iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Hopper crystals form when the outer edges of a crystal grow much faster than the center of its faces, creating a hollow, stepped, or staircase-like skeletal structure. More at: www.geologyin.com/2019/06/what... #MinCup26 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology #geosky #GIS 🍎 🪐 🔭 🌋 📚 🌿

Pink Hopper Halite crystal from Searles Lake, Trona, California.
Photo: Crystalminer

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

#StaySalty, but be sure to vote for the mineral that moves mountains, Halite. #MinCup26 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology #geosky #GIS 🍎 🪐 🔭 🌋 📚 🌿

Woody with Buzz Lightyear’s hand around his shoulder. Buzz looks into the distance like he’s having Woody imagine something and says, “Salty people. Salty people everywhere.”

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

No #halite, no ocean currents. Then where would we all be? Vote for #halite in this #MinCup26 semifinal!

Sinking salt water, floating fresh water, thermohaline circulation

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Voting for #halite in #MinCup26 🧪⚒️ because thick layers of halite can be used to store hydrogen as a low carbon fuel! Low permeability so the H₂ stays put, large caverns can be created (just add water!) and it has a smaller engineering footprint compared to options on the surface. buff.ly/npFpSAG

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ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 28/09/2026

Juice used the gravity of our home planet to alter its route to Jupiter using very little fuel. The flyby deflected Juice by an angle of 20° compared to its pre-flyby path and increased its velocity by 3.5 km/s. 🔭 🧪

Infographic showing Juice's flight past Earth with a dotted orange line. Key timings are indicated, including the start of the flyby navigation campaign (17 August), the closest approach to Earth (28 September) and the farewell images of Earth (2 October). Some of the line is bold yellow, a key indicates that this means that Juice's science instruments are switched on.

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

"Seven Habits of Highly Effective Minerals - Powerful Lessons in Geological Change" ⚒️🧪

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

#MinCup26 Quarterfinal 1 It’s a rich red start to the quarterfinals as two components of brass face off with zinc ore #Sphalerite is up against copper-rich #Cuprite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...

Split photo of a glossy ruby-red chunk of sphalerite, slightly rounded, amongst smaller clear crystals and a gleaming ruby-red cube of cuprite jutting from a yellow matrix.

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Going for #halite today in #MinCup26 🧪⚒️ because it's cool that you can make a mineral at room temperature (in comparison #zircon forms at ~800°C which is definitely not lickable). So, you can make it in your kitchen or you can make it on an industrial scale like here at Lake Grassmere in NZ 🇳🇿

Industrial mineral processing facility with large white stockpiles beneath conveyor belts and power lines, enclosed by fencing and set against dry rolling hills under a partly cloudy sky.

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

It has to be #halite the mineral that can move mountains! Look at that halite bed (red) that the Jura mountains are sliding on! Vote #teamhalite #Mincup26 And it is good on your fish and chips too ;)

NW -SE Cross section through Jura and foreland showing, in red, the halite unit that facilitates detachment

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

When your #MinCup26 meme trail is tragically cut short... Farewell #putnisite!

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Remember calcite was knocked out by julienite and vote accordingly 😈! #RevengeVote 😆 #MinCup26 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology #geosky #GIS 🍎 🪐 🔭 🌋 📚 🌿

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Helen MC @crystallised-cricket.com · 21/09/2026

AUSTRALIA and beyond - We need to assemble again for #Putnisite! This amazing structure needs your support in today's #MinCup26 battle. For shear density and novelty in its strange/wonderful crystal structure it should get your vote over #Julienite

Image representing the crystal structure of putnisite - here red spheres represent oxygen atoms, light blue spheres/polygons represent calcium atoms, dark blue spheres/polygons represent silicon atoms, brown spheres/polygons represent carbon atoms, green spheres/polygons represent strontium atoms. There is also some chromium hiding in the structure that is in part represented by a yellow triangle. The representation is drawn in VESTA from entry #20044 in the American mineralogist database

