Kryptonite is no longer just the stuff of fiction feared by
caped superheroes.
A new mineral matching its unique chemistry - as described in the
film Superman Returns - has been identified in a mine in
Serbia.
According to movie and comic-book storylines, kryptonite is
supposed to sap Superman's powers whenever he is exposed to its
large green crystals.
The real mineral is white and harmless, says Dr Chris Stanley, a
mineralogist at London's Natural History Museum.
"I'm afraid it's not green and it doesn't glow either - although it
will react to ultraviolet light by fluorescing a pinkish-orange,"
he told BBC News.
Rock heist
Researchers from mining group Rio Tinto discovered the unusual
mineral and enlisted the help of Dr Stanley when they could not
match it with anything known previously to science.
Once the London expert had unravelled the mineral's chemical
make-up, he was shocked to discover this formula was already
referenced in literature - albeit fictional literature.
"Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the
mineral's chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate
hydroxide - and was amazed to discover that same scientific name,
written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex
Luther from a museum in the film Superman Returns.
"The new mineral does not contain fluorine (which it does in the
film) and is white rather than green but, in all other respects,
the chemistry matches that for the rock containing
kryptonite."
The mineral is relatively hard but is very small grained. Each
individual crystal is less than five microns (millionths of a
metre) across.
Elementary clash
Identifying its atomic structure required sophisticated analytical
facilities at Canada's National Research Council and the assistance
and expertise of its researchers, Dr Pamela Whitfield and Dr Yvon
Le Page.
"'Knowing a material's crystal structure means scientists can
calculate other physical properties of the material, such as its
elasticity or thermochemical properties," explained Dr Le
Page.
"Being able to analyse all the properties of a mineral, both
chemical and physical, brings us closer to confirming that it is
indeed unique."
Finding out that the chemical composition of a material was an
exact match to an invented formula for the fictitious kryptonite
"was the coincidence of a lifetime," he added.
The mineral cannot be called kryptonite under international
nomenclature rules because it has nothing to do with krypton - a
real element in the Periodic Table that takes the form of a
gas.
Power possibilities
Instead, it will be formally named Jadarite when it is described in
the European Journal of Mineralogy later this year.
Jadar is the name of the place where the Serbian mine is
located.
Dr Stanley said that if deposits occurred in sufficient quantity it
could have some commercial value.
It contains boron and lithium - two valuable elements with many
applications, he explained.
"Borosilicate glasses are used to encapsulate processed radioactive
waste, and lithium is used in batteries and in the pharmaceutical
industries."