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Kerstin Neuhaus

@microtopico.bsky.social
1.5K followers 345 following 1.6K posts

(she/her) Former mineralogist disguised as materials scientist, specialized in AFM & solid state ionics (zinc batteries), loves 🌋 & planetology, MinCup, Foodie, Mama of two.

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Reposted by Kerstin Neuhaus
Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 1h
Did you play Mineral Cup this year? We’d love to hear from you in our annual Players Survey! www.mineralcup.org/2026/players... #MinCup26
mineralcup.org
Annual Mineral Cup Players Survey — Mineral Cup & Ore Cup
As always, we’d love to get your feedback on what worked, what didn’t, and ideas on what to do differently. We’d also like a better idea of who our players are (and how that’s changed) and where to…
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Reposted by Kerstin Neuhaus
Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 5h
#MinCup26 FINALS!!! We have a pair of geometric beauties as deep red #Cuprite is against versatile #Quartz. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
Split image of fine red needles of cuprite on one side and chunky clear quartz crystals on the other.
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Claas Gefroi @claasgefroi.bsky.social · 19h
Zum dritten Mal binnen weniger Jahre wird der Preis fürs Deutschlandticket erhöht, auch diesmal wieder weit oberhalb der allgemeinen Inflationsrate (4 Euro = 6,4%). Zeitgleich haut die Bundesregierung Milliarden für den Tankrabatt raus. Das ist keine Verkehrspolitik, das ist fossile Lobbypolitik.
tagesschau.de
Deutschlandticket wird wohl wieder teurer
Heute soll über den künftigen Preis für das Deutschlandticket entschieden werden. Einem Medienbericht zufolge könnte es 2027 fast vier Euro mehr kosten. Von Verbänden kommt bereits Kritik.
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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 10h
Herkimer diamonds are naturally double-terminated quartz crystals with exceptional clarity, mined primarily in Herkimer County, New York. Double termination is very rare in quartz. Link for more info in ALT! #Quartz #MinCup26
"Herkimer diamond" quartz crystals. More at: https://geology.com/articles/herkimer-diamonds.shtml
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Fernando Salvaterra @salvaterra.bsky.social · 14h
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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Kerstin Neuhaus @microtopico.bsky.social · 13h
#MinCup26 ⚒️
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Kerstin Neuhaus @microtopico.bsky.social · 13h
Diamonds are a girl's best friend. But if you cannot afford diamonds, #quartz will do nicely, but #graphit won't. Vote #quartz! 📸 MAURO CATEB from Brazil
Smoky quartz which has been cut and polished
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Reposted by Kerstin Neuhaus
Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 16h
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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Reposted by Kerstin Neuhaus
Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 15h
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!
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.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, 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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Kerstin Neuhaus @microtopico.bsky.social · 22h
Vote color. Vote #quartz! #MinCup26
Several quartz crystals ordered from clear, to dark brown color.A mixture of different shiny tumbled pieces of minerals on a white ceramic plateDyed blue agateOrdinary grey, white, and rosy agate
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Kerstin Neuhaus @microtopico.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Forgot to tag #MinCup26 😬
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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
“The Zagros fold and thrust belt hosts the most unique outcrops of the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian (540 million yrs) salts which have travelled up to 11 kilometers through their sedimentary overburden and have produced versatile beautiful salt domes and salt glaciers.” #TeamSalty #StaySalty #MinCup26
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Salt domes and glaciers of the Zagros Fold and Thrust Belt - IUGS
Ediacaran-Early Cambrian Hormuz salt extruded in the eroded core of a whale-back anticline of the Zagros mountain of southern Iran. The folded strata belong to Cretaceous to Pliocene sequence.
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Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Cuprite is used as a red pigment in glass, artificial gems, enamels, & ceramics. Colour can range from blood red to purple/brown in a reducing atmosphere & change to green in an oxidizing kiln. Halite is part of us, used in art: carving, watercolour effects, installations & EM geophysics. #MinCup26
Vase