Image representing the crystal structure of julienite - here red spheres represent oxygen atoms, dark yellow spheres/polygons represent sodium atoms, dark blue spheres/polygons represent cobalt atoms, yellow spheres represent sulfur atoms, brown spheres represent carbon atoms and light blue spheres represent nitrogen atoms. The structure is viewed down its c axis and shows that there are sodium/water(oxygen) units surrounded by cobalt complexes with nitrogen, carbon and sulfur attached. The representation is drawn in VESTA from entry #9760 in the American mineralogist database

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Widgiemooltha is a 1897 historic town in Western Australia’s goldfields that arose during the gold rush, & was named the aboriginal name for a nearby hill. This pretty purple putnisite crystal was found there. This mineral has a completely unique chemical structure found nowhere else in nature.

This tiny purple putnisite crystal is from the Armstrong Ni Mine, Widgiemooltha, Coolgardie Shire, Western Australia, Australia. It is unique in chemistry and nature, and found nowhere else. From Mindat: https://www.mindat.org/photo-543393.html

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Voting for #putnisite in #MinCup26🧪⚒️ because: * awesome colour * unique chemistry * discovery locality is in the middle of arid salt lake in 🇦🇺, so, inevitably, it is named for a polar bear because it kinda looks like one... (image attached, decide for yourself, then vote #putnisite) buff.ly/eVmLGpm

Satellite image of an arid landscape showing an elongated, island-like dark landform surrounded by pale grey, cream and pink salt flats. Bright white shoreline deposits trace the edges of the feature, while scattered small pools and irregular lagoon shapes appear across the surrounding terrain. The image highlights contrasting geological patterns, textures and colours typical of a dry inland lake or playa system viewed from above.

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Discover how a #GeoscienceAustralia⚒️🧪 high-resolution airborne electromagnetic survey is helping Fiji identify groundwater resources, guiding successful borehole drilling and improving access to safe water through science, partnership and innovation. 23 Sept. 11am AEST.

events.teams.microsoft.com

Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

A dilemma in #MinCup26 ⚒️🧪 today... I have a soft spot for Hafnon because I have contemplated hafnium solid series in zircon more than a few times... BUT the type section for Putnisite is *Polar Bear* Peninsula, in a *salt lake* in the middle of Western Australia, & it has a unique mineral structure!

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Vote #Monazite: the phosphate with the most-est for #MinCup26 ⚒️🧪 * Hangs out on beaches * Provides rare earths for your phones and earbuds * Sophisticated #geochronology mineral * Fascinating crystal structure * Beautiful shades of yellow & orange * Has a street named after it (Mount Garnet, QLD 🇦🇺 )

Yellow street sign reading “MONAZITE ST” with a black left-pointing arrow mounted on a metal pole. The sign stands beside a dry grassy roadside in a rural or suburban area. A light-coloured building is visible on the left, a narrow road and scattered trees extend into the background, and part of a green vehicle is visible on the right. Above, a partly cloudy sky with patches of blue fills most of the image.

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Big thanks to the volunteer team behind the scenes for making all the mineral mayhem possible!

"Illustrated poster titled 'Have a go!' in pink hand-lettered text on a light gray background. Below the title are three overlapping social media post mockups, each shown as a tilted white card: one reads '#MinCup26 #Monazite rules! It has high amounts of lanthanum which is used in NiMH batteries and…' above a photo of an orange-brown crystalline monazite mineral cluster; another reads '#Gypsum: from salt lakes to #Gnomes! #MinCup26' above a black-and-white photo of a garden gnome statue labeled 'Made with AI'; and a third reads '#MinCup26 The funniest thing happened on a field trip to map #Graphite deposits in the NT (it's always the NT…)' above a close-up photo of a young wallaby's face, also labeled 'Made with AI.' Below the mockups, a simple line-drawing of a person holds out an object, next to a row of five social media platform icons (Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook, Mastodon, and LinkedIn) and text reading: 'Look for #MinCup26. Post about which mineral that day is your favourite and why. Vote @ https://www.mineralcup.org/.' In the bottom right corner, a smiling crystal/gem character with closed eyes appears."

