iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 14h

I can’t think of a more appropriate ending for the 10th Anniversary of #MinCup than Quartz winning, the mineral that started it all! Thank you to @mikamckinnon.bsky.social and the team for all the tireless work you do! The ballot stuffers can stuff it, though!

static.klipy.com

Cherryfurby: Who's Awesome? You're Awesome!

Alt: Cherryfurby: Who's Awesome? You're Awesome!

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Barry Goldman @barrygoldman1.bsky.social · 14h

#MinCup26 Yay quartz. Here r some tiny 'herkimers' growing with calcite in a seam. Helderberg formation Coeymans NY, usa

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SomersetWhovian 💙 🇺🇦 @clairecopperman.bsky.social · 12h

Hooray! About time too. And boo to the cheaters. Thank you to the team for keeping it honest, and to everyone for sharing wonderful facts and opinions about the minerals. #MinCup26

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Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 14h

I’m really pleased to see that FINALLY in its 10th year, Quartz has won the Mineral Cup! #MinCup26 Huge thanks to the tireless @mineralcup.bsky.social team who managed the yearly tournament with their usual flair & aplomb, including having to cope with some ridiculous cheating! Take a moment to

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Craig Jorgensen @bowtiediene.bsky.social · 22h

#MinCup26 Congratulations to #quartz. And nice battle #cuprite. As a chemist and not a geologist I didn't know a lot about cuprite, but I learned a few things and it's probably in my top ten favorite minerals now.

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Obsidian licks rocks @i-lick.rocks · 21h

Congrats to the mineralogical king of planet Earth, the universal SiO₂! Better luck in future years to all the other competitors (asagiite deserves another go after that tooth-clenching 2-vote loss). Thanks for the fun, guys! Looking forward to next year. #MinCup26

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Naturae Lapides @naturaelapides.bsky.social · 20h

I’m delighted that Quartz won the cup, though I’m not so keen on the ballot box stuffing. Congratulations and long may Quartz go, because… #QuartzDeservesToWin www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... Another quick photo to celebrate! #MinCup26

mineralcup.org

Congratulations, Quartz! — Mineral Cup & Ore Cup

Congratulations to our 2026 Champion Quartz! Please check back tomorrow for full celebration.

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Congratulations, Quartz! After a decade of #MinCup, this key rock-forming mineral of optical tricks is the #MinCup26 Champion! Due to intense manipulation attempts in the final hours, the exact winning margin is still being audited. Please join us tomorrow for celebration!

A clear double-terminated quartz crystal with petroleum inclusions. Credit: John Sobolewski

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Maria Gorick @mariagorick.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The startling white #Quartzite of #Holyhead Mountain. Composed of almost pure #Quartz, this rock was quarried to create the 1.7 mile #Breakwater. For more than 150 years, resilient #Quartz has provided a safe harbour for shipping, enabling travel and trade. #MinCup26 #TeamQuartz

A mountain, composed of white quartzite, overlooks sea cliffs. A small number of houses can be seen on the grassy slopes.

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tanterei.bsky.social @tanterei.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Hard choice again in #mincup26 finals, but I'm in for #Bergkristall (or #Quartz). Apart from its usefulness for time keeping its use in decorative goblets in the 16th century is fascinating mastery! Images from Fed. Art Collection Saxony: skd-online-collection.skd.museum/Result/Index...

A decorative cup in the shape of a galleon intricately cut from quartz some time in the 16th century in Milano.
Source: https://skd-online-collection.skd.museum/Details/Index/117995

A goblet made of a golden, intricately decorated, base holding a mantle made of quatz. Topped by a lid of gold and quartz, with an ivory figurine on top.

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Geology Johnson @geologyjohnson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

#Quartz is winning! Of quartz it is! This 3 billion year old fossil survived metamorphism because it was preserved in quartz before final burial. Field of view is 0.7 mm #MinCup26 #Geology #Paleontology

Microscope photograph of a rock sample made of quartz, that contains a small fossil that looks like an asymmetric dumbbell. In the lowerpart of the image there is a triangular green mineral.