Hugh Cornwall Robertson
Chelsea Keramic Art Works, Chelsea, Massachusetts, United States
Stoneware; Oxblood glaze
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Gift of Edward W. Hooper
for more information see: MFA Online Collections Database

Via cameo.mfa.org 

This is a simple elegant stoneware vase with oxblood and iridescent colouring. Used cuprite pigment.Chinese, Jin dynasty, 12th century
Jun-ware; stoneware, with copper-red glaze
Overall: 8.8 cm (3 7/16 in.) Other (diameter of mouth): 14.8 cm (5 13/16 in.) Other (diameter of foot): 5 cm (1 15/16 in.)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Charles Bain Hoyt Fund
for more information see: MFA Online Collections Database

Via cameo.mfa.org

This round bowl with short cylinder foot is delicately coloured with umber lip and base, the exterior is in an irregular top to bottom gradient of indigo to purple to oxblood. The interior is grey through pale blue. “A depiction of the legend of Princess Kinga, now a saint, having her engagement ring returned. These statues are carved from pillars of salt within the mine. Photo by Emily Fata.” In the A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland. Bottoms-up cup or stirrup cup (Sturzbecher), ca. 1550-1570
German, Cologne
Salt-glazed stoneware, height 38.3 cm | 15.1 in
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is a little bearded male figure with hat, shirt, elaborate vest, shaggy breeches, stockings and shoes on a cup shaped vessel. An example of halite/salt use in a stoneware glaze.
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Kerstin Neuhaus @microtopico.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Do you like noodles? What would cooking noodles be without #halite?
static.klipy.com
Kermit The Frog Enjoys Noodles
Alt: Kermit The Frog Enjoys Noodles
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Bkania @bkania.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Ok folks! #Halite is trailing. Yes it is the #Salt of the #Earth, but it is most valuable in our #Ocean s.🐳🐠🫍🪼🐙🐋 Without it our #Friends wouldn't be here. #MinCup26 ##TacoTuesday #FishTacos 🌮 So please 🙏 #Vote for #Halite @mineralcup.bsky.social
static.klipy.com
Dolphin Leaping Out of Water
Alt: Dolphin Leaping Out of Water
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Bkania @bkania.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Where are all the #Doctor s 🥼⚕️🩺 & #Nurse s👩‍⚕️🚑 How valuable is saline to your job??? #Halite #MinCup26 #TeamHalite #Halite = #Salt = 🧬 Anyone can #play and #Vote @mineralcup.bsky.social check it out. #STEM #Ocean
static.klipy.com
Jagyasini Singh in Hospital Bed with IV Drip
Alt: Jagyasini Singh in Hospital Bed with IV Drip
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Geology @geologytime.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Halite CRAZY GEOMETRIC! Natural skeletal halite with great geometric shape! Rudna Mine, Lubin, Lower Silesia, Poland [video: SpiriferMinerals.com] #crystals #gems
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Mark Shore @markshore.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
cuprite structure, with an oxygen atom at the center of the cubic unit cell, oxygen atoms at each vertex, all tetrahedrally bonded for four copper atoms, and the copper atoms occupying alternate centers of the eight subcubes in the cell, each bonded to two oxygens en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper(...
a ball-and-stick diagram of a cuprite unit cell showing the copper atoms as copper-colored spheres and the oxygen atoms as red spheres (arbitrary scale) and the bonds between them as red and copper cylindrical sticks
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Alexandra Witze @alexwitze.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Ahhhhh decisions are getting so difficult! Going to go for the salt dome champion though: Vote #Halite for #MinCup26!
static.klipy.com
Salt Intensifies
Alt: Salt Intensifies
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Mark Shore @markshore.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I voted for cuprite because it is colorful and has an interesting crystal structure that very few other minerals do, and halite is just salt …but halite forms giant salt domes, comes in many colors, is essential to life, also forms nice crystals, and even fossils - plus the Wieliczka salt mine 😮
grayscale photos of cm-size hollow halite fossil casts (replaced by silica) in 2.5 billion year old shales, with a tape measure for scale 

