Getting Stoned: A Podcast About Gems and Minerals
By Johnna Crider
The host, Johnna Crider is a jewelry artisan who wire wraps minerals and gems into jewelry and shares her growing knowledge on her blog. Getting Stoned is an extension of Johnna's gem and mineral blog and a way for her to connect with others who find the world of minerals intriguing.
Getting Stoned: A Podcast About Gems and MineralsApr 28, 2021
Getting Stoned with The Arkenstone's Dr. Rob Lavinsky
In this episode of Getting Stoned, Johnna chats with Dr. Robert Lavinsky, the founder of The Arkenstone, and www.iRocks.com.
Rob shares his story with Johnna and the conversation covers, minerals, gems, Rob's support of Mindat, the largest mineral database and a mineralogical reference website on the Internet, Elon Musk at a Denver gem show some years ago, artificial intelligence, and its impact on the mineral industry.
You can learn more about Rob by visiting his website, www.irocks.com.
Getting Stoned with Om Crystals
In this episode of Getting Stoned, I interviewed Nikita and Moji, a married couple who moved from Houston to San Diego to embark on a new life. They got into the crystal business and have had quite the adventure. The two bought their first Tesla with crystal sales, have had a child, and are awaiting their third Tesla.
We talked about crystals, the business and the stones, Elon Musk and my recent interview with him, Tesla, and more.
You can find them on Instagram at instagram.com/om.crystals
Getting Stoned: Interview With Elon Musk
This is a uniquely special episode where I was invited down to Giga Texas to interview Elon Musk. I don't think we need an introduction, here--we all know who he is.
The audio was edited by one of my best friends, Hart Deer (lead singer of Soulfire, an Atlanta-based rock group) and @TeslaHerbert
Elon opened the fudge I'd brought him from Bucc-ees, and a few horns honked in the background as we were in a factory. So I apologize in
Elon invited me to come back since I didn't get to ask all of my questions--he was incredibly focused on working in the factory and I'm grateful for the time he took with me. So there will, eventually, be a Part 2 to this episode.
In this episode, we talk about:
SpaceX and the light of consciousness, Starlink and helping with disasters, his work with the Musk Foundation, the declining birthrate and the role poverty plays in it, one critical solution that would lift people out of poverty, Tesla, Tesla's new justice and legal department, Tesla Energy and the work it's doing in Texas to help the grid and we also touched upon AI.
Getting Stoned: The Tesla Ring
Today I have a special guest, Davit Kvitsiani, Founder & CEO of CNICK, a company that makes jewelry tech that can unlock car doors and more.
Davit has some neat announcements including an NFT, a new bracelet as well as what I’ve heard of, the Tesla Ring. In this episode, Davit shares what inspired him to create the ring and how the Tesla community helped him with feedback and support.
You don’t have to be a Tesla owner to have the ring as it is used for many things other than locking or unlocking a Tesla.
To learn about the Tesla ring go here; https://teslaring.com/
To learn more about CNICK’s NFT Project go here: https://evolution.cnick.io/
Note, podcast graphic designed by Johnna Crider with a photo provided by CNICK (used with permission)
Getting Stoned: Local Gem Show In The Swamp
The Baton Rouge Gem and Mineral Society held a fun gem and mineral show at the Blue Bonnet Nature Reserve. The theme was 'Rockin in the Swamp.' I went and had a blast, added gems and minerals to my collection, and bought some for my small jewelry business.
This episode introduces a local group and a local artist. I have videos, photos and more info in this blog post:
https://gettingstoned.online/f/getting-stoned-br-gem-show
Getting Stoned: My New Troll
This episode is a shout-out to Tiff Trolls. I bought a troll from her and love how she used crystals in her creations. She’s also helping the environment by upcycling old trolls and making them into art. Note, I mistakenly said her Etsy in the audio but I have her website in the links below.
Links:
Tiff's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiffs_trolls/
Tiff's website: https://www.tiffstrolls.com/
About Getting Stoned.
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. This podcast's mission is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
Visit gettingstoned.online.
Getting Stoned: Tranquillityite
Tranquillityite is a neat and rare mineral that was first found on the moon during the Apollo missions. It was later found in Australia in 2011 and this is where my piece came from.
Interesting articles:
https://www.cnet.com/news/diamonds-nah-burning-man-wedding-ring-holds-a-piece-of-the-moon/
https://gettingstoned.online/gem-blog/f/my-first-look-at-tranquillityite-which-was-found-on-the-moon
1 Year Anniversary Episode of Getting Stoned
I started Getting Stoned, a podcast about gems and minerals on New Years Day 2021, and today is the one-year anniversary!
As a celebration, I share other January birthstones and am having a special $10 off any jewelry orders over $20 for the entire month of January.
Shop at GettingStoned.online and use code stoned1year at checkout.
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. This podcast's mission is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
Visit gettingstoned.online.
Getting Stoned: Stibnite
In this episode of Getting Stoned, I talk about Stibnite and antimony. Also, apologies for the mic messing with the sound--getting a new one soon!
Major shout out to this episode's two sponsors, Rivet.cloud and The BitBot Society.
Podcast Links
Rivet
Rivet.cloud
The BitBot Society
BitBot #185
https://opensea.io/assets/0x68cf439ba5d2897524091ef81cb0a3d1f56e5500/185
GettingStoned.eth
9 Deadliest Rocks And Minerals On Earth
More Info on Stibnite
https://www.rockngem.com/studying-stibnite/
Sponsors' Information
Rivet.cloud is a blockchain node infrastructure service that focuses on simplifying building on blockchains. It handles the unique challenges that come with running node clients at scale and frees up developers to focus on their projects without having to worry about maintaining the infrastructure. It’s also the only service of its kind powered by open-source software.
It also has the industry’s most robust privacy. Learn more at rivet.cloud
The Bit Bot Society is an NFT project that is being launched by a diverse team of artists and professionals. One of the artists is a friend and he was even on Getting Stoned with me. The group kindly gifted me BitBot #185 and I’ll have the link to my NFT and The BitBot Society in the podcast description. You can learn more about The BitBot Society at bitbotsociety.io
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. This podcast's mission is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
Visit gettingstoned.online.
Getting Stoned: Davemaoite
Davemaoite is a new mineral that has never been observed in nature before. The reason for this is that it is a lower mantle mineral which would typically fall apart once out of a high pressured environment.