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

#MinCup26 ⚒️🧪 Here we go! www.mineralcup.org/2026/bracket

"Illustrated announcement poster titled 'September is Mineral Cup Month!' in pink hand-lettered text on a light gray background. Below it is a 32-mineral single-elimination tournament bracket titled 'Mineral Cup 2026,' with 16 mineral names listed down the left side (including Azurite, Smithsonite, Sphalerite, Anorthite, Cuprite, Orpiment, Monazite-(Ce), Andalusite, Hafnon, Putnisite, Calcite, Julienite, Arsenopyrite, Halite, Chrysocolla, and Xocolatlite) and 16 down the right side (including Erythrite, Skutterudite, Bournonite, Vesuvianite, Quartz, Asagiite, Stichtite, Talc, Pyromorphite, Gypsum, Pyrrhotite, Cylindrite, Riebeckite, Gadolinite-(Y), Cassiterite, and Graphite), connected by bracket lines converging toward a blank champion line in the center. A yellow banner reading '10 years old!' is angled across the middle of the bracket. Below the bracket, a simple line-drawing of a smiling person gestures toward the chart, and beside them stands a large smiling crystal/gem character with closed eyes. Text underneath reads: 'The Mineral Cup is a 32-mineral elimination bracket competition with an online vote everyday… www.mineralcup.org.' Small print on the bracket notes daily voting takes place on www.MineralCup.org in September, with the hashtag #MinCup26."

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

What would you do in an earthquake with a 10 metre displacement? Join the next #GeoscienceAustralia lecture on 2 Sept to see joint research with UPNG uncovering evidence of repeated large-magnitude events and what that means for earthquake hazards in Lae, PNG and surrounding communities ⚒️🧪

events.teams.microsoft.com

Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The sparkly meme odyssey begins! ⚒️🧪 #MinCup26

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Earth Science Week @earthsciweek.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

🗺️ Happy International Geocaching Day! 🌎 🧭🔎 Geocaching turns the world into a treasure hunt—encouraging us to get outside, solve clues, & discover the places beneath our feet 🧭🔎Create a free account here: geocaching.com/play @geocaching.bsky.social #geocaching #treasurehunt #geology #earthscience

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

And this is TRUE: this IS what ⚒️🧪geologists do if you give them money to design their own building... Exhibit 1, the #GeoscienceAustralia building in Canberra 🇦🇺

The entrance of a large building with a large two-story facade made of a series of framed glass. There is a noticeable angular offset in the middle of the middle of facade with different coloured glass on either side of the divide.

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

The ⚒️🧪 pun in the mouse-over text is seismic...

xkcd.com

Geology Building

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

The IBM Personal Computer 5150 was released 45 years ago on 12 August 1981. I wonder what ever became of that fad for small computers? #retrocomputers #todayinhistory #ibm #Iloveamonochromemonitor

en.wikipedia.org

IBM Personal Computer - Wikipedia

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

⚒️🧪 #GeoscienceAustralia research highlights how multi-disciplinary earth science improves our knowledge of #groundwater systems, unlocking important insights into hydrogeological processes and parameters, and how these help shape the world beneath our feet. See the talk on 12 August!

ga.gov.au

Public talks

Geoscience Australia regularly hosts public talks for technical and general interest audiences delivered by leaders in their fields.

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

And the concept of mantle convection was breathtakingly close in 1895 with John Perry - this is a great article about the Age of the Earth controversy and how a good story about Rutherford vs. Kelvin got in the way of a fundamental insight.

dynamicearth.de

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Any day with a #zircon in your feed is a good one - even one like this that clearly has some stories to tell... ⚒️🧪

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

28 days until #MinCup26! Thanks, Kerstin! ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology 🔭🪐

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Kerstin Neuhaus @microtopico.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

This is amber. It looks like a rock, but does not count as one. If you would like to learn more about rocks and minerals: in four weeks, it's time again for this year's #Mineral Cup, where we search the mineral of the year 2026. Find out more: www.mineralcup.org #MinCup #MinCup26 #Minerals ⚒️

Amber necklaces, two large and several small pieces of amber.