from Eriksson et al., Neoarchaean (c. 2.58 Ga) halite casts: implications for palaeoceanic chemistry, Journal of the Geological Society, London, Vol. 162, 2005, pp. 789–799color photo of a large (thousands of square feet, 30 feet high) underground chamber in the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow, Poland, that has been carved into a Catholic chapel with a polished patterned floor, arches, alcoves, columns, and a carved bas-relief image of Da Vinci's The Last Supper. The rock salt is a warm golden brown, and the chamber is lit by electric lights in chandeliers

see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wieliczka_Salt_Mine for more details
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Kirsten Tomlinson @tkirkm.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
#Cuprite may be the “flashy” colourful mineral, but I am #TeamHalite because it is an essential mineral! I live on the edge of Cheshire, and #Halite has been an important part of local industry for millennia! If you vote #Halite I will go to Nantwich tomorrow and show you proof!
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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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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
#MinCup26 SEMI-FINALS!!! It's showdown of the soft and cubical as coppery #Cuprite and salty #Halite compete for a spot in the finals! Both are worthy, but only one can have your vote. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
Split photo of a translucent deep red cube of cuprite within swooping matte blue-green crystal blades and a scattering of  translucent white halite cubes in a nest of golden yellow spiky crystals.
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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Text your friends and family. Send the vote link. Post on other social media sites. Call in favors. Don’t forget the vote link! One vote per person! Time to 👇🏼
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Der Krankenpflegel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @krankenpflegel.de · 29/09/2026
Ist euch mal aufgefallen, wie schnell man eine schlechte Mutter ist? Schneller geht nur, ein superguter Vater zu werden: Mama kann die Wäsche waschen, Essen kochen, in Teilzeit arbeiten gehen, aber WEHE, SIE GEHT ABENDS AUS UND LÄSST DAS KIND BEI PAPA! Der alleine dadurch zum Göttergatten mutiert.
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Robert Fietzke @robertfietzke.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Niemand: Die Linke sollte einfach mal regieren, dann wird sie sich schon von selbst entzaubern. Wir sollten die Sorgen & Ängste von Linke-Wählern ernstnehmen. Daher kopieren wir jetzt Teile ihres Programms und sprechen vor allem über ihre Themen Soziale Gerechtigkeit, Lebenshaltungskosten & Mieten.
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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I like big cubes and I cannot lie! Vote for the mineral that literally moves mountains. #StaySalty Vote #Halite! #MinCup26 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology #geosky #GIS 🍎 🪐 🔭 🌋 📚 🌿
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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Cranberry red Almandine-Pyrope Garnets in silvery #Graphite matrix. Red Embers Mine, Erving, MA Graphite. From the pencil in your hand to the batteries that run electric cars, graphite plays a central role. #MinCup26 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology #geosky #GIS 🍎 🪐 🔭 🌋 📚 🌿
Cranberry-red Pyrope Almandine Garnets in a matrix of silvery/charcoal Graphite. From the Red Embers Mine, Erving, Franklin Co., Massachusetts.
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Fernando Salvaterra @salvaterra.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Semifinal 1 cuprite VS halite #mincup26 #minerals
illustration of two minerals competing on the Mineral Cup 2026 semifinals: cuprite VS halite. red vs blue crystals.
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Kerstin Neuhaus @microtopico.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Sometimes, you need something good fast. This came together in less than 15 minutes: Tortellini with a bell pepper-cream sauce and parmegiano and a nice greek salad. #ChemistsWhoCook
Tortellini with a bell pepper-cream sauce and parmegianoGreek salad
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Mika McKinnon @mikamckinnon.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Cleanup didn’t change much; new tools are working well. Graphite is facing quartz tomorrow. I love how simple the chemistry of our #MinCup26 Final Four are, especially considering how much exotic chemistry we gave you in the starting matches!
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Kerstin Neuhaus @microtopico.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
