'Kryptonite, which robbed Superman of his powers, is no longer the stuff of comic books and films.
A mineral found by geologists in Serbia shares virtually the same chemical composition as the fictional kryptonite from outer space, used by the superhero's nemesis Lex Luther to weaken him. ' [s]Dr. Chris Stanley, who found this new mineral, discovered that its chemical composition matches the composition of kryptonite while he was searching for the new mineral's chemical formula on the Internet. (chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide)
"I was amazed to discover that same scientific name written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luther from a museum in the film Superman Returns," Stanley said. [s]Unfortunately this new mineral, which is going to be called Jadarite, is not a shinny green crystal, Jadarite is actually a 'white, powdery substance which contains no fluorine and is non-radioactive.'
I think that since this new mineral has the same chemical formula as kryptonie that they should call it krytonite. I say who cares if there is some scientific method for naming new things, I bet a lot more people would remember it if they named it krytonite. I know that I am not going to remember to call it 'Jadarite," I'm just going to call it the "real krytonite".
Reading this article got me thinking about how the writes of Superman came up with a chemical formula that matched the formula of a substance that had not been discovered yet. If anyone can shed some light on this subject let me know in the comments.
Technorati tags: Superman, Krytonite, Serbia