Link to article by UNLV
https://www.unlv.edu/news/release/research-brief-first-ever-interior-earth-mineral-discovered-nature
Getting Stoned: Goethite
I went to a local mineral show a couple of weeks ago and splurged on this massive yet stunning Goethite specimen.
gettingstoned.online
patreon.com/johnna
Getting Stoned: GIA Shared A Cool Find Inside Of A Diamond
The podcast cover graphic includes the photomicrograph by Nathan Renfro
GIA scientists examined the gemstone which is a D color .53 carat round brilliant cut diamond with a unique cloud inclusion that looks like the profile of a faceted round brilliant diamond. It seriously looks like someone typed a gemstone emoji inside the gem.
In their blog post, GIA said the diamond-shaped cloud appeared to be completely natural when it was examined in the microscope. GIA stated, "In this diamond, the cloud’s presence adds beauty, value, and distinction. Thanks to an observant and skillful polisher, we get to see another “brilliant” example of an intriguing cloud inclusion in diamond."
Scientists used photomicrography to determine the depth of the cloud and found that not only was it three-dimensional, but part of the center reached the diamond's surface.
They also compiled photoluminescence maps from thousands of spectra--each with pixels that are 10 microns in size. This shows the peak intensity of the gemstone and showed that the diamond cloud had a lower intensity than the surrounding diamond yet a portion of the girdle section in the cloud had a higher H3 intensity.
I'll include the link to the blog post in the podcast description for you to check out.
https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/spring-2021-microworld-diamond-shaped-cloud-in-diamond
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. This podcast's mission is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
For more information on sponsoring, merch, and YouTube, visit gettingstoned.online.
Getting Stoned: Interview With Eterneva's Adelle Archer
In my last episode of Getting Stoned, I talked about Eterneva, a company that specializes in creating lab grown diamonds from the ashes of a pet or loved one as a way to honor that person's life. Upon hearing my short and sweet episode, Eterneva reached out to me and I am to delighted to share my interview with Adelle Archer, Co-Founder of Eterneva. Adelle lost a dear friend of hers and shared the story of the birth of this gem of a company.
To learn more about Eterneva, you can visit their websites
Webs; https://eterneva.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@eterneva
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eterneva
About Getting Stoned.Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. This podcast's mission is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
For more information on sponsoring, merch, and YouTube, visit gettingstoned.online.
Getting Stoned: Turning Loved Ones Into Diamonds
Today I want to tell you about this company I found while scrolling through TikTok. I have become slightly addicted to the app and have learned a lot from it. Tons of jewelry artisans, gemologists and mineral lovers fill my feed with dazzling content and I stumbled upon one company, Eterneva, which has a unique product.
Eterneva specializes in lab grown diamonds from your loved one's or pets ashes or hair. This may sound morbid at first, but I think it's a neat way to honor a loved one.
Their prices range from $3,000 to $50,000 depending on the carat weight of the stone and its color. I invited them to come on to the podcast via Instagram, but so far no response. I admit, the podcast is in its beginning stages--it’s not even a year old. However I would love to know the inspirational story behind this company.
When you bring a human element such as a story, it makes a product much more endearing--creating an emotional connection. The idea of memorializing a loved one by turning them into a gemstone is unique. Eterneva also offers grading, engraving and jewelry setting for your diamond.
Links
Eternava.com
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. This podcast's mission is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
For more information on sponsoring, merch, and YouTube, visit gettingstoned.online.
Getting Stoned: How I Made A Golden Herkimer Explode
This wasn't intentional at all. I've shared bits of this story and people are always asking me to share details so I decided to make a podcast about it. Long story short, I had placed my Golden Herkimers with my regular Herkimers and grabbed one to meditate with. Placed it in the cup of a candle holder (where the oil goes for tea light candle holders) and had an explosive meditation session, to say the least.
About Getting Stoned.Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. This podcast's mission is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
For more information on sponsoring, merch, and YouTube, visit gettingstoned.online.
Getting Stoned: Magnetite In Our Brains
Did you know that we have magnetite crystals inside our brains? Magnetite is a mineral made up of iron oxide but it has equal amounts of iron (ii), which is ferrous oxide, and iron (iii) which is ferric oxide. Ferric oxide has three electrons--represented by the number 3 and one of those came from ferrous oxide--represented by the number 2.
Both produce numerous types of materials such as plastics, heat-absorbing glass, ceramics and even rubber. Special high purity iron oxides are used in the production of ferrites, a type of ceramic magnet used in electronics such as speakers, TVs and computer memory cores.
Magnetite is found in all types of rocks--igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary and yes it is magnetic. And this stuff is in our bodies and more primarily, our brains.
Physics Today published an article back in 2018 titled 'Mapping magnetite in the human brain.' In 1992, researchers discovered the magnetic crystal in human brain tissue and it's thought to have formed biogenically with some possibly originating in ferritin which is an intracellular protein that is found in many organisms.
The article goes on to say that various studies have shown that brain cells respond to external magnetic fields. There's also a link between elevated levels of magnetite and neurodegenerative diseases. Researchers noted that there were elevated levels of magnetite in brain tissue from Alzheimer’s disease patients.
Two scientists from the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, geophysicist Stuart Gilder and neuroscientist Christoph Schmitz, carried out the first systematic mapping of magnetite nanoparticles in the human brain.
They found magnetite concentrated in the same places in the seven brains they analyzed. They noted that the magnetite was mostly in the cerebellum and brain stem and that there was a striking asymmetry in the distribution of the magnetite particles between both hemispheres of the brain. In animals such as homing pigeons and honeybees, magnetites enable them to sense magnetic field lines. As for humans, we don't seem to sense those magnetic fields. Perhaps we are simply not in tune with our bodies anymore? Think of when a natural disaster is about to happen and animals start to flee. This is because they are able to sense a disturbance, but we are unable to.
For more information, explore the links in the podcast description.
LINKS
https://info.noahtech.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-ferrous-and-ferric-oxide
https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.1.20180830a/full/
https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.2897947
Photo in podcast cover from Arkenstone https://www.irocks.com/minerals/specimen/46980
About Getting Stoned.Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
For more information on sponsoring, merch, and YouTube, visit gettingstoned.online.
Getting Stoned: How A Piece Of Elon Musk's Starship Came To Me
Today on Getting Stoned, I’d like to share with you how a piece of Elon Musk’s rocket found its way to me.
Before sharing how I got so lucky, I'll give you a quick recap of Starship Serial Number 9 (SN9 for short). Back in February, SpaceX, which has been testing its Starships that will one day take us to Mars, tried to land Starship SN9.
The rocket did this really cool flip maneuver then exploded. The cause was one of the Raptor engines not relighting and this caused SN9 to land at high speed, thus experiencing rapid unscheduled disassembly.
