iswidely represented.

Many common minerals are notreadily found but, even with the presentrestrictive environment regardingcollecting, one can go to Arkansas orNew York and pay a modest fee. You getto keep whatever you find - imagine that.Agate and petrified wood (usually quartz)may be found here in Arizona with onlya little effort in several locations. Fewother species can make claims to matchthis in terms of availability. Years ago,the amethyst from Georgia wascollectible at a fee site but I believe thatis no longer the case. When we visited, Ihad a great time and found a few finepieces; perhaps among the bestspecimens I ever collected.

Let’s create a small quartzcollection. Feel free to add, or delete, anythat are suggested here. One Herkimerdiamond, preferably on matrix, fromMiddleville, New York, close to home.Rose quartz crystals from Newry, Maine;this is actually a rarity in this family.Smoky quartz, perhaps from Brazil butsamples are available from many places. Amethyst from Georgiaor even New Jersey trap rocks would be nice. Colorless quartzfrom Arkansas but, like smoky quartz, it is available fromnumerous localities. A faden from Pakistan and a gwindel fromSwitzerland or Russia would be nice additions to a collection. Ifyou like agate, maybe a Fairburn type from South Dakota or aLake Superior type from Michigan will suit you. Brazilian typesare also widely available. A fine petrified wood can be added –Madagascar and Arizona are two possible localities. Now, addyour own personal favorites.

One type that is infrequently seen is natural citrine in crystals.A very new find in Arizona has produced handsome samples witha pleasing color and minimal smoky tones. Few places can makea claim to yielding natural citrine. Sometime ago, Bolivia producedametrine with citrine zones in amethyst that are considered to benatural by experts in the field. If one builds a quartz collection, youcan’t do without citrine, right?

Gems abound in the marketplace as do carved, shaped objectslike bookends, dishes, spheres, eggs and carvings. Much of thematerial has been color enhanced (especially agate) and somegemstones are made from synthetic material. Amethyst, in cutstones, is perhaps more common in synthetic than natural form. Toprove or disprove the natural provenance may cost more than thestone. Nevertheless, I think a lot of clear, smoky and citrine isnatural in origin albeit color enhanced, especially by heating.Agate slices, boxes, carvings and cabochons are available in analmost infinite variety. Natural and enhanced colors plus bright,unnatural colors like purple are readily found amongst agatesoffered for sale.

In the realm of non-collectors, oneitem seems to be rather well-known. Thatwould be the amethyst geode fromBrazil, where warehouses full of materialexist. From hand-sized to monstersmeasured in feet, some deemedcathedrals; you can get any size andshape you want. The Seaman museum inMichigan has a very fine half on exhibitin the center of the building that I havebeen told is one of the most popularitems among the general viewing public.In the near future, the museum at NewMexico Tech may add a single half or apair of these geodes to their new, and Imay add, wonderful exhibit in a fantasticnew building. Maybe, a pair about sixfeet high might grace your entrywaysome day. In the past several years, Ihave seen material from Uruguay ondisplay at the Hotel Tucson in Arizonawhich has a deep purple color and canalso be very large that would be ofinterest to a lot of collectors. The visualimpact is hard to measure but I keepseeing people at the show taking picturesof the giant pieces on exhibit so we mayconclude they were at least curious.

Finally, pseudomorphs where quartz replaces a previouslyexisting mineral, etc. are yet another variation on a theme. Petrifiedwood is but one type. Morocco yields a vast quantity of cubicobjects that are encrusted with quartz that may have once beenfluorite crystals. Other examples include a host of speciesincluding danburite where the original shape is preserved by quartzand little or none of the original mineral is present. We also noterare minerals can occur as pseudomorphs where quartz replaces theoriginal material and where the original is now a rare speciesreplacing some long forgotten mineral. In the more or less recentRussian copper deposits, we can find cuprite after copper andcopper after cuprite to name a couple of well-known examples.Marshite is present and can be found replacing cuprite to create arare pseudomorphs. So, I hope you will decide to collect a fewquartz specimens to enhance your collection and perhaps expandyour interest in minerals.


Topics in GemologyTopics in Gemology is a monthly column written by Diana Jarrett, GG, RMV, based on gemological questions posed to herover the years by beginners and experts alike. Contact her at [email protected].

Such a Deal!Real estate listings are everywhere you look. That means you

can expect some odd-ball properties to come onto market from timeto time if you look long and far enough. Here’s one you may nothave seen coming. We’ve never seen this come on the marketbefore.

125 Year-Old Property

A recent Financial Times (ft.com) headline read: De Beers to

sell legendary Kimberley Mines. Readers learn that it is “set to endmore than 125 years of diamond mining history”. The offeringdetails the unloading of an iconic kingpin responsible for more thana century of mining and trading at that location, the KimberleyMine.