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Never heard of Faden Quartz? You’re in for a treat! #MinCup26 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology #geosky #GIS 🍎 🪐 🔭 🌋 📚 🌿

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Elaeeeeeeine 🦇 @uselaine.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Sure, and the smarty-pants multilinguals among us appreciate all that, but you know, the multilinguals of Thunder Bay, Canada have the extremely rare naturally green #Quartz prasiolite! 🇨🇦 Fans of Canada, vote your hearts in #MinCup26!

Museum display of a well-lit crystal rock of vivid chartreuse green quartz.

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Eos @eos.org · 01/10/2026

Quartz was the original inspiration to start #MinCup, and (anecdotally) it's an inspiration for many kids to fall in love with the big beautiful world of minerals. #Quartz has done a lot for us! And so, the least we could do is cast our final vote for this abundant—and abundantly stunning!—mineral.

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Dots and Lines @dotsandlines.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Time passes, quartz knows Tick, tick, leaves fall, small hands grow Steady it remains #Quartz #MinPoem #MinCup26

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SomersetWhovian 💙 🇺🇦 @clairecopperman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Its time has come - vote #Quartz in the #MinCup26 finals.

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authodizer @doktrock.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Re-upping this #Quartz aka rock crystal vase on display at the Prado for #MinCup26 !⚒️

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Kelly Hereid @kellyhereid.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The most important final consideration for a geologist looking to flex: DOES IT COUNTERTOP? Cuprite, got some cute little cubes, fine. Quartzite countertops, BOOMSHAKALAKA #quartz #MinCup26

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Fernando Salvaterra @salvaterra.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

and the final is between quartz VS cuprite. i'm torn, honestly. #mincup26 #minerals

illustration of two minerals competing in the Mineral Cup 2026 final: quartz VS cuprite. both crystals represented here as a rose cluster and a cherry-red chunk

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Go with the flow. Vote #Quartz! #MinCup26 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology #geosky #GIS 🍎 🪐 🔭 🌋 📚 🌿

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Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Team #Quartz this is our year! #MinCup26 Gets my physics vote as 20% of Earth’s crust & representative typical elastic moduli, piezoelectricity & its role in clocks, electronics, GPS, computers! Quartz has played a huge & role in art history since antiquity. Carved, in pigments, canvas prep…

My mini linocut with quartz crystals and word “Quartz” in script in slate grey. Some of the facets of the crystals are printed onto collaged iridescent translucent paper so they have a pink to pale blue sheen.

Debra Baxter, Devil Horns Crystal Brass Knuckles (Lefty), 2015, quartz crystal and sterling silver, Smithsonian American Art Museum

This small linocut represents the chemical element Silicon, with its diamond cubic crystal structure shown in silver. Its symbol, atomic number and a couple of its forms are shown in lilac. Silicon is common in the Earth's crust in, especially in silicate minerals like the quartz crystals shown in each corner. The seafloor is litered with microscopic radialarians, which build their amazing skeletons with biogenic silica. Four such creatures circle the symbol for Silicon on the periodic table. The print is one of an edition of 14, each 6" x 6" (15.2 cm x 15.2 cm) printed on Japanese kozo paper.

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Night Watch, a group portrait of Amsterdam's local militia, painted in 1642. Rijksmuseum. “Last year, a separate study found that The Night Watch’s canvas was prepared with lead-based and quartz-clay layers.” Via Smithsonian Magazine

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Dr. Christine Beavers @xtalgrrl.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I have to be #TeamQuartz on this one. Quartz is used as a pressure standard in high pressure crystallography experiments. It's a reliable friend in a stressful situation! #minCup26

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Maria Gorick @mariagorick.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Bwa Gwyn (The White Arch) near #Rhoscolyn. Enduring fierce winds and storms, this spectacular sea arch, sculpted from #Quartzite, is a monument to the resilience and beauty of #Quartz #TeamQuartz #MinCup26 #YnysMon #Anglesey

A massive white quartzite arch rises from the sea beneath a blue sky.