Fast forward to July and a piece of that rocket is sitting next to one of my apophyllite specimens. My friend Gail, who often goes to Starbase, had a few twisted metal pieces from the explosion gifted to her. She gave one to me.
About Getting Stoned.Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
Getting Stoned: Phenakite, The Deceiver
Today on Getting Stoned, I want to talk about a lovely mineral called Phenakite. Phenakite, spelled with either a c or a k, is a rare neso-silicate mineral with beryllium ortho-silicate. It's often found sold as a crystal and used in spiritual practices or worn as jewelry.
Southern Jewelry News shared some great info on Phenakite which is a great gem alternative to diamonds while not actually trying to be a diamond. Phenakites have a colorless variety (they also have peach and gold) and although they are known are a rare stone, they are, in my opinion, easily obtainable. I have some and have wrapped and sold some to customers.
Phenakite gets its name from the Ancient Greek word, phenakos which means deceiver and this is because of the gem's appearance. The gem is similar to quartz. Rough Phenakite sometimes may display trigons which would lead one to think they've found a diamond and ranks 7.5-8 on the Moh's scale.
PalaGems pointed out that Phenakite was first found with an emerald and alexandrite embedded in a mica-schist in the Ural Mountains. It was also found in the Urals on Lake Ilmen at Miask.
Here’s an interesting fact about Phenakite and the U.S. Navy. The USS Phenakite was a converted yacht used by the Navy during both World Wars and was built in 1902 as the yacht, Celt. It had other names as well. As the USS Phenakite, it patrolled the waters off of the Florida Keys during World War II.
https://southernjewelrynews.com/columnists/the-story-behind-the-stone-finding-phenakite/
http://www.palagems.com/rarer-gems
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Phenakite
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
For more information on sponsoring, merch, and YouTube, visit gettingstone.online.
Getting Stoned With Lava From Iceland
Today on Getting Stoned, I want to tell you about some cool lava specimens I got in the mail last week. Earlier this month, a volcanic eruption in Iceland erupted and one of my friends actually was able to go and collect lava samples.
She did so safely and there's even a video she posted on her YouTube channel--the link will be below. Anyway, she was kind enough to send me a few samples. I took video and photos before applying glaze over the samples. She told me they would oxidize if I didn't apply any type of protective coating. She also told me that these samples came straight from the earth's magma.
In her video, you can clearly see her in a protective suit as she walks up to the lava flow which is black on the top yet liquid magma on the bottom. Using a tool, she digs into the molten lava and scoops it up--you can see her walking with the shovel carrying the molten lava. She deposited it into a container and the video ended.
I also created a video of the specimens and the link is below.
My friend’s video of her gathering lava.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yorpe54bDaM
My video of the samples.
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
Sometimes I interview guests and other times I’m sharing something neat I found. If you enjoy this podcast please feel free to subscribe to my new YouTube channel, Getting Stoned Online.
I also have sponsorship opportunities starting at just $1 per month. Sponsors get early access to Getting Stoned podcasts and free access to my online gem library filled with digital art and ebooks that I’ve created. Visit my website, gettingstoned.online to learn more.
Getting Stoned: Green Gold aka Electrum
I want to talk about green gold. It’s a hard-to-find type of gold that when occurring in nature, it is an alloy known as electrum.
Manhattan Gold & Silver has a blog post about it and they said that the green tint in this form of gold is subtle. Only a trained eye would be able to quickly spot it. The blog also dove into the history of green gold. In the Old Kingdom of Egypt--sometime around the third millennium BC, it was used as a coating for the capstones that sat on the obelisks and pyramids.
Ancient drinking vessels and even the first metal coins were made from electrum. Also, Nobel Prize medals were made with it for several years. In jewelry, it's often used as an accent color or the main material. However, the alloying of gold and silver doesn't make it stronger. Usually, green gold will have zinc or nickel to strengthen--but be careful with nickel. Many people are allergic to jewelry with nickel.
It’s so uncommon that when I looked up where to buy the metal, I found a jewelry forum with someone asking the same question I was searching.
She was told that her best bet was to make the alloy herself with 50% fine silver and 50% gold. My jewelry supplier where I get my precious metal wire from doesn’t have it, sadly.
Electrum Magazine took a dive into the historical linguistics of electrum, which is the Latin version of the word, electron. According to the article, Amber was connected to the word, elector, which means 'beaming sun,' and was also related to fire.
The Ancient Greek word, electron, was another word that described the alloy of gold and silver. Homer even mentioned Electrum in the Odyssey. when Telemachus spoke of the splendor of the Palace of Menelaus.
“Son of Nestor, dear to this heart of mine, mark the flashing of bronze throughout the echoing halls, and the flashing of gold, of electrum, of silver, and of ivory. Of such sort, methinks, is the court of Olympian Zeus within, such untold wealth is here; amazement holds me as I look.”
Electrum Magazine poetically writes, "Thus, the continuity of expanding meanings for electron and electrum from the ancient world through the present is an exciting exploration in philology, ancient material culture and economic history. The finely-detailed insects embedded in fossil amber for millions of years, preserved for near eternity, remind us that electrum can last far longer than the ancient cultures who valued it as a precious substance. This long timeline ought to be humbling to mortal humans."
Link to the articles.
https://www.mgsrefining.com/blog/2020/10/28/what-is-green-gold/
http://www.electrummagazine.com/2010/12/electrum-from-ancient-to-modern-meanings/
Podcast cover created with an image by Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72722827
About Getting Stoned
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
Sometimes I interview guests and other times I’m sharing something neat I found. If you enjoy this podcast please feel free to subscribe to my new YouTube channel, Getting Stoned Online. I also have sponsorship opportunities starting at just $1 per month. Sponsors get early access to Getting Stoned podcasts and free access to my online gem library filled with digital art and ebooks that I’ve created. Visit my website, gettingstoned.online to learn more.
Getting Stoned: Diamonds As Time Capsules
Today on Getting Stoned, I want to talk about an interesting use for diamonds--as time capsules. I saw a post on LinkedIn about diamonds being used as a time capsule and wanted to learn more.
In 2003, a research team at the University of Maryland found that diamonds can be natural time capsules. They preserve information about the cycling of sulfur between Earth's crust, the atmosphere and the mantle around 3 billion years ago.
Some of the findings revealed isotopic signatures which can give us a look at aspects of Earth's early history such as the evolution of the atmosphere. The study found that diamonds in Botswana had a distinctive ratio of three isotopes of sulfur that show that these diamonds went through an almost complete geochemical cycle that started 3 billion years ago. During that time, an ancient volcano was spewing sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide gases into the atmosphere.