Eureka!

Kimberley was the legendary South African axis of a miningfrenzy that exploded when diamonds were discovered in the 19thcentury. Its location explains why. It’s the capital of the NorthernCape Province in South Africa. Situated about 110km east of theblending of both the Vaal and Orange Rivers, it was rich withalluvial rough. Exactly how rich was it? It remains sodiamondiferous that several commercial diamond mines stilloperate there, as well as at the surrounding beaches.

The Orange River, according to history is where in 1866,Erasmus Jacobs first laid eyes on a sparkling pebble blinking athim on its banks, near his father’s farm. The 21.25 carat diamond‘pebble’ went through a few hands before finally being namedEureka. Within three years a second stone was found; a doorknobof a rock weighing 83.5 carats and was named the Star of SouthAfrica. Stampede ensued.

Eventually the excitement rippled throughout the world. By1870 fortune seekers from all corners of the earth came rushing in.And fortune they found. The region became the globe’s leadingdiamond producer under Cecil Rhodes and then the Oppenheimerfamily.

Gleaning Through the Last Bits

Today De Beers no longer digs for diamonds at this deposit.For the last several years they’ve been engaged in tailings as it iscalled. Tailing is a diamond recovery process from previouslymined rock; sort of a gleaning event.

What is the price for this historical piece of real estate? DeBeers keeps this number close to the vest and on a need-to-knowbasis. But they intend to wrap it all up pronto. It may sweeten thedeal to know that the Kimberley site still produces about 720Kcarats each year.

Accepting All Offers

Before putting in an offer, you’ll want to look at it first likeany astute buyer would do. Be prepared for the big cavity that iscentral to this property. Early miners poked plenty of holes allaround Kimberley. But you won’t miss the big one at its epicenter.Sentimentally referred to as the Big Hole it’s a 200m deepcavernous diamond pit, once lauded as the largest hand-dug pit inthe world. Takers, anyone?

Water fills the upper most area of the Big Hole at Kimberley

Kimberley Mines has produced extraordinary rough for over a century;Courtesy DeBeers

Water fills the uppermost area of the Big Holeat Kimberley

Early Kimberley Mine Illustration, c.1885


The Universe is DyingBy Jonathan O’Callaghan

We’re all screwed. Well, if you’re planning to stick around fora few more billion years.

Researchers have found that galaxies are losing energy at arather alarming rate, and confirm that all energy in the universe willeventually dissipate into nothingness. A study of 200,000 galaxiesfound they had lost half their energy in just two billion years. “Theuniverse is slowly dying,” a statement from the European SouthernObservatory (ESO) somberly says.

The theory that the universe is dying through an increase inentropy is not new, but this is the most extensive analysis yet ofwhat’s going on. The energy output of a large portion of spacecontaining the galaxies was measured more precisely than everbefore. It was studied in 21 wavelengths, from ultraviolet to the farinfrared, and all were found to be decreasing. It was part of theGalaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) project, which is using themost powerful telescopes around the world to study the cosmos.

“We used as many space and ground-based telescopes wecould get our hands on, to measure the energy output of over200,000 galaxies across as broad a wavelength range as possible,”said Simon Driver from the International Centre for RadioAstronomy Research (ICRAR) in Australia, who leads the largeGAMA team, in a statement.

What’s happening is this: stars use up their fuel and dissipateit as light and heat. When certain stars end their lives incataclysmic supernova explosions, they can fuel the birth of newstars, but ultimately all of that energy will spread out so much thatno new stars can form from it. In the galaxies studied, the rate ofstar formation was found to decrease by a factor of two over twobillion years. The researchers came to their conclusion bycomparing the energy output of older galaxies and newer galaxies.

“Essentially the universe is curling up on the sofa and becomean old universe,” Jochen Liske from the University of Hamburg,who was involved in the research, told IFLScience. “The universeis getting darker and darker. It is becoming a very cold and darkplace.”

This research, presented today at the InternationalAstronomical Union XXIX General Assembly in Honolulu,Hawaii, is slightly different from another theory for the end of theuniverse known as heat death. That states that as the expansion ofthe universe continues to accelerate, things will become so spreadout that they will no longer interact with each other. As Liske putsit, “the universe is dying multiple deaths.”

However, the researchers aren’t sure which fate will befall theuniverse first. “It depends on how big the acceleration of the

universe is,” said Liske. “That’s a question we haven’t quiteanswered. We don’t know what causes the accelerating expansionyet.”

