# Sci Fi minerals **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 17, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028 "2013-09-17T04:02:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028/61 "2013-09-18T18:35:42Z")
> [@merickson](#): > > In 1976, a group of physicists thought that they had discovered element 129. 129 protons is in an island of stability (i.e. theory says that it has non-radioactive isotopes) and they thought that they had found in in a geode. > > Well, they were writing up the paper and had to give this stuff its official name. A Reagan appointee at NSF (their funding source) suggested “bicentenium”. Reagan was appointing people to federal posts in 1976? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028/62 "2013-09-18T18:44:57Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Reagan was appointing people to federal posts in 1976? :dubious: Probably some kind of resublimated thiotimoline based appointment. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028/63 "2013-09-18T18:49:01Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Probably some kind of resublimated thiotimoline based appointment. Hey, what would happen if the certification documents WEREN’T watermarked? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028/64 "2013-09-18T19:27:54Z")
Niven also mentions harvesting magnetic monopoles from the belt (asteroid or Kuiper or both, I forget) as a drive component. Seems like a really, really dangerous idea to me. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028/65 "2013-09-19T15:18:30Z")
> [@For You](#): > > There seems to be some debate as to whether kryptonite is an element or an alloy.. I think you mean “compound,” not alloy. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028/66 "2013-09-19T15:32:23Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I think you mean “compound,” not alloy. No, “alloy” was apparently the word they used in the third movie with that cripple guy. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028/67 "2013-09-19T15:34:17Z")
> [@For You](#): > > No, “alloy” was apparently the word they used in the third movie with that cripple guy. I don’t recall any handicapped person in Superman III. But then I’ve only seen it once and it did not hold my attention. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028/68 "2013-09-19T15:35:44Z")
He’s referring, rather indelicately, to Mr. Reeve. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028/69 "2013-09-19T15:43:57Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > He’s referring, rather indelicately, to Mr. Reeve. Crass comments will not be acknowledged by Management. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028/70 "2013-09-19T16:04:02Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Speaking of which, anybody mention Adamantium yet? No but I got some mithral right here. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028/71 "2013-09-19T16:07:43Z")
Mithral? In Science Fiction? How very odd. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028/72 "2013-09-19T16:17:36Z")
The first episode of the _Adventures of Superman_ radio serial ([hear it here](http://archive.org/details/superman_otr)) established that Krypton and Earth orbited the same sun, but on opposite sides, and that everyone on Krypton was superhuman by Earth standards. This contradicted what was (or would later be) established in the comics, and was changed in later episodes. Kryptonite was introduced in a later radio episode, several years before it appeared in the comics. It was said that it was so named because it was a meteor_ite_ from the planet _Krypton_, and not for any scientific meaning. An urban legend says that it was invented as a gimmick to give voice actor Bud Collyer some time off, so that Superman could be played by a moaning and groaning extra while Collyer was on vacation. The comics have never been consistent as to whether kryptonite is an element or compound, or if it’s a rock, metal, or crystal. One issue (\*The Brave and the Bold \*#175) hypothesized that kryptonite radiation consists of particles that pass harmlessly through ordinary matter (neutrinos? tachyons?) but affect Kryptonians because their atomic structure is super-dense. Physics-wise, that’s not too bad for a superhero comic. Fun fact: \*Superman \*creator Jerry Siegel named the planet Krypton as a homage to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ _John Carter of Mars_, one of his inspirations. In the _John Carter_ stories, the capital of Barsoom (Mars) was the city of Helium. Siegel chose another inert gas for the name of Superman’s home as a wink to other ERB fans. (Source: \*Superman \*editor Julius Schwartz at a SF con panel discussion.) ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028/73 "2013-09-19T21:33:26Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Fun fact: \*Superman \*creator Jerry Siegel named the planet Krypton as a homage to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ _John Carter of Mars_, one of his inspirations. In the _John Carter_ stories, the capital of Barsoom (Mars) was the city of Helium. Siegel chose another inert gas for the name of Superman’s home as a wink to other ERB fans. (Source: \*Superman \*editor Julius Schwartz at a SF con panel discussion.) Cool! This is my favorite new Superman fact! The connection never occurred to me, and I’m sure never would have, even though it seems so obvious in retrospect. It’s been a while since I read _A Princess of Mars_, so I don’t remember if the name of Helium was ever explained. In my mind, I always made an association between the fact that Barsoomian Helium comprised two twin cities and the element helium has an atomic number of two, with two twin protons as its nucleus. Was it ever made clear whether the name Helium was intended by ERB to be a transliteration or a translation of the Barsoomian name? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-minerals/669028.md?page=3)