World's tallest wind turbine (and Germany's second highest building) just has been finished. It can power up to 7,500 households. 🔌 #ClimateEmergency #CO2 #Energy
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Royal Microscopical Society @royalmicrosoc.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
📣 FREE online event this Wednesday (30 Sep)! Register FREE for Microscopy: Advances, Innovation, Impact 2026 - incorporating the RMS AGM & Section AGMs. Great programme of talks, awards and more 🙂 🔬 Register now: ow.ly/jRuA50ZS9My
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Elizabeth V @geolizzy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Vote LUBRICANTS #graphite #MinCup26
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Kerstin Neuhaus @microtopico.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Our neighbours car is glaring angrily at our street... It caught me by surprise when I saw it for the first time, but now I think it looks quite funny (without the flash you only see the eyes at night, not the car 😁).
A small Twizzy car with red and white LED lights that look like moving eyes
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bookswain.bsky.social @bookswain.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Once again I vote #graphite, which is what French artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres used to create this portrait. Plate from my copy of “Les portraits dessinés par J. A. D. Ingres" published in Paris in 1896. #MinCup26 This, btw, is how I casually dress to go grocery shopping.
A man wearing a long coat and period clothes with a top hat looking very smug and dapper.
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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
#Graphite aka black lead or plumbago has been mined for 100s of years, but the discovery that it is made up of 2D sheets of graphene is really recent Graphene was only theorised in 1947 and isolated, using adhesive tape (!) In 2004. (See the Wikipedia entry) vote #graphite in #MinCup26
Model of 2D sheet of graphene consisting of linked rings of carbon atoms
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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
#MinCup26 Quarterfinal 4 We're coming down the end! Are you supporting lead-locking #pyromorphite or ancient #graphite as we enter the semifinals. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
Split view of blobby peach-tinted pyromorphite shining as though wet, and dark grey graphite with its signature greasy sheen sitting on paper marked with pencil-like scribbles.
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Christoph Bautz @christophbautz.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
In der Tat: Der Bundestag muss die Pläne für das EEG und das Netzpaket dringend stoppen und ändern. Der bisherige Kurs gefährdet das Klima - und unsere Energiesicherheit, preiswerte Energie und die Wirtschaft. 1/2
agrarheute.com
Biogas, Solaranlagen und Windräder: Verbände warnen vor dem Aus für Tausende Anlagen durch EEG
Die EEG-Novelle soll den Ausbau Erneuerbarer Energien ab 2027 neu regeln. Doch schon vor der Lesung im Bundestag hagelt es Kritik.
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Sqril @sqril.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This one is going to be a difficult choice too! Environmental remediation and not lickable vs What would we be writing with and who hasn’t somehow licked their pencil graphite? Wait, did we use to write with lead? Why, no! www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/20...
todayifoundout.com
Why Pencil "Lead" is Called "Lead"
Karen asks: Why is pencil lead called lead when it doesn’t contain any? In the 16th century, a large deposit of pure, solid graphite was discovered in Borrowdale, England.  This was the first time in ...
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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
#MinCup26 Quarterfinal 4 Linked by archaic translations and mineralogical misunderstandings, the quarterfinals are ending in hexagons with vivid pyromorphite vs writeable graphite. VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
Split photo between translucent lemon-yellow hexagonal crystal jutting out of a mass of shiny black bubbling minerals and metallic silver graphite hexagon with crosshatched surface set even within a matte translucent white rough crystal mass.
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Özden Terli @terliwetter.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Die einzige Konsequenz wäre raus aus den Fossilen, so schnell wie möglich. Der große Knall kommt noch. Aber wir wussten das. Tja. www.focus.de/finanzen/us-...
focus.de
150 Dollar je Barrel: US-Bank skizziert düsteres Ölpreis-Szenario
Brent notiert noch unter 100 US-Dollar – doch die Bank of America warnt vor einem Szenario, das den Ölmarkt in historisches Terrain treiben könnte.