But the heat death of the universe is expected to take manybillions of years. It is likely that, before it occurs, the galaxies willhave already run out of energy. And that’s a scenario that simplycan’t be avoided. “We’re definitely going down this route,” saidLiske. “If you wanted to go back, you would need a cosmicprocess that changed the universe, and erased huge densityfluctuations. There’s no process we can think of that could dothat.”

As mentioned, though, it’s not all bad news. It will likely bemany billions of years until all the lights go out and no stars arevisible from Earth. And before that takes place, Earth will beconsumed by the Sun in a few billion years when it expands intoa red giant prior to its death, leaving our planet a barren andinhospitable world devoid of life.

Yay.Source: www.iflscience.com August 10, 2015

World’s Oldest Known Fossils Are Just OddlyShaped MineralsBy Janet Fang

For over two decades, researchers have puzzled over whatsome strongly believe are the world’s earliest traces of life:fossilized cell walls within 3.46-billion-year-old rocks. But thanksto a new high-resolution analysis, it turns out that these“microfossils” weren’t left behind by living organisms. Rather,they’re the result of peculiarly shaped minerals, according tofindings published in Proceedings of the National Academy ofSciences this week.

In a 1993 Science study, researchers described tinycarbon-rich filaments within 3.46-giga-year-old Apex chert (afine-grained sedimentary rock) from the Pilbara region of WesternAustralia. These structures, which were between 0.5 and 20micrometers wide, seemed to resemble photosyntheticcyanobacteria. The “Apex chert microfossils,” as they came to becalled, became famous as the earliest evidence for life on theplanet. They were even used to refute the case against microfossilsin a Martian meteorite.

Despite being in textbooks and museum displays, themicrofossils were still quite contentious. In 2002, a team led bythe late Martin Brasier of Oxford revealed that the host rockwasn’t part of a simple sedimentary unit; rather, it came from acomplex, high-temperature hydrothermal system that experiencedmultiple episodes of subsurface fluid flow over a long time. In this

Four examples of microfossil-like artifacts (pseudofossils) from the 3.46billion-year-old Apex chert / M.D. Brasier et al., PNAS 2015 via University of Bristol


alternate hypothesis, the structures weren’t true microfossils: Theywere “pseudofossils” formed when carbon redistributed itselfaround mineral grains during hydrothermal events.

But without the technology to map them out at thesub-micrometer scale, researchers continued to debate their status.Now, University of Western Australia’s David Wacey andcolleagues used transmission electron microscopy to examineultrathin slices of these possible microfossils and build nanoscalemaps of their size, shape, mineral chemistry, and distribution ofcarbon.

Earth’s oldest microfossils, it turns out, have the character ofpeculiarly shaped minerals. They’re comprised of stacks ofplate-like clay minerals (pictured above, green) arranged intobranched and tapered chains that appear worm-like. When carbonbecame absorbed onto the mineral edges during the circulation ofhydrothermal fluids, this created the impression of carbon-richwalls—like the kind you’d find in living cells.

“It soon became clear that the distribution of carbon wasunlike anything seen in authentic microfossils,” Wacey says in anews release. “A false appearance of cellular compartments isgiven by multiple plates of clay minerals having a chemistryentirely compatible with a high temperature hydrothermal setting.”

Authentic microfossils contained rounded envelopes of carbonwith dimensions that are consistent with a cell wall origin. “At highspatial resolution, the Apex ‘microfossils’ lack all evidence forcoherent, rounded walls,” Wacey adds. “Instead, they have acomplex, incoherent spiky morphology, evidently formed byfilaments of clay crystals coated with iron and carbon.” You cansee these later generations of carbon (yellow) and iron (red) in theimage on the right.

Just last year, 3.45-billion-year-old microbial activity wasrevealed to be not biological in origin as well. So for now, therecord goes to much younger rocks, Science explains: The3.43-billion-year-old Strelley Pool Formation (also from WesternAustralia) contains evidence of hollow, bag-shaped bodies arrangedin chains or clusters.

Source: IFLScience.com from April 21, 2015Images: M.D. Brasier et al., PNAS 2015 via University of Bristol

Scientists Accidentally Produce an EntirelyNew Type of GlassBy Caroline Reid

Glass is, by nature, random. It is created by melting severalminerals together at unfathomably high temperatures. Glass hasa haphazard, disorganized structure, like a liquid frozen in time.However, by some happy accident, some scientists have createdglass with a regular molecular pattern.

The first inkling the scientists had that something wasdifferent about the glass they’d created came from someconsistent peaks in their spectroscopic data. The researchersmeasured how much the glass polarized – changed the orientationof – a beam of laser light. The beam’s interaction with glassshould produce a featureless graph where all the results arerandom. But instead, regular peaks appeared. This might soundunremarkable, but is a reliable indicator of a periodic arrangementof molecules. You can see the research in the Proceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences.