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

"You are here" But how do you (& your phone) know where *here* is? On the 5th August discover the remarkable story of Positioning Australia, from groundbreaking achievements like SouthPAN to the future of trusted positioning across the continent and beyond. ⚒️🧪 #GeoscienceAustralia #geodesy

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Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

In the early days of SHRIMP ion probe U-Pb geochronology disrupting the meticulous and laborious existing TIMS methods with an abundance of quickly acquired data, a prominent geochronologist reviewing a paper dismissed the whole SHRIMP method as 'geo-durchfall' (durchfall = German for diarrhea...)

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Thanks for sharing! It's a great outcome and a promising way to gather data - I can think of a few similar projects. Are you able to share the prompts you used?

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

⚒️🧪 Scientific drilling has revealed some deep* secrets of Earth's history and processes. Learn more at the next #GeoscienceAustralia Public Talk 29 July - Australia, New Zealand and international scientific drilling: exploring Earth’s interconnected processes, past & future. *pun very intended

ga.gov.au

Public talks

Geoscience Australia regularly hosts public talks for technical and general interest audiences delivered by leaders in their fields.

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

A recent favourite ⚒️🧪 rock. No particular reason, it just looks cool. Ordovician Adaminaby Group sandstone with quartz veining from folding. Molongo Gorge, just east of Canberra 🇦🇺, well worth a visit and scramble if you are ever in the area!

Close-up of a dark grey rock lying on a forest floor covered with wood chips, twigs and dry leaves. The rock is crossed by multiple thin, parallel white mineral veins running horizontally across its surface. A smaller reddish-brown rock sits beside it on the left. Natural sunlight highlights the rock’s textured surface and the contrast between the white veins and the darker host rock.

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

A tōtara in the great forest of Tāne has fallen... Sam Neill's portrayal of Dr Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park films is what many people now think of as a ⚒️🧪 paleontologist (or perhaps even a 'scientist'). His portrayal as an unlikely action hero with humanity and brains serves us all well.

bbc.com

Sam Neill, Jurassic Park actor, dies aged 78

The New Zealand actor, who was born in Northern Ireland, died in Sydney. "The loss was sudden and unexpected," his family says.

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Qiusheng Wu @giswqs.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Planetary Mapping in the Browser with GeoLibre! Web mapping just left Earth orbit. GeoLibre, the open-source cloud-native GIS platform, now maps nine more worlds beyond Mars and the Moon: - Launch GeoLibre Web: web.geolibre.app - GitHub: github.com/opengeos/Geo... - Documentation: geolibre.app

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

⚒️🧪 Travel back 635 million years with Dr Caleb Bishop, #GeoscienceAustralia geoscientist. Discover evidence of life surviving beneath ❄️🌏 Snowball Earth's ice sheets in WA’s Officer Basin and how it’s reshaping our understanding of algae and the rise of animals. 11am, 22 July. ga.gov.au/publictalks

ga.gov.au

Public talks

Geoscience Australia regularly hosts public talks for technical and general interest audiences delivered by leaders in their fields.

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KSircombe @ksircombe.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

#GeoscienceAustralia Mobile Laboratory ⚒️🧪 had 1,000+ visitors at the Alice Springs Show, showcasing satellite imaging, groundwater, earthquake monitoring and regional geoscience. Despite wet weather, strong engagement highlighted the value of #scicomm and outreach (& earned a show award!)

Geoscience Australia exhibition stand at an outdoor event, featuring three white marquee tents with large “Geoscience Australia” and “Groundwater” banners. Information displays, posters, and demonstration equipment sit on bright orange display tables in front of the tent. A sign marked “Yellow Brick Road 19” stands near the entrance. Other exhibitors’ trailers and displays are visible nearby on dry grass under a partly cloudy blue sky. A few attendees are walking around the exhibition area.

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Eos @eos.org · 04/07/2026

The formation of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet has stumped scientists. Could a tectonic event that took place tens of millions of years prior offer an explanation? eos.org/articles/the...

eos.org

The Breakup of Gondwana Over 100 Million Years Ago May Be Why Antarctica Has Ice Today - Eos

A rift event set off a domino effect of geologic processes that created conditions ripe for Antarctica’s glaciation, a new study suggests.

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