I'll include the link to the article for further reading--it's a fascinating story of how diamonds give us a look at our planet as it was billions of years ago.
In 2019, the Independent reported that a stash of diamonds older than the moon was discovered near the Earth's core. That's a hell of a jazzy headline right there. The article said that the diamonds have been there for over 4.5 billion years until they were brought to the surface through a volcanic eruption in Brazil.
An international group of scientists studied the gems and said these gems were perfect time capsules that gave them insight to the period of time just after Earth was formed--a time when there was a lot of violent geological activity.
They were able to extract helium gas from 23 of the diamonds and pointed out that they were from an unseen reservoir known as the transition zone--between 410 and 660 kilometers below the surface of the earth.
I think that looking at diamonds as a type of time capsule is pretty unique. Imagine if they were able to talk--what type of stories would they be able to tell us?
https://www.astrobio.net/geology/diamond-time-capsules/
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
Sometimes I interview guests and other times I’m sharing something neat I found. If you enjoy this podcast please feel free to subscribe to my new YouTube channel, Getting Stoned Online
I also have sponsorship opportunities starting at just $1 per month. Sponsors get early access to Getting Stoned podcasts and free access to my online gem library filled with digital art and ebooks that I’ve created. Visit my website, gettingstoned.online to learn more.
Getting Stoned: Labradorite Creation Legends
Today on Getting Stoned, I want to talk about the magic of Labradorite and its connection with the Aurora Borealis, the northern lights. It’s a beautiful legend centered around this dazzling gem.
I’m sharing the story from Jewel Envy--there are other versions of it out there as well. Labradorite was first discovered by Moravian missionaries in 1770. The gem was found in the Isle of Paul near Nain Labrador, Canada which is why it has the name, Labradorite. Legends from the Eskimo Inuit and Native American Innu of Labrador share the gem's mystical origins.
The legend says that the Aurora Borealis was trapped within the rocks along the shores of Labrador. One day, an Inuit warrior found the lights and struck the rocks with his spear. The lights exploded into the sky creating the Northern Lights. I've heard from other sources that the lights chose to stay in some of the rocks. These became known as Labradorite which is known as the stone of light.
Jewel Envy shared another legend from Norse mythology which said that the Northern Lights were created by gods and were meant to be a bridge to the heavens while another legend claims that a mighty being would touch the rocks gently in order to travel into the sky.
https://www.jewelenvy.ca/labradorite-legend-of-northern-lights/
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
Sometimes I interview guests and other times I’m sharing something neat I found. If you enjoy this podcast please feel free to subscribe to my new YouTube channel, Getting Stoned Online
I also have sponsorship opportunities starting at just $1 per month. Sponsors get early access to Getting Stoned podcasts and free access to my online gem library filled with digital art and ebooks that I’ve created. Visit my website, gettingstoned.online to learn more.
Getting Stoned: Ancient Martian Water Trapped In Minerals
Today on Getting Stoned, the possibility of several oceans worth of ancient water trapped in Martian minerals that are buried beneath the planet's surface.
This cool information comes from SciTechDaily and the article pointed out that most of the ancient water from Mars was buried in the planet's crust.
This information comes from a new study based on observational data and modeling. It shows that 99% of the planet's water was lost to irreversible crustal hydration--not lost in space.
Quoting from the article here: "Ancient Mars was a wet planet — dry riverbeds and relic shorelines record a time when vast volumes of liquid water flowed across the surface. Today, very little of that water remains, mostly frozen in the planet’s ice caps. Previous studies have assumed that the lost water escaped to space over several billion years, an assertion supported by the currently observed atmospheric D/H ratio. However, measurements of the current rate of atmospheric water loss are too low for atmospheric escape alone to explain all Martian water loss."
The article led to another one that pointed out that billions of years ago, Mars had an abundance of water--pools, lakes, and deep oceans. NASA-funded research found that between 30 and 99% of its water is trapped inside of minerals. The results were shared at the 52 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference by Eva Scheller and her fellow co-authors who conducted the study. She said that "Atmospheric escape doesn’t fully explain the data that we have for how much water actually once existed on Mars"
Here on earth, we have enhydro crystals (enhydro, enheedro, I’ve heard it pronounced both ways.) Enhydros are crystals that have ancient water in them. The only enhydros I have in my collection are Golden enhydros which has petroleum and not water.
It stands to reason that Mars, and probably other planets out there as well, would have enhydro crystals with more than water or petroleum in them.
Article links:
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
Sometimes I interview guests and other times I’m sharing something neat I found. If you enjoy this podcast please feel free to subscribe to my new YouTube channel, Getting Stoned Online
I also have sponsorship opportunities starting at just $1 per month. Sponsors get early access to Getting Stoned podcasts and free access to my online gem library filled with digital art and ebooks that I’ve created. Visit my website, gettingstoned.online to learn more.
Getting Stoned: A Quick Look At Diamond Foundry
Today on Getting Stoned, I want to talk about Diamond Foundry which is valued at just under $2 billion. The company recently had a $200 million investment but that's not what I want to talk about. This Silicon Valley startup is a gem in its own right.
Diamond Foundry doesn't mine its diamonds but instead produces them in a lab. Many gem purists may believe that synthetic gems are not real or natural despite the fact they are chemically identical to the mined gems. This certainly reflects in the pricing of such gems, but mining isn’t that great for the environment.
The company, which creates flawless, identical diamonds, is planning to use its new investment to compete with miners such ad De Beers. In the article that inspired this episode, it was pointed out that mined diamonds are going through a downturn with a 20% slide in production in 2020 to 111 million carats compared to a peak of 152 million carats in 2017. The pandemic most likely impacted those numbers heavily but the article mentioned that there are no new diamond mines coming into production and that the market is not at that inflection point.
One neat thing about Diamond Foundry is that it plans to expand in the 200milimeter single-crystal diamond wafers for use in technology. When the silicon in semiconductors is replaced with diamonds, this improves their performance since diamonds are great conductors of heat. There are many uses of diamond wafer semiconductors and industries include data centers, electric vehicles, and 5G technology.
Wait, does this mean that my Tesla Cybertruck will come with teeny tiny diamonds? The article also pointed out that all of the largest tech companies in the world are looking at working with diamond wafers. Diamond chips are an idea, but that's pretty difficult and something that hasn't been solved yet according to Diamond Foundry's chief executive Martin Roscheisen.
https://www.technowize.com/diamond-foundry-valued-at-1-8-billion-following-200-million-investment/
Photo by Johnna Crider (rough diamond)
About Getting Stoned.Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
Sometimes I interview guests and other times I’m sharing something neat I found. If you enjoy this podcast please feel free to subscribe to my new YouTube channel, Getting Stoned Online
I also have sponsorship opportunities starting at just $1 per month. Sponsors get early access to Getting Stoned podcasts and free access to my online gem library filled with digital art and ebooks that I’ve created. Visit my website, gettingstoned.online to learn more.