“This is a big surprise,” commented Juan de Pablo, from theUniversity of Chicago. “Randomness is almost the definingfeature of glasses. At least we used to think so. What we havedone is to demonstrate that one can create glasses where there issome well-defined organization. And now that we understand theorigin of such effects, we can try to control that organization bymanipulating the way we prepare these glasses.”

The secret to this molecular order seems to be the way thatthis special glass was created. Instead of cooling flowing liquidglass to a solid, this glass was formed using a glass vapor. Thetechnique gently builds up layers of solid glass by depositing avapor of organic molecules onto a surface, all regulated in avacuum environment. Growing glass layer by layer is precise. Iteffectively traps the molecules in their “true” orientation.

The process is highly temperature dependent. Thetemperature has to be within the narrow range where liquid vaporcan solidify. The order can be tuned by changing the temperaturewhile the glass is precipitated, but once the glass has set it willretain molecular order even during temperature changes.

“Glasses are one of the least understood classes of materials,”remarked de Pablo. “They have the structure of a liquid – disorder– but they’re solids. And that’s a concept that has mystifiedpeople for many decades. So the fact that we can now control theorientation of these disordered materials is something that couldhave profound theoretical and technological implications. Wedon’t know what they are yet – this is a new field of research anda class of materials that didn’t exist before. So we’re just at thebeginning.”

Even though only a small number of molecules were orienteddifferently in this new glass, the effects are significant. The nextstep for de Pablo and the team will be to try to enhance thisregularity and test different materials.Source: iflscience.com Aug. 18, 2015

The new type of glass with an organized molecular structure, a materialpreviously thought to have a random structure.


4 Ways You Can Observe Relativity inEveryday LifeBy Caroline Reid

Relativity is one of the most successful theories that AlbertEinstein ever came up with. It shook the world by altering the waythat we think of space and time.

One of the effects that come out of the theory of relativity isthat different observers, traveling at different speeds, may takecompletely different measurements of the same event. However, allthe measurements are technically correct. It’s all relative. Forexample, a period of time for someone on Earth that lasts forhundreds of years may only be a couple of hours for someonezooming around in a rocket at close to the speed of light. Oneperson may measure a stationary car to be one length, but whenthat same car starts racing along a track, its length appears shorterto a stationary person. These two effects are known as time dilationand length contraction.

You may be aware of the effects of relativity at insanely fastspeeds: near the speed of light. It may surprise you to hear, then,that relativity is something that we experience every day. It’s foundin the most technical of places, and some places that may nevereven have occurred to you as being out of the ordinary. Since it’s100 years since Einstein published his paper on general relativity,it seems like the perfect occasion to find out how relativity affectsus day-to-day.GPS

Nearly anyone who has a smartphone has access to a globalpositioning system or GPS. Every time you try to plan a route from“my current location,” your phone needs to connect to a satellite tofigure out exactly where “your current location” is. Satelliteswhoosh around the Earth at a pretty healthy speed: around 10,000kilometers per hour (roughly 6213 miles per hour). This mightsound fast, but it’s only about a thousandth the speed of light, soyou might not think that it’s fast enough for relativistic effects totake place. But, even at a speed this much slower than the speed oflight, the satellite still experiences time dilation: It gets “older” byroughly 4 microseconds every day. The satellite experiences thepassage of time faster than people on Earth. Include the effects ofgravity (which also causes time dilation) and this figure goes up toabout 7 microseconds.

You can barely even blink in 7 microseconds (0.000007seconds) but if this effect were unaccounted for then your GPSwould get you lost very quickly. After just a day, your locationaccording to the GPS could be up to 8 kilometers (around 5 miles)

away from your actual location. Fortunately, satellites areprogrammed to take these effects into consideration whenplanning your route. (Now, can it stop my GPS from directing meinto rivers?)Color of Gold

Gold has a characteristic, mellow, yellow color. Its beautifulsheen seems even more exotic when you find out that it’s actuallydue to relativistic effects. Were you to calculate the frequency(color) of light that gold emits without taking relativity intoconsideration, you would predict it to have a silver sheen.However, the color gold actually leans further to the red end of thespectrum.

This discrepancy can be explained when examining howelectrons in gold atoms move around in their shells. There is atotal of 79 electrons zooming around a gold atom, and 79 protonsin the nucleus. In the orbital closest to the nucleus (otherwiseknown as the 1s orbital), the electrons have to move at ashockingly fast speed. They move at roughly half the speed oflight to avoid being dragged into the nucleus by the powerfulpositive charge from the protons in the nucleus, and that causes alot of relativistic effects.