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Bill Minarik @silicatefondue.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

Quartz terminations co-precipitated with iron oxides, turning them a delightful burgundy brown. Sample from Bavaria, but now our teaching collection. #MinCup26 #Quartz #IronOxide #Bavaria

Terminated hexagonal quartz crystals brown in color due to iron oxides. Sample collected sometime last century in Bavaria Germany. Canadian quarter for scale.

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Sqril @sqril.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#MinCup26 Semifinals 2 There are so many great posts on both options! Team #Quartz bc GPS. Time is the 4th variable in GPS calcs so accuracy is impt. Quartz based GPS receivers (that can sync to atomic time) are cost effective options for navigation systems. www.cnlucki.com/how-precisio...

cnlucki.com

How Precision Quartz Oscillators Improve GPS and Navigation Systems

Learn how precision quartz oscillators improve GPS and navigation systems through stable timing, accurate synchronization, and reliable frequency control solutions.

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#MinCup26 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology #geosky #GIS 🍎 🪐 🔭 🌋 📚 🌿

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Bill Minarik @silicatefondue.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

Quartz veins in slate show the deformation and material transport accompanying the growth of the Appalachians. #MinCup26 #Quartz #Quebec #Gaspésie

White quartz veins in a black slate. Several generations of veins show cross-cutting relationships and deformation within the rock. Siluro-Devonian Appalachians, Gaspe Penninsula, Quebec

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#MinCup26 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology #geosky #GIS 🍎 🪐 🔭 🌋 📚 🌿

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Quartz is a common mineral, with some very important and uncommon properties. One is piezoelectricity. When quartz is squeezed, it generates an electric charge. Together, quartz and earthquakes can promote the formation of gold nuggets, that can be quite large. #Quartz #MinCup26

Native gold wrapped around white quartz.

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Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Two faves for both my art or physics voting scheme, but I have always been #TeamQuartz #MinCup26! Quartz has been carved, used in pigments & the preparation of canvases since antiquity. 20% of the crust & representative elastic moduli, piezoelectricity & its role in clocks, electronics, GPS!

Rembrandt, A Young Lady Smiling
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Medium: Oil
Support: Oak panel
Size: 52.4 x 44 cm
Art period: Baroque
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden – Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (State Art Gallery Dresden)
Gallery Nr 1556
Image credit: The Rembrandt Database, normal light studies: photograph, overall (front), 2005, (record number 15550); Rembrandt Bust of a young woman smiling possibly Saskia van Uylenburgh, dated 1633, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden – Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, inv./cat. no. 1556
The sitter was most probably Rembrandt’s wife Saskia van Uylenburgh.

Contains Quartz via Colourlex.

The strawberry blonde in big red hat and blue dress looks over her shoulder to smile at the viewer.

Title: Chalcedonic quartz seal set in a gold ring
Period: Late Classical
Date: 4th century BCE
Culture: Greek
Medium: Quartz, brown paste, gold
Dimensions: Length: 13/16 in. (2 cm)
Classification: Gems
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1923
Object Number: 23.160.72
Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

Bacchic demon, half lion, half winged satyr carved into chalcedonic quartz seal in a gold ring via The Met

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Fernando Salvaterra @salvaterra.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Semifinal 2 quartz VS graphite #mincup26 #minerals

illustration of two minerals competing on the Mineral Cup 2026 semifinals: quartz VS graphite. the first a rose crystal cluster. the latter is a dark graphite chunk.

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🌌Forebodings of Éskʷətayit @joxter.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Love Graphite but #Quartz: •built Egypt! she made carving & chiseling the limestone monuments of antiquity possible. •teaches us about our water cycle. •wears every colour & happily displays the spectrum for us as prisms. •reference mineral surrounding all of us, wherever we are. #MinCup26

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Elizabeth V @geolizzy.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Vote #Quartz! These are both good minerals, but quartz comes in pretty colors and crystal shapes. #MinCup

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Aleta @aletamosquito.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

This is the year for #Quartz to win #MinCup26!

