iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Susie Leopold @blastylavagrrrl.bsky.social · 20h

I have a ton of photos from visiting Michigan's Upper Peninsula, it was absolutely gorgeous, with peak fall foliage and stupid 89°F temps on Saturday. I want to thank everyone for suggestions! I used the roadside guide and a ton of determination to do more than I should have, but it was worth it!

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Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 8h

Today is #AdaLovelaceDay #ald26 to highlight and celebrate #womenInSTEM today and throughout history. While they have faced discrimination and been too often forgotten, if you look for them, they were there! Here’s my most recent #sciart portrait and a thread of my scientist portraits. #histsci 🧪

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Richard Gibson @richardgibson.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

#MineralMonday Fluorescent calcite on sphalerite, Casapalca Mine, Huarochiri Prov., Peru, largest calcite = 37 mm. Also #EarthScienceWeek2026 #MineralsDay ⚒️ #geology . No MAGA! Science = Resistance! #standupforscience

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Tingaringy Pottery @tingaringy-pottery.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Molybdenite on quartz from Kingsgate, NSW. Molybdenum can produce tiny square crystals when added to crystaline glazes. #mineralmonday

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Naturae Lapides @naturaelapides.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

For this #MineralMonday, a specimen of andradite featuring beautiful trapezohedral twinned crystals with a matt metallic sheen that would certainly appeal to a car tuning enthusiast. #mineral #crystal #macrophotography #focusstacking

cristaux gun metal d'andradite trapezoedraux maclés

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Yako, Cursed to Moo @jakooste.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

On this #MineralMonday I offer you my latest green aquisitions (and one impostor) In order: #Demantoid, (Oxy-) #VanadiumDravite, #Arsenopyrite, #Peridot!

Demantoid crystal. Focus-stacked macro photograph.

Vanadium Dravite crystal. Focus-stacked macro photograph.

Arsenopyrite specimen. Focus-stacked macro photograph.

Peridot crystal. Focus-stacked macro photograph.

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Dave Rodland @daverodland.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Good morning butterflies, it's #MineralMonday again! Of quartz, we're still celebrating the winner of #MinCup26! 🧪⚒️💎

Qurtz exhibit, Carnegie Museum of Natural History

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Mineralogical Society of America @mineralsocamerica.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Mineral Monday! Minerals Day Around the World By Fernando Núñez Useche October 12, 2026 is Minerals Day, part of Earth Science Week. Here we share an educational event taking place in Mexico. #MSACommunications #MineralMonday #MineralsDay #EarthScienceWeek #education

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Erika Anderson @andersonmineral.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

It’s Minerals Day for Earth Science Week so I thought I would share one reason why I adore minerals: the colours!! I love the deep red of this rhodochrosite from N’Chwaning mine, South Africa. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky #MineralsDay #EarthScienceWeek ⚒️🧪

Specimen of deep red rhodochrosite crystals forming a very rough rectangular shape of the specimen. Some crystals are dogtooth shaped. It sits on a black background. At the Sorbonne.

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Mineralogical Society of America @mineralsocamerica.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Thin Section Thursday! Holmquistite in Mica Schist Crossed polars, horizontal length: 7 mm Xinjiang, Uygur Autonomous Region #ThinSectionThursday You can contribute too. Send images and captions to akoziol1 at udayton dot edu.

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Charnwood Forest Geopark @charnwoodforest.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

🥳 In celebration of International Geodiversity Day we're releasing a new animation that brings to life the amazing 562 million year old story of Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood! 🌐Read more, and watch the video, here: www.charnwoodforest.org/new-animatio...

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UNESCO International Geodiversity Day @geodiversityday.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

🥳 Happy Geodiversity Day! ⭐ As we celebrate with the theme 'Geodiversity On Our Doorstep', find an event near you, or a global online event to join: 🌐 www.geodiversityday.org/find-an-event #GeodiversityDay

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Ruth Siddall @pavementgeology.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

#urbangeology of the century on the Finchley Road, north London 🧵

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Chris Lee @cpl43uk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Lovely day celebrating another #Beagle2 @ukspaceagency.bsky.social red plaque unveiling - today at the #Bristol #MShed with Colin Pillinger's daughter Shu and his sister Doreen. The plaque is now in the Bristol People Gallery - very fitting. Later we described the day on #BBCPointsWest

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Earth Science Week @earthsciweek.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

🔎 #MineralMonday: BISMUTH & BARITE Our final Mineral Monday before #EarthScienceWeek features two minerals found in cosmetics: #bismuth & #barite! 👉 Explore the #MineralogicalSocietyOfAmerica interactive to learn more: min4kids.org/minerals-your-house Images: arbyreed & James St. John via Flickr

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CatWithRocks @catwithrocks.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Quick #MineralMonday from me! Have a few hematite included quartz and smoky crystals! Also congratulations to quartz winning the mineral cup!

Quartz crystal with small red hematite specks.

Quartz crystals with small red hematite specks. A smaller crystal grows perpendicular to the main crystal.

Smoky quartz crystal point on some orange microcline feldspar.

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Dave Rodland @daverodland.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Something quick for #MineralMonday, a pretty little beryl (aquamarine, I reckon) I broke out as an exemplar cyclosilicate for lab a couple weeks back. ⚒️🧪💎

Light blue-green beryl (aquamarine?) on quartz from a site called Pacific Peak, out of the Marietta College Slack collection.

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Naturae Lapides @naturaelapides.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

For this #MineralMonday, I’m continuing to celebrate Quartz’s victory at #MinCup26, and to photograph the quartz specimens in the collection. Here is a prase flower, a leek-green variety of quartz, with its characteristic slender crystals. #mineral #crystal #macrophotography #focusstacking

fleur de quartz dit prase de couleur verte

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Congratulations to our Mineral Cup 2026 Champion Quartz! For #MinCup26, we collectively chose a nostalgic beauty of resilience as persistence as our champion. Please celebrate #Quartz, a friend to humans since time immemorial! www.mineralcup.org/about/2026-q...

A single quartz point, deep violet in its core and entirely clear around the outside, with ghostly traces of the crystal's former shape inside, as well as a few tiny bubbles.

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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

One of the most frequent daydreams people share with us is a wish to win a specimen of the Champion. This year, you can.

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

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 · 02/10/2026

#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 · 02/10/2026

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 · 02/10/2026

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 · 02/10/2026

#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 · 02/10/2026

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 · 02/10/2026

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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GHOULology 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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Elaeeeine 🦇 @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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