Because the electrons are moving so fast, the separateelectron shells appear to be closer than they actually are. For anelectron to jump to a higher energy level it needs to absorb aspecific wavelength of light. In gold, the wavelengths that couldbe absorbed are usually in the ultraviolet range – beyond what wecan see. However, when we account for the relativistic effects thatappear to squeeze the shells closer together, we find that the goldactually starts to absorb light with a smaller frequency: blue light.

The blue light is absorbed and only the red colors arereflected into our eyes. Hence, gold has a glamorous, yellowysheen.

Warped Clocks. Robert Kyllo/Shutterstock.

Gold: Pair of gold, Hellenistic earrings. 3rd-2nd century B.C.E. WikimediaCommons.


Electromagnets

Only some metals are naturally magnetic, like iron, forexample. That being said, it is possible to create a magnet out ofany metal by turning it into a coil of wire and running an electriccurrent through it. These electrified metals have a strange property:they only magnetically affect objects that are moving and theydon’t have any effect on stationary objects. This is anelectromagnet, and it is thanks to special relativity that thisphenomenon is possible.

Electric current is the flow of free-moving electrons througha metal, surrounded by a grid of stationary protons. If a chargedobject sits still next to an electromagnet, then nothing happens toit. Even though the electrons are flowing, they occupy a similaramount of space to the protons so that over all the electrified metalhas no effect on it.

However, if this charged object moves alongside the wire, thenit starts to feel the effects of length contraction in the movingelectrons. This means that the density of stationary protonsbecomes larger than the flowing electrons and the metal exhibits apositive charge, causing the object to be attracted or repelled.Old TVs

Old televisions might be dying out, however the equipmentinside them is still in common use today. Old TVs, before theinvention of plasma screens, were kitted out with an instrumentcalled a cathode ray tube. This device accelerates electrons andfires them behind a screen that has a coating that gives out lightwhen hit by electrons. The result is that you could sit and enjoy atelevision broadcast. However, it isn’t just as simple as firing acouple of electrons at a screen. The negatively-charged electronsare directed to the correct point on the screen using the positivecharge of magnets so that viewers could watch a perfect image.

These electrons are moving at roughly a third of the speed oflight. This means that engineers had to account for lengthcontraction when designing the magnets that directed the electronsto form an image on the screen. Without accounting for theseeffects, the electron beam’s aim would be off and createunintelligible images.

So, forget reality TV, there’s just as much entertainment inrelativity TV! Source: iflscience from Oct. 7, 2015

2These Enormous Fans Suck CO Out of the Airand Turn it into FuelCarbon Engineering has one idea for taking dangerous

greenhouse gas emissions out of the air. It sounds like it’s froma cartoon, but it’s real life.

2CO pumped out of tailpipes in New York City traffic couldeventually be sucked up by an air capture plant in the desert inAustralia or North Africa.

Carbon Engineering, a Canadian startup, is designing massivewalls of fans that suck carbon dioxide out of the air and turn it intothings we need—like more fuel.

Because carbon dioxide is everywhere, the air capture plantscould be built anywhere in the world and still help reduce globalconcentrations. “A direct air capture plant can be built wherever

2land is cheap and there is a demand for the CO produced,” saysGeoff Holmes, Carbon Engineering’s business developmentmanager.

While trees naturally do the same thing as the company’smachines, planting enough trees to deal with the world’s carbonproblems would take at least 1,000 times more land—and the treeswould have to live in areas that might be needed for agriculture.The smog-sucking machines are more efficient and can go indeserts.

The technology works by pulling air over a special

2carbon-absorbing liquid that traps CO and turns it into a salt.While it’s not quite as easy as trapping carbon directly at a sourcelike the smokestack on a coal power plant—where concentrationsare far higher—it’s possible (though less efficient). And it’simportant, because most emissions come from moving sourceslike cars.

“Only about 40% of our total emissions come from large fluestacks, and the other 60% results from what we call ‘diffuse andmobile’ sources that can be difficult to tackle at source,” saysHolmes. “Capturing them back from the atmosphere may be a keyway to help manage these diffuse emissions.”

2The captured CO can be stored underground, used in the oilindustry to make something called “low carbon crude,” or turnedinto low-carbon synthetic fuels that can replace something like jetfuel.

“These fuels have the same chemical make-up as fossil fuels,but are sourced from air and sunlight rather than from crude oil,”says Holmes. “Air capture plus fuel synthesis is potentially one ofthe few truly scalable ways to power transportation in a way that’scarbon-neutral.”