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Louise Dawe @louisedawe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I’m team #Quartz all the way in #MinCup26! Under pressure, its SiO₂ framework does not simply shrink: Si–O–Si bridges flex and SiO₄ tetrahedra distort. d’Amour, Denner and Schulz reveal this structural resilience in their 1979 @actacrystb.iucr.org classic: journals.iucr.org/paper?a17323=

journals.iucr.org

Structure determination of α-quartz up to 68 x 108 Pa

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👻 Saavik ‘Spooky Season’ Ford 🎃 @saavikford.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

C’mon we gotta go for #Quartz!!! It’s everyone’s first mineral! #MinCup26

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Cian 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him) @cbdawson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

These photos are appalling. It should be a violation of game rules for competing contestants to fraternize like this 🤣😆🙈

Screenshot of Mincup showing photos of graphite & quartz in the same hand sample.

Caption:
Left: Graphite inclusions and bubble within a water pocket within a double-terminated quartz crystal. Credit: Robert M. Lavinsky.
Center: Graphite and quartz intermixed from Connecticut. Credit: Harold Moritz.
Right. Hexagonal graphite crystal within a quartz crystal. Ferdinando Giovine (right)

Text:
Both quartz and graphite can form in the same kinds of rocks, either entangled together or with graphite as an inclusion within quartz. This gradient most often in hydrothermal fluid. As the fluids cool, carbon precipitates out first as graphite with silica crystallizing into clear quartz crystals around it.

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Strange Attractor @strangeattracto.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

This made me laugh. Mineral Cup fraternization! #MinCup26

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Two of my absolute favourites! Do I vote in this #MinCup26 semi for ubiquitous #quartz or slippery, shiny #graphite - so lovely for drawing pencils! And, with enough P and T, it is diamond!

Diamond/graphite/liquid triple point on a phase diagram

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

Thermohaline circulation drives oceanwater circulation - ocean currents. Salty water sinks, cold, fresh water floats. Inextricably linked to world climate. How many minerals can say that. Vote #halite in the #MinCup26 semifinal

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spooky murwolf the wereduck 〓〓🏳️‍🌈𓅄✊🐺🪄🎡 @murduck.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Have you ever made ice cream by hand? Or had a fave savoury brand? Halite's helped you, So give it its due! Unless you like all your food bland. VOTE HALITE #MinCup26

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Elaeeeeeeine 🦇 @uselaine.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

For those still undecided about how spectacular #Halite can be when you vote for it in #MinCup26 asap, I can personally attest to the beauty of these carved chambers deep below the mountains near Krakow! Even the chandeliers are rock salt!

britannica.com

Wieliczka Salt Mine | History, Description, & Facts | Britannica

Wieliczka Salt Mine, ancient and massive salt mine in Wieliczka, Poland, near Kraków. It is one of the oldest documented salt-manufacturing sites in Europe. Rock salt was first discovered in Wieliczka...

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Naturae Lapides @naturaelapides.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Let's not forget that it's Monday, as the final contestants in #MinCup26 face off in nerve-wracking do-or-die showdowns. For this #MineralMonday, here's a yellow specimen of Uranocircite, a uranium-barium phosphate with a striking yellow color. #mineral #crystal #macrophotography #focusstacking

petits cristaux d'uranocircite dans une cavité

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Mineralogical Society of America @mineralsocamerica.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Mineral Monday! The Sierra Nevada Collection on the UK Virtual Microscope (UKVM) By: Jade Star Lackey, Emily Cooperdock, and Jaime Barnes Link to the collection: www.virtualmicroscope.org/content/sier... #MSACommunications #MineralMonday #granite #granodiorite #SierraNevada #VirtualMicroscope

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Richard Gibson @richardgibson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

#MineralMonday Pyromorphite, Bunker Hill Mine, Idaho USA, 1.3 cm⚒️ #geology . No MAGA! Science = Resistance! #standupforscience

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Earth Science Week @earthsciweek.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

🔎 #MineralMonday: CASSITERITE, the Ore Behind Tin Cassiterite is the main ore of tin & is used in making solder, electronics, & more! 👉Explore the #MineralogicalSocietyOfAmerica interactive to learn more: min4kids.org/minerals-your-house Images: Carles Millan, Wikimedia Commons; R. Tanaka, Flickr

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