Getting Stoned: Garnet Tread
This is Getting Stoned, the podcast about all things gems and minerals. I’m your host, Johnna Crider.
Today on Getting Stoned, I want to share with you the story of Garnet Tread. a company that uses really tiny pieces of garnet to make tires for all vehicles and aircraft. I shared the story on my blog, but in light of my recent video with an empty Tesla Tequila bottle being used to store the tiny pieces of garnet, I thought I would reshare this here on my podcast.
About Getting Stoned.Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
I am currently seeking sponsors and opportunities start at just $1 and go up to $150 for those interested in advertising. Visit my website, gettingstoned.online to learn more.
Getting Stoned: University of Maine Received Over 70 Minerals As A Donation
Today on Getting Stoned, I want to talk about something I saw in my Google news feed. The University of Maine received a cool donation of over 70 minerals and gemstones in April. The collection was donated to the University of Maine School of Earth and Climate Sciences in hopes of inspiring more students to study the physical processes that shape our planet.
The photo cover for the podcast was taken by David Jakacky for The Maine Campus
The specimens are museum quality and were donated anonymously. They will join the university's collection of rocks, minerals, and ore samples that are used for teaching, research, and public education. Students will get to explore the rare and far reaches of the earth's crusts by analyzing the samples donated.
The donated gems and minerals include specimens of giant zeolite geodes from India, Brazilian agate, Vanadinite from Morocco, sulfur from Italy, and a unique specimen of petrified wood with amethyst inclusions that were found in Arizona. Samples and carvings of tourmaline mined in Maine were also included in the donation.
UMaine News interviewed Scott Johnston who is the Director of the School of Earth and Climate Sciences. He spoke of how impactful the donation was to the department. “When I was an undergraduate student trying to decide on a major, the magnificent minerals collection in the geology department at my university magnified my interest in the major. We believe that this wonderful gift will have the same impact on visiting high school students and on UMaine undergraduate students who are choosing what to focus on in college and their careers,” Johnston said.
The photo cover for the podcast was taken by David Jakacky for The Maine Campus
About Getting Stoned
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
I am currently seeking sponsors and opportunities start at just $1 and go up to $150 for those interested in advertising. Visit my website, gettingstoned.online to learn more.
Getting Stoned: The Jeweled Horse
In this episode of Getting Stoned, I want to share with you a cool piece of jeweled coin that I found while browsing Jeweller Magazine. The coin is a limited-edition Argyle pink diamond coin made by Australian precious-metal refiner, The Perth Mint.
The coin is part of its limited edition, "The Jeweled Range" which is a collection of pink diamond coins that are created in conjunction with pink diamond specialist supplier, Glajz which is founded by John Glajz, whose company has created beautiful jewelry pieces such as the Argyle Pink Diamond Tiara.
In the newest coin, the horse, like all of the animals in the coins, were, selected for its relevance to Chinese culture. In the case of the horse, it represents nobility, power, and vitality.
The article mentioned that each of the Jeweled Horse coins wey 10 ounces and is made from 99.99% pure yellow gold with 18 carats rose gold. And it was set by hand with 2.76 carats of fancy intense vivid pink and purplish pink Argyle diamonds which are the rarest types of pink diamonds.
Cover photo credit: Jeweller Magazine.
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
I am currently seeking sponsors and opportunities start at just $1 and go up to $150 for those interested in advertising. Visit my website, gettingstoned.online to learn more.
Getting Stoned With Uncharted Invest
Today on Getting Stoned, I have my friend, Brian Griffo and we are going to chat about Monazite and rare earth elements. Brian is the founder and editor of Uncharted Invest which covers long-term investing trends and we are going to talk about Monazite, rare earth elements, and more. Brian’s background as a technical director at National Geographic and is also an early Tesla investor influenced his work.
Monazite is a rare phosphate mineral that often occurs in small isolated grains---usually as an accessory mineral in igneous and metamorphic rocks. Think granite and gneiss.
Geology.com noted that monazite is part of several solid-solution series with other minerals. Monazite is also the name of a group of monoclinic phosphate and arsenate minerals that share traits of crystal structure and composition. Geology.com has a list of minerals
- NetworkNewsWire Editorial Coverage noted that Monazite is one of the highest-valued rare earth-bearing minerals in the world and that it's made up of 50%-60% of total rare earth oxides. "22% to 24% is neodymium-praseodymium oxide, an REE that is vital to producing the powerful permanent magnets used in multiple applications, including EVs, wind turbines, electronics and more."
If you need to contact Brian you can reach him at editors@unchartedinvest.com or directly on Twitter.
Cover image credit: Mindat.org.
About Getting Stoned.
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
I am currently seeking sponsors and opportunities start at just $1 and go up to $150 for those interested in advertising. Visit my website, gettingstoned. online to learn more.
Getting Stoned With SkyJems
Today on Getting Stoned, I have David from Skyjems on. David shares his favorite gem that he is currently in love with and tells me some stories of how he got into the gem and jewelry business.
The podcast cover is provided by Skyjems and you can see the original image and more of David’s beautiful work on his Instagram--click here.
Skyjems, which David named after his son, Sky, is a mother and son business that sells ethically sourced gemstones and has been in operation since 1967.
About Getting Stoned.
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
I am currently seeking sponsors and opportunities start at just $1 and go up to $150 for those interested in advertising. Visit my website, gettingstoned. online to learn more.
Getting Stoned: Interview with Gail Alfar
In this episode of Getting Stoned, I have my friend, Gail, on and she shares the incredible story of how she scored a piece of Starship wreckage. Gail also shared her favorite gemstone with me and it was one that I don't know too much about. Pearls are something I have worked with, but only freshwater, low-grade pearls. However, pearls are very elegant and it is that which draws Gail and many others into the beauty of the pearl.
One thing we talk about is the use of pearls in medicine which I looked into and found an article by Timeless Pearl. You can read that article here.
GIVEAWAY ALERT
I'm having a 4/20 Giveaway (winner announced and emailed on April 20th) and the prize is a rose quartz pendant charm wrapped in 14K white gold (palladium) worth $150--that's what I'd price it on my website.
To enter go to gettingstoned.online/subscribe. If you've subscribed through my jewelry blog, then there's no need--you're already on the list.
About Getting Stoned.