At its pilot plant in Canada, Carbon Engineering is gettingready to run their machine continuously for the first time, andwe’ll see if this seemingly crazy idea will actually work. “Thiswill prove that CE’s carbon capture technology is now ready tobuild and operate at a large industrial scale,” he says. After thepilot finishes, the company plans to build a first-of-its-kindcommercial plant in 2017 or 2018. The plant will produce 10,000barrels of synthetic fuel in a year.

It’s the kind of engineering that could be necessary if theworld is going to attempt to avoid catastrophic climate change;even if humans somehow instantly stopped using fossil fuels now,we’d be unlikely to stay under the two-degree limit for globalwarming that climate scientists say is needed.

But it’s also not the only answer. “No one single technologyor approach is ‘enough’ to help avoid climate change; we needevery option we’ve got, and more,” says Holmes. “Air capture hasthe potential to be a big help in cutting emissions that are difficultand costly to reduce at source, and that will add to the momentumthat’s building in other sectors of the clean-tech industry. Themoment you start cutting emissions is the moment you startreducing risk of future dangerous climate change.”Source: www.fastcoexist.com from October 17, 2015


You Can Buy a Cube Made of Every CollectibleElement on EarthBy Tom Hale

There’s the age-old question of what to get someone who haseverything. Well, a Kickstarter programme might have the solution– a cube made of every collectible element in the periodic table.

The project is the brainchild of Cillian McMinn, a youngentrepreneur from Belfast, U.K. He has helped create a cube thatis the world’s largest alloy, comprised of 62 elements in theperiodic table, from Aluminum to Zirconium. Out of the 118known elements, that’s pretty much all the elements that aren’tgases, radioactive or synthesized in a lab.

The cube is just 5 by 5 centimeters (2 by 2 inches). Don’t befooled by its lackluster appearance; it’s like having the Lego bricksof the universe on your desk. McMinn’s cube will be a worldrecord holder for the largest alloy in the world. Apparently, he’sbeen talking to Guinness World Records to make it official. It wascreated through a process called ‘powder metallurgy,’ where theelements are taken in powdered form then pressed together.

If you’re not a grey cube kind of person, then the company isalso planning to make necklaces and bracelets out of the alloy.

The Kickstarter ends on November 10, so it has still got a fewweeks to shake its paper cup and rustle up some money. However,they’ve already surpassed their $3,826 (£2,500) target by reachingover $45,918 (£30,000).

The Element Cube can be yours for $77 (£50).Source: iflscience.com October 28, 2015

How to Make a Diamond with AcidBy Jonathan O’Callaghan

A new process of diamond formation has been theorized thatcould indicate they are more plentiful than thought. It involves theacidification of water at great depths, producing minusculediamonds in subsurface fluids that can be brought to the surface.

Diamonds are thought to form through redox reactions –reduction or oxidation, referring to the gain or loss of oxygen – atextremely high pressures and temperatures in Earth’s mantle, orthrough a reduction of carbon dioxide. The diamonds are laterbrought to the surface through volcanic activity, often within anigneous rock called kimberlite. The redox reaction process, though,is poorly understood.

Dimitri Sverjensky from Johns Hopkins University inBaltimore, Maryland, has suggested a new theory in NatureCommunications that would occur alongside – and separately – to

the existing theory. He says that a drop in pH to more acidic levelsin water-rock interactions deep in the Earth can lead to theformation of extremely small diamonds just thousandths of acentimeter across in size.

“I’ve been developing a new way to model ions in highpressures, and we can now talk about pH as a real variable,” hetold IFLScience. “It turns out diamonds can be formed by a dropin pH, with the redox state being kept constant.”

Although Sverjensky is yet to find direct evidence for histheory, he says the reasoning is sound. Essentially, at depths of100 to 200 kilometers (60 to 120 miles), the pH levels of watercan be altered by the removal of hydrogen ions when it movesbetween rocks. As this occurs, diamonds can form within the fluidat extremely high pressures and temperatures due to theacidification, rather than redox reactions. These diamonds wouldstill be brought to the surface in kimberlite, but it does hint at anew method of formation via a change in water chemistry alone.


Proving the method is true is difficult, though. It’s not reallypossible to look at existing diamonds to determine which particularmechanism caused them to form, but studying tiny packets of fluidwithin diamonds trapped from the time they formed could providea clue.

Does this mean there could be a greater number of diamondshiding within the Earth? “I think this is consistent with thatsuggestion,” said Sverjensky. “There are indications of diamondsbeing found in increasingly different rocky types over the last 30years, so it seems like they’re not as rare as we might have thoughtbefore.”Source: iflscience.com November 5, 2015

Diamond & Gemstones Cut to Push LightPerformanceBy Diana Jarrett

Transparent gemstones and diamonds are magnets of light; atleast that’s the general idea. Cutting techniques and facet patterndesigns have evolved over time with one particular goal at the topof a short list; push that stone to sparkle plenty.

