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Newly discovered mineral is no threat to Superman, scientists say
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Deadly kryptonite?
In the film "Superman Returns," the formula for kryptonite is described as "Sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide with fluorine." Here's what those substances actually are used for:
Sodium (Na): Used as an anti-knock agent in some gasolines, when combined with chloride it makes salt. It's also used in sodium bicarbonate and baking soda.
Lithium (Li): Used in high-temperature lubricants, as a metal in space vehicles, in some nuclear applications and to treat bipolar disorders.
Boron (B): A micronutrient essential for seed and fruit development, useful in welding and soldering, and as a water softener.
Silicate: Silicate rocks are made predominantly of silicon (Si), which is used in transistors, solar cells, computer components, glass and medical implants.
Hydroxide: Contains oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H) atoms, is used as a base in chemistry and also in agriculture to balance acidic soils.
Fluorine (F): Used in uranium production, high-temperature plastics, etching glass, air conditioning. Is used to prevent tooth decay in small amounts.
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If kryptonite matched the composition listed in the 2006 film "Superman Returns," the Man of Steel would have little to worry about.
In fact, the elements in kryptonite could help him grow a rich garden, treat any bouts of bipolar disorder he might have and keep his teeth from decaying.
"I doubt if that mineral would hurt anybody at all," said John Husler, a retired geochemist who worked at the University of New Mexico for 37 years. "There would have to be something else in there besides pure kryptonite for it to hurt Superman."
Kryptonite, which turned Superman into a wet noodle in the famed comics and movie series, made a splashy comeback this week. Mine workers near the Serbian town of Jadar recently found a mineral that matches the composition of fictitious kryptonite in the film: sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide. (The film version also has fluorine in it.)
The new mineral, however, will be called jadarite, after the town it was found near.
Unlike the oft-seen glowing green substance in the DC comic, jadarite - even with fluorine - isn't green and doesn't glow, Husler said.
"There's nothing in the mineral that would make it green," Husler said. "If there were traces of chromium or copper, it could be green. But fluorine wouldn't do it. That would be white."
All the minerals in kryptonite, and subsequently, jadarite, are white, he added.
"It's funny that they'd pick a green mineral without any element in it that's green," Husler said of the comic strip's creators. "You'd think it would have uranium or thorium in it, which could make it green, but it doesn't even have that."
The find of a real substance mimicking a fictional one had many New Mexico scientists amused and surprised.
"Oh, really? Oh, my God," said Case Klein, a world-renowned mineralogist at UNM, upon hearing of the find. "This is a weird story. It's interesting."
Klein literally wrote the book on mineralogy. His textbook "Minerals and Rocks" is used in college classes all over the world.
People shouldn't confuse kryptonite with the element krypton, discovered long before the comic book series, Klein said.
Krypton is a rare inert gas used in scientific measurements. It is named after the Greek word kryptos, which means "hidden thing" or "hidden substance," Husler said.
"Kryptonite doesn't even have krypton in it?" Laura Crossey, a UNM geology professor, asked incredulously upon hearing kryptonite's supposed composition. "That's just wrong."
Husler said he doesn't think the new mineral should be named jadarite.
"It's too close to jade and jadite," Husler said. "They should call it superite."
Penny Boston, a planetary scientist and geologist who specializes in caves at New Mexico Tech, said she'd love to get a sample of jadarite in her office - next to her collection of Marvin the Martian action figures.
Science fiction turning to reality is one thing, but a comic book substance? That's wonderfully strange, Boston said.
"I think this is a fairly unusual case where something out of a comic book has actually come true," Boston said. "But there have been many things in science fiction that have come true, such as Arthur C. Clarke's stories of communications satellites decades before they existed."
Who knows? Maybe one day Serbian miners will discover ways to go faster than a speeding bullet and leap tall buildings in a single bound.