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Goldenhourminerals @ghminerals.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Quartz var. Amethyst with hematite. Hyderabad, India 1980's. Rare piece. Sold. www.goldenhourminerals.com/shop
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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Water and organic molecules trapped inside extraterrestrial halite crystals … 😮 Old news, apparently, but learning something new to me and fascinating every day by following #MinCup26. www.vice.com/en/article/t...
vice.com
These Stunning Blue Alien Crystals Contain Water and Organic Molecules
Asteroids have been spitballing life juice at each other for billions of years, and we have the receipts.
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Susie Leopold @blastylavagrrrl.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I always forget about my (admittedly subpar) photos from museums! Some California pink halite is probably from Searles Lake, where the color comes from "carotenoid pigments produced by halophilic archaea and algae." The other display shows colorless intergrown halite cubes and then loose cubes.
Light pink hopper halite. Hopper, or skeletal, crystals happen when the outside parts of the crystal grows faster than the inside bits. The label lists the source of the halite is California, meaning the pink is likely from algae,
Cranbrook Institute of Science, 2025Display called "Halite Cubic Cleavage." On a riser is colorless, cubic halite with the cubes intergrown. Below is a ledge of smaller, colorless, individual cubic halite crystals featuring one larger cube surrounded by  13 smaller cubes.
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA, 2023
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Goldenhourminerals @ghminerals.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Quartz crystal. 100% crystallized floater. Val Strem, Switzerland www.goldenhourminerals.com/shop goldenhourminerals.etsy.com/listing/4513...
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Fernando Salvaterra @salvaterra.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Quarterfinal 3 julienite VS halite #mincup26 #minerals
illustration of two minerals competing on the Mineral Cup 2026 quarterfinals: julienite VS halite. the first are tiny needle-like crystals embedded on a rock. the last is a single blue crystal chunk
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Bkania @bkania.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Well I don't know about basic ....😏 but the #Bitch is back #Halite #Mincup26 #Elton Play & #Vote here! @mineralcup.bsky.social youtu.be/IGo6x_uzG8Y?...
youtu.be
The Bitch Is Back (Remastered 1995)
YouTube video by Elton John - Topic
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authodizer @doktrock.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
#Halite centered on this shelf of a mineral display. A cluster of light pink halite crystals accompanies two large crystals, one of which is clear while the other transitions from clear to black. #MinCup26 contender #sphalerite to the right.
Portion of a vitrine with glass shelves and mineral specimens. These include potassium feldspar, hornblende, fluorite, gypsum, sphalerite, galena, and muscovite. Description says: 

"Minerals
Minerals are naturally occurring solids with definite chemical compositions and highly ordered internal structure. Minerals are crystalline and they grow as trillions of atoms connect in regular, three-dimensional patterns. Each crystal starts small and grows as more atoms are added.

Crystals grow from water rich in dissolved minerals, from melted rock, and even vapor. Under the influence of different temperatures and pressures, atoms combine in seemingly endless crystal variations. There are over 4,000 officially recognized mineral species and as many as a hundred new ones are described each year. - www.mnh.si.edu


(Illustration of crystal atomic arrangement)
This model represents a unit cell of Halite (NaCI). Note that the sodium (purple) and chlorine (orange) ions in the model form cubes and the halite crystals are also cubes. The shape of a well formed crystal is the shape of the unit cell of that mineral."

Microphoto of halite crystals.

The back of a child's head wearing a ball cap and a hand are in the foreground.
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Naturae Lapides @naturaelapides.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A wonderful and versatile halite that everyone will, of course, prefer over its upstart competitor. A specimen from Silesia, Poland, just for your viewing pleasure. www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... #MinCup26
bloc de halite translucide rétroéclairée par une lumière bleutée
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