The gemstone certainly has a part to play in this effort. Stoneswith larger numbers on the Mohs scale have greater its ability toachieve that sparkling phenom. The higher Mohs ranking, theharder the stone, and the better it will take a polish; all paramountto its ability to glitter from way across a crowded room.

Key to these gems desirability is fire and scintillation. Theexpression fire refers to a stone’s ability to split light into the all thespectral hues. The phrase used in gemology for fire is dispersion.The most well-known stone noted for its dispersion is diamond; butseveral colored gems are pretty impressive in that department too,like zircon, demantoid garnet, and lesser known but the highlycollectible sphene and sphalerite.

Scintillation is a separate deal altogether, and refers to flashesof light occurring when a gem or diamond is moved in the light.Scintillation’s disco-ball effect comes from the lively display ofreflections seen bouncing off polished facets. These reflectionsmay be white or have color. In the case of colored gemstones, theymay actually produce a brighter hue than the stone’s body color.Occasionally these color flashes will exhibit a secondary hue;flashes of orange and yellow may bounce off a spessartite garnet,for example.

Zak Adourian, a developer of specialized gemological imaginginstruments, www.cdpi.info is expert in researching and analyzingthe effect of fire, dispersion and scintillation. His proprietary toolsare used by leading members of the diamond and gemstone tradeto demonstrate their stone’s best attributes. “Gems are beautiful

when they scintillate. That appealing sharp light-shift from facetto facet is eye-catching when the gem or jewelry item moves,” heexplains.

Even within the industry, the importance of precision cuttingis not always understood as critical to the stones’ ability toperform. Adourian clarifies, “When the stones are newly cut, theedges are razor sharp where the facets meet and that’s importantto scintillation.”

The same gem is shown in original well-cut state, and after buffing, withrounded facet junctions; Courtesy Zak Adourian

But he also sites examples of when the crisp look iscompromised. “Unfortunately by carelessness or simply ignorancewhen polishing a piece of jewelry like a ruby ring for example,one can polish the ring and remove minute amounts of metal. Butthat also happens to the stone in that jewelry.” Not only it takesaway some of the gem material making in lighter in carat weight,Adourian warns, but “it “kills” the sharp edges. With roundededges, the light bends and makes the gem look less appealing. Thelight does not jump from facet to facet like it should. It looks morelike sugar candy.”

The main goal of gemstone cutting and polishing is tooptimize the light performance. So preserving the integrity of awell cut stone needs to remain top-of-mind when repair work isbeing conducted on a piece.

It should certainly be a strong selling point in the presentationof fine jewelry in a retail setting. When presenting an item,Adourian says, “The jeweler can help a customer appreciate thevalue of well-cut stones on a piece of jewelry’s overallappearance.” Even after some tutorial, the customer may notremember all the details of your tutorial. But you will have helpedthem to train their eye to better assess value components in a pieceof fine jewelry. In the end, you will help them to know what theylike, Adourian points out. “A well-cut stone is one that pleases theeye.”

A pair of gemstone stud earrings showing the contrast between buffed androunded facet edges and sharp facet junctions; Courtesy Zak Adourian


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2016 Club Calendar

Date Event Location Remarks & Information

January 13, 2016 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown ManhattanSpecial Lecture: Mitch Portnoy –“Pretty inPink - The Joys of Tennessee Marble”;

2 Annual Chinese Auction!nd

February 10 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Manhattan Annual Members’ Show & Tell

March 9 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown ManhattanSpecial Lecture: Alfredo Petrov – “Flint from the Netherlands”

April 13 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown ManhattanSpecial Lecture: Dr. Roland Scal –“Microscopy of Gemstones”

May 11 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown ManhattanSpecial Lecture: Zackry Wiegand (Artist) –“Subtle Bodies - The Art of Light & Minerals”

June 8 Annual Benefit Auction Holiday Inn Midtown Manhattan Details to follow; Online catalog available!

July/AugustOfficers Meeting / OpenHouse (?) / Special Sale (?)

TBD – Stay tuned!