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
I am currently seeking sponsors and opportunities start at just $1 and go up to $150 for those interested in advertising. Visit my website, gettingstoned. online to learn more. Learn more at gettingstoned.online.
Conversation With Tesla Joy About Jade And Other Minerals
In this episode of Getting Stoned, I chat with my friend Joy who has the YouTube channel, Tesla Joy where she shares her experiences with her Tesla. Joy is from Taiwan and has dual citizenship (U.S/Taiwan) and this is what enabled her to visit the National Palace Museum in Taipei where she got to see the Jadeite Cabbage with Insects.
This beautiful carving is the most famous masterpiece in the entire National Palace Museum. Together with the Meat-shaped Stone, and the Mao Gong Ding, these are known as the Three Treasures of the National Palace Museum.
Podcast cover from Wikipedia--By Peellden - Own work,
About Getting Stoned.
Getting Stoned is a podcast about gems, minerals, and fun conversations that may go off-topic--but that’s perfectly fine. The mission of this podcast is to encourage folks to explore the wonderful world of crystals, gems, minerals, and the various ways they are used in life, technology, and more.
I am currently seeking sponsors and opportunities start at just $1 and go up to $150 for those interested in advertising. Visit my website, gettingstoned. online to learn more.
If you are interested in being on the podcast with me, visit gettingstoned.online to sign up.
Magic and Good Conversation With Hart and Nick
Today I have two guests with me, my friend, Hart Deer, and my friend Nick Howard. We talk about a variety of things and touch upon some adult topics, so if you are under 18, I advise you to skip this episode. We don't go too far down that rabbit hole, but I'm still posting that tiny disclaimer.
Some of the crystals we talk about in this episode are chalcopyrite, obsidian, carnelian, Libyan Desert Glass (tektite)--which Hart was confused with spider-like tektites from Legends of Zelda. Not being a gamer (sorry gaming friends, I just suck at gaming haha) that threw me while sounding terrifying.
Hart and Nick are both awesome people and you can follow them on Twitter.
Support this podcast on Patreon for $1.
If you are enjoying Getting Stoned, then allow me to invite you to join my community of gem and mineral enthusiasts on Patreon.
For only $1 a month you get:
- Early access to new episodes of Getting Stoned
- Free access to my new Gem and Mineral Library
- Free exclusive Patreon only content
- A forever-discount for anything you find yourself wanting in my online store.
Talking Azurite with Bryan Seely
Azurite is a basic copper carbonate named after its deep blue colors. the name Azure is derived from the Persian word lazhward which means blue.
Jeweller Magazine mentioned an American legend that claims Azurite is a powerful healing stone, but it is toxic due to its high concentration of copper.
Ixchel Crystals also noted that it has sulfur in it. Like malachite, azurite is pretty harmful when wet--and the runoff water is toxic. Ixchel Crystals also pointed out that it gives off sulfur when mixed with water.
Also mentioned in this episode is Psudomalachite and you can learn more about that mineral here.
Support this podcast on Patreon for $1.
If you are enjoying Getting Stoned, then allow me to invite you to join my community of gem and mineral enthusiasts on Patreon.
For only $1 a month you get:
- Early access to new episodes of Getting Stoned
- Free access to my new Gem and Mineral Library
- Free exclusive Patreon only content
- A forever-discount for anything you find yourself wanting in my online store.
Rays From The Rising Sun--An Opal Worth $550K
Today on Getting Stoned, I have Robert Cleaver on. Robert, who owns a mine in Australia, will share the story of a unique opal called "Rays From The Rising Sun.”
Part of this opal’s story is that it was originally chosen to exhibit at the Smithsonian with the Hope Diamond, however, it didn’t receive a donor so it wasn’t exhibited.
Robert is looking to sell the opal, which was valued in 1992 at $550,000. He plans to use the funds to expand his mining business. He only has one request--that whoever buys the opal doesn’t cut it.
Robert emailed me a copy of the lab report of the opal by Barrie O'Leary Opals that explains that the opal, weighing 600 metric carats, is valued at $550,000 US dollars. I asked Robert about the name and he told me that the original owner named it Rays From The Rising Sun.
The lab report shared that the name comes from the iluvisnandos pattern which is Spanish for 'rainy,' that you can clearly see in the opal. Google Translate translated the word to "illuminating," which I think fits the opal beautifully.
Support this podcast on Patreon for $1.
If you are enjoying Getting Stoned, then allow me to invite you to join my community of gem and mineral enthusiasts on Patreon.
For only $1 a month you get:
- Early access to new episodes of Getting Stoned
- Free access to my new Gem and Mineral Library
- Free exclusive Patreon only content
- A forever-discount for anything you find yourself wanting in my online store.
Interview with Li-Cycle Holding's Chief Commercial Officer
Today I have two very special guests from Li-Cyle Holdings, a company that specializes in lithium-ion battery recycling. I’d like to welcome Li-Cycle’s Chief Commercial Officer, Kunal Phalpher.
I learned about Li-Cyle by reading an article in Clean Technica that my friend, Jennifer Sensiba wrote. The article covered the company’s latest big news — its plans to go public through a deal with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Li-Cycle will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and will be known as LICY--and yes I plan to add some to my portfolio.
I believe in investing in companies that impact our planet in a positive way and battery recycling is something that we need more awareness and advocacy for.
Li-Cycle is North America's largest lithium-ion battery recycling company and I thought it would be a great topic for Getting Stoned.
This is a podcast about gems and minerals, after all, and minerals play an important role in battery technology.
In the podcast, I congratulated Kunal and the company for its newest milestone of getting listed on the NYSE. Kunal told me that the company was excited to take this next step and grow the business internationally.
Lithium is very important and powers most of our lives. Many people may not even be aware of just how dependant we are on lithium-ion batteries. Kunal agreed and noted that many are not aware just how many times a day that someone may touch a device powered by a lithium-ion battery. “In your daily life, you’re fixing some cupboards, driving around, taking the bus, that’s more in the future but there’s definitely a lot around us.”
Support this podcast on Patreon for $1.
If you are enjoying Getting Stoned, then allow me to invite you to join my community of gem and mineral enthusiasts on Patreon.
For only $1 a month you get:
- Early access to new episodes of Getting Stoned
- Free access to my new Gem and Mineral Library
- Free exclusive Patreon only content
- A forever-discount for anything you find yourself wanting in my online store.
New Mineral That Could Power Batteries?
I am sharing with you a cool mineral discovery that took place just last year. Petrovite, the new mineral is a newly discovered fumarolic sulfate and it was found in the Great Tolbachik fissure eruption in the Kamchatka Peninsula area of Russia.
Although I love working with gems and minerals, I’m also writing on topics such as renewables for CleanTechnica and this article by Open Access Government caught my eye.
The article pointed out that Petrovite could power batteries and touched upon the idea of using minerals to create renewable energy. "What if naturally occurring substances could power the batteries of the world?" That was the question asked in the article. Petrovite is one such mineral and has an interesting chemical composition.
The chemical structure of the mineral is a mix of sodium, calcium, copper, sulfur, and oxygen. The mineral looks really cool with blue globular aggregates of tabular crystals that have gaseous inclusions. Petrovite has oxygen atoms, sodium-sulfur, and copper and together these create a porous framework that connects the voids to one another through channels that act as an interstate highway for small sodium atoms to travel.
It’s an interesting read and the article cited a study by the University of Cambridge. I will include the links to both below. The photo cover for the podcast is not mine but is from the Mineralogical Museum of St. Petersburg State University.
Support this podcast on Patreon for $1.
If you are enjoying Getting Stoned, then allow me to invite you to join my community of gem and mineral enthusiasts on Patreon.
For only $1 a month you get:
- Early access to new episodes of Getting Stoned
- Free access to my new Gem and Mineral Library
- Free exclusive Patreon only content
- A forever-discount for anything you find yourself wanting in my online store.
Getting Stoned: Chat with Al
In this episode, I have an interesting chat with my friend Al where we trade stories and talk about all sorts of things including a mineral that he saw when he was young. That mineral is known as the Meat-Shaped Stone and you can learn more about it here.
The image for this podcast comes from Wikipedia.
Support this podcast on Patreon for $1.
If you are enjoying Getting Stoned, then allow me to invite you to join my community of gem and mineral enthusiasts on Patreon.
For only $1 a month you get:
- Early access to new episodes of Getting Stones
- Free goodies such as my free guide to starting your own mineral collection
- Free exclusive Patreon only content
- A forever-discount for anything you find yourself wanting in my online store.
Pyrite, Amethyst, Battery Technology And More with Adam Stevens
In this episode of Getting Stoned, I have Adam Stevens join me and we talk about several minerals that he likes such as diamonds, emeralds, pyrite, and the topic turns toward the applications of minerals used in battery technology, Tesla, SpaceX and sustainability.
How can we save our planet and do better by it? What are ways that the average person can reduce their own impact on our planet? And is Amethyst really a gem of sobriety? Perhaps we should test it out and see.
Support this podcast on Patreon for $1.
If you are enjoying my short and sweet podcast, then allow me to invite you to join my community of gem and mineral enthusiasts on Patreon.
For only $1 a month you get:
- Early access to new episodes of Getting Stones
- Free goodies such as my free guide to starting your own mineral collection
- Free exclusive Patreon only content
- A forever-discount for anything you find yourself wanting in my online store.
Talking Shungite with Jay
In this episode of Getting Stoned, I talk about Shungite with Jay. We also talk about Elon Musk, SpaceX, Elon's song, Don't Doubt Ur Vibe, and Believe in Good which is what Elon said to me back in 2018.
We also talked about Shungite sources and I shared where my gifts of Shungite came from. Unfortunately, Google flagged the website as unsafe, but if you are curious, here's the link.
We also touched upon a Science Direct study that included shungite in its testing for removing radioactive elements from water at the Fukushima plant. The study noted that shungite in the same concentrations as coke, the other mineral in the test, absorbed 70% of cesium and 47% of strontium.
From the study: The researchers were surprised to see that plain shungite particles extracted almost as much cesium as its oxidized counterpart. "Interestingly, plain shungite was used by local people for water purification from ancient times," Dimiev said. "But we have increased its efficiency many times, as well as revealed the factors behind its effectiveness."
Another stone we talked about was a special type of quartz that can store 360 million TB of data for millions of years.
--
Support this podcast on Patreon for $1.
If you are enjoying my short and sweet podcast, then allow me to invite you to join my community of gem and mineral enthusiasts on Patreon.
For only $1 a month you get:
- Early access to new episodes of Getting Stones
- Free goodies such as my free guide to starting your own mineral collection
- Free exclusive Patreon only content
- A forever-discount for anything you find yourself wanting in my online store.
Interview with Franklin aka Mother Frunker
In Today's episode of Getting Stoned, I have a sweet chat with my Twitter friend, Franklin, who runs the YouTube Channel, Mother Frunker (all things Tesla!).
In this episode, we talk about Franklin's birthstone for his month as well as his zodiac and I share my favorite mineral, Moldavite, and how I came to find this mineral. We also talk about Garnet, Diamond, and Bloodstone aka Heliotrope.
The two websites mentioned in this episode are:
Gemselect's post on April birthstones
Gem Society's post on the birthstone charts.
--
Support this podcast on Patreon for $1.
If you are enjoying my short and sweet podcast, then allow me to invite you to join my community of gem and mineral enthusiasts on Patreon.
For only $1 a month you get:
- Early access to new episodes of Getting Stones
- Free goodies such as my free guide to starting your own mineral collection
- Free exclusive Patreon only content
- A forever-discount for anything you find yourself wanting in my online store.
Getting Stoned with Rebekah Leekley, Emmy Award Winning Screenwriter
On this special episode of Getting Stoned, I chat with Rebekah Leekley, an Emmy Award-winning screenwriter (Spawned, HBO) who has a passion for teaching and writing. We talk about several topics including gems, minerals, Moissanite, carborundum, SpaceX, Tesla, Elon Musk fossil fuels, Lil Uzi and his pink diamond, and more.
You'll have to pardon my two wild cats as they decide--right in the middle of the podcast--to start racing around the house.
Muonionalusta Meteorite
Today I want to talk about this really sweet meteorite I scored. The name is a bit hard to pronounce so I hope I don’t butcher it.
Muonionalusta Meteorite is a meteorite that impacted the border area between Sweden and Finland and is named after the nearby Muonio River. Wikipedia says that it is probably the oldest known meteorite and is the first occurrence of stishovite in an iron meteorite.
Stishovite is a very rare and extremely hard and dense tetragonal form of silicon dioxide (think quartz) and could possibly be a predominant form of silicon dioxide in the lower mantel of our planet.
The meteorite impacted our planet during the Quaternary period around 1 million years ago and was either part of the iron core or mantle of a planetoid that shattered into many pieces as it fell.
Here is something to think about. I am holding a piece of history--something that has experienced four ice ages! Originally I was going to keep it but I decided to wrap and sell it---someone out there will treasure it.
If the Muonionalusta meteorite could speak, imagine the stories it would have to share with us.