2016 Show or Event Calendar

Date Event Location Remarks & Information

Saturday

January 30, 2016Rutgers Geology MuseumOpen House

Rutgers University, NewBrunswick, New Jersey

Free! Presentations, Lectures, Mineral Sale,Rock & Mineral Identification

February 13-14Annual Gem & MineralShow

New York State Museum, EmpirePlaza, Albany, New York

Sponsor: Capital District Mineral ClubInfo: [email protected]

March 5-6Spring NYC Gem, Mineral

& Fossil Show

Grand Ballroom, Holiday Inn

Midtown, New York City

20+ diverse dealers; lectures; wholesale

section (with credentials); Club Booth

Match 12-13North Jersey Gem, Mineral& Fossil Show

Pope John II Center, Clifton,New Jersey

Sponsor: North Jersey Mineralogical SocietyInfo: www.nojms.com or ( 973) 293-7911

April 8-10NY/NJ Mineral, Gem &Fossil Show

New Jersey Expo Center, Edison,New Jersey

Exhibits, dealers, lectures, specialty area

April 23-24 NJESA Mineral Show Franklin School, Franklin, NJ For Info: Russ Brarens – (908) 421-1045

July 27-Aug 1 AFMS Convention/Show Albany, Oregon Article Contest Results; Details to Follow

October 21-23 EFMLS Convention/Show Rochester, New York Article Contest Results; Details to Follow

November 12-13Fall New York City Gem,

Mineral & Fossil Show

Grand Ballroom, Holiday Inn

Midtown, New York City

20+ diverse dealers; lectures; wholesale

section (with credentials); Club Booth

Mineral Clubs & Other InstitutionsIf you would like your mineral show included here, please let us know at least 2-3 months in advance!

Also, for more extensive national and regional show information check online:

AFMS Website: http://www.amfed.org and/or the EFMLS Website: http://www.amfed.org/efmls

George F. KunzFounder

The New York Mineralogical Club, Inc.Founded in 1886 for the purpose of increasing interest in the science of mineralogy through

the collecting, describing and displaying of minerals and associated gemstones.

Website: www.newyorkmineralogicalclub.orgP.O. Box 77, Planetarium Station, New York City, New York, 10024-0077

2016 Executive Committee

President Mitchell Portnoy 46 W. 83rd Street #2E, NYC, NY, 10024-5203 email: [email protected]. . . . . . . . . . . . (212) 580-1343

Vice President Anna Schumate 27 E. 13th Street, Apt. 5F, NYC, NY, 10003 email: [email protected]. . . (646) 737-3776

Secretary Vivien Gornitz 101 W. 81st Street #621, NYC, NY, 10024 email: [email protected] . . . . . . . . . . . (212) 874-0525

Treasurer Diane Beckman 265 Cabrini Blvd. #2B, NYC, NY, 10040 email: [email protected]. . . . . . . . . . . . (212) 927-3355

Editor & Archivist Mitchell Portnoy 46 W. 83rd Street #2E, NYC, NY, 10024-5203 email: [email protected]. . . . . . . . . . . . (212) 580-1343

Membership Mark Kucera 25 Cricklewood Road S., Yonkers, NY, 10704 email: [email protected]. . . . . . (914) 423-8360

Webmaster Joseph Krabak (Intentionally left blank) email: [email protected]

Director Alla Priceman 84 Lookout Circle, Larchmont, NY, 10538 email: [email protected]. . . . . . . . . . (914) 834-6792

Director Richard Rossi 6732 Ridge Boulevard, Brooklyn, NY, 11220 email: [email protected]. . . . . . . . . . (718) 745-1876

Director Sam Waldman 2801 Emmons Ave, #1B, Brooklyn, NY, 11235 email: [email protected]. . . . . . . . (718) 332-0764

Dues: $25 Individual, $35 Family per calendar year. Meetings: 2nd Wednesday of every month (except July and August) at the Holiday Inn Midtown Manhattan, 57 Streetth

between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, New York City, New York. Meetings will generally be held in one of the conference rooms on the Mezzanine Level. The doors openat 5:30 P.M. and the meeting starts at 6:45 P.M. (Please watch for any announced time / date changes.) This bulletin is published monthly by the New York MineralogicalClub, Inc. The submission deadline for each month’s bulletin is the 20th of the preceding month. You may reprint articles or quote from this bulletin for non-profit usage

only provided credit is given to the New York Mineralogical Club and permission is obtained from the author and/or Editor. The Editor and the New York MineralogicalClub are not responsible for the accuracy or authenticity of information or information in articles accepted for publication, nor are the expressed opinions necessarily thoseof the officers of the New York Mineralogical Club, Inc.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 13, 2016 from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Mezzanine , Holiday Inn Midtown Manhattan (57 St. & Tenth Avenue), New York Cityth

Special Lecture: Mitch Portnoy — “Pretty in Pink: the Joys of Tennessee Marble”

New York Mineralogical Club, Inc.

Mitchell Portnoy, Bulletin EditorP.O. Box 77, Planetarium StationNew York City, New York 10024-0077

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