For pictures of the meteorite, click here.
Support this podcast on Patreon for $1.
If you are enjoying my short and sweet podcast, then allow me to invite you to join my community of gem and mineral enthusiasts on Patreon.
For only $1 a month you get:
- Early access to new episodes of Getting Stones
- Free goodies such as my free guide to starting your own mineral collection
- Free exclusive Patreon only content
- A forever-discount for anything you find yourself wanting in my online store.
Hypersthene
Today I want to talk about a mineral called Hypersthene. I saw a cabochon on Etsy and it was so pretty so I decided to buy it to make something with it.
Upon receiving it, it had the same texture as jet--clearly a stone but it felt very light, almost wooden. After digging around on Google, I learned that this neat little mineral is a mix of magnesium and iron silicate.
The name, Hypersthene comes from the Greek word for over strength. Its name is generally used to mean a mix of enstatite which has mostly magnesium and ferrosilite which has mostly iron silicate. So in essence, it’s a blend of these two.
Another thing I noticed while looking up this lovely mineral is that it has a nickname, Velvet Labradorite. After receiving the stone, I can see why--looks like a black velvet labradorite yet doesn’t have the color display of labradorite nor is hardness.
I took some macro shots of Hypersthene and I also wrapped and listed it for sale in my online store. Hypersthene is found in igneous rocks and sometimes in metamorphic rocks. It's also found in some iron-based meteorites.
Wikipedia mentioned that a coarse-grained labradorite-hypersthene rock from Pauls Island off of the coast of Labrador has furnished the most typical material which lends to the name Labrador hornblende or even paulite.
Support this podcast on Patreon for $1.
If you are enjoying my short and sweet podcast, then allow me to invite you to join my community of gem and mineral enthusiasts on Patreon.
For only $1 a month you get:
- Early access to new episodes of Getting Stones
- Free goodies such as my free guide to starting your own mineral collection
- Free exclusive Patreon only content
- A forever-discount for anything you find yourself wanting in my online store.
Chrome Diopside
Today I want to talk about chrome diopside. Diopside comes in many colors but the most well-known is the green variety. The mesmerizing deep green of this mineral rivals that of an emerald, in my opinion. It gets the color from the mineral, chromium and the greens vary from light to almost black.
Chrome diopside comes from a region in Eastern Siberia that is known for its impressive diamond deposits. There are other deposits in Pakistan, as well. Russian chrome diopside comes from a really harsh part of Siberia---so harsh that the mines are closed half of the year due to the climate of Siberia. This doesn’t make the stone rare, but it can affect the price of the stone during certain times of the year.
The gem has a hardness of 5-6 on the Mohs scale and should be worn with a bit of caution--don't do hard labor while wearing jewelry made from chrome diopside.
Chrome Diopside can be mistaken for Tsavorite, peridot, and even tourmaline due to the variation of the green color. Diopside can be found all around the world and chrome diopside is often seen as an indicator of diamonds being nearby.
There's a variety of chrome diopside that comes from India and has such a deep green that the stone is black. It also has a white star on the surface--and these are called Star Diopside.
Support this podcast on Patreon for $1.
If you are enjoying my short and sweet podcast, then allow me to invite you to join my community of gem and mineral enthusiasts on Patreon.
For only $1 a month you get:
- Early access to new episodes of Getting Stones
- Free goodies such as my free guide to starting your own mineral collection
- Free exclusive Patreon only content
- A forever-discount for anything you find yourself wanting in my online store.
Moissanite vs Cubic Zirconia
Today I want to compare Moissanite with Cubic Zirconia. Both gems are man-made and I have, in the photo along with the audio, one of each. I do want to point out that my camera wasn’t able to pick up the brilliance of the Moissanite as well as the cubic zirconia yet to the naked eye, both gems were dazzling.
Also, my moissanite is much smaller than my cubic zirconia. The Jewelry Shopping Guide had a blog post comparing both with the aim to determine which one was the better diamond alternative.
Both gems have natural versions that are very, very rare, Cubic Zirconia is made up of zirconium oxide while moissanite is made from silicon and carbon. Chemically, moissanite is related to the diamond since both of those gems have carbon.
The origin of moissanite--a gem from the stars--is what sets it apart from cubic zirconia. Moissanite is also the second hardest stone. However, both of the lab gems will cloud up and become hazy over time although moissanite is better able to resist this than the cubic zirconia.
Regarding affordability, both gems are cheaper than diamonds, but moissanite is more expensive than cubic zirconia. The Jewelry Shopping Guide pointed out that a high-quality moissanite carat can cost around $400 while similar cubic zirconia will cost $20-$40. See the difference?
While both of these gems are lab-created, it’s better to think of them like that instead of fake diamonds. I personally used to look at heat-treated minerals a fake, but in reality, you can say that about Moldavite since that was once an entirely different mineral before it collided with the earth and was transformed by the heat of that collision.
It’s something to think about--and both gems are beautiful.
Support this podcast on Patreon for $1.
If you are enjoying my short and sweet podcast, then allow me to invite you to join my community of gem and mineral enthusiasts on Patreon.
For only $1 a month you get:
- Early access to new episodes of Getting Stones
- Free goodies such as my free guide to starting your own mineral collection
- Free exclusive Patreon only content
- A forever-discount for anything you find yourself wanting in my online store.
Vibrant Blue Topaz
Here's a little bit of info on one of my favorite gemstones to work with, Blue Topaz. In this episode of Getting Stoned, I talk about the three colors of the gemstone and how it gets those colors.
Learn more about Topaz here.
Support this podcast on Patreon for $1.
If you are enjoying my short and sweet podcast, then allow me to invite you to join my community of gem and mineral enthusiasts on Patreon.
For only $1 a month you get:
- Early access to new episodes of Getting Stones
- Free goodies such as my free guide to starting your own mineral collection
- Free exclusive Patreon only content
- A forever-discount for anything you find yourself wanting in my online store.
Record Keeper Sapphire
Today on Getting Stoned, I am going to share with another type of sapphire--and this also affects rubies as well as other crystals. In general, a record keeper is simply a triangle or pyramid on the stone.
Star sapphire
Star sapphires have Asterism, which is the property of a star stone, Asteria. Although the photo isn't the best, I have a video of all three of these gems available here.
To learn more about star sapphire, read my blog post about them here.
Carborundum
Carborundum is a type of mineral that occurs naturally in space but is rare on earth. You can read more and see my short video here.
Golden Enydros
Golden Enhydro crystals are a bit different from crystals with water in them (enhydros). Listen in to learn about these glowy gems.