See, pets really are smart!

And are even helpful with things like science lessons...





Unless they're the evil mad scientist type of course, hee hee hee



For more info about today's science lessons brought to you by the letter "C"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_(optics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrodinger_cat

Friday Favorites - Weird Bug Lady!

This weeks Friday Favorite showcases the colorful, unique (and perhaps for bug-a-phobs, creepy and scary) creations of Brigette, aka Weird Bug Lady!


This guy is what first caught my eye on Etsy ('fraid he's already sold). *WARNING - SCIENCE SPEAK* He is what is called a Caddisfly larvae. Many moons ago before I came to the dark side (geology), I studied environmental biology. Off and on I did research on aquatic macroinvertebrates (invertebrates that are macroscopic, i.e. you can see them without a microscope). This included studying a variety of organisms, one of which was the caddisfly! I was pleasantly surprised that someone else on Etsy knew these interesting little creatures!



One of my new favorite creations are the aquarium collections! What a great idea these are - perfect for kids that aren't ready for live pets. Also a cool idea for college students who can't have pets in their dorms!



Brigette is a zoology student, and got interested in creating her menagerie of plush creatures when she couldn't find anyone else who made all these unusual and wonderful critters! She is also a member of the Mad Scientists of Etsy team :D You can find more photos of her creations and other cool things on Flickr, and read about what she is up to at her Blog.

For an awesome gift perfect for anyone fascinated with insects or other invertebrates, check out the Weird Bug Lady!

Stone of the Week - Celestine or Celestite

This is one of my favorite minerals and I love to collect it so much, hardly a gem show passes that I don’t buy a new specimen of it each year! The official name of this mineral is celestine, however it is still commonly called celestite, and is named from the Greek word "cœlestis", meaning for celestial due to its pretty pale blue color. Celestine is made up of strontium sulfate, or SrSO4, and is similar enough to another mineral, barite (BaSO4), that these are sometimes misidentified. This mineral commonly forms in sedimentary environments.

The pretty blue celestine crystals are a favorite among collectors.


Celestine comes in a variety of colors, including colorless, white, yellow, orange, gray, green, brown, and pale blue. It is the pale blue that is most commonly sold both as specimens and as beads. The introduction of celestine in the jewelry market is fairly recent, and can make for some beautiful jewelry. However, care must be taken as it is a soft stone, and can more easily be scratched than harder minerals such as quartz. It is also very slightly soluble (dissolves) in water, so do not expose it to water or moisture for any extended period of time. It is also best not to expose it to the Sun for extended periods if you do not wish the colors to fade.


These blue celestine crystals occur with white aragonite and a few purple fluorite crystals.


The worlds largest geode, located at Crystal Cave, Ohio (refer to previous article on geodes), is made of celestine. It is 35 feet at its widest point, and has crystals as wide as 18 inches across, estimated to weigh 300 lbs. Also of interesting note, there is a micro-organism called Acantharea (radiolarian protozoans) which have skeletons of strontium sulfate (aka Celestine). Celestine has sometimes been mined as a source of strontium, but always in very small quantities.


Crystal Cave, the worlds largest geode, is made up of large celestine crystals.



If there's a stone you would like to know more about - drop me a line! Have a mystery stone? Feel free to post a comment about it, including a link to a picture, and it could be featured on this blog!


Celestine Facts:
Chemical composition: SrSO4
Color: colorless, white, yellow, orange, gray, green, brown, pale blue
Habit: prismatic and tabular, also massive and granular
Fracture: uneven
Cleavage: prismatic and basal
Luster: vitreous
Hardness: 3-3.5
Specific Gravity: 3.9
Streak: White
Occurrence: Worldwide, mainly in the northern US, Europe, and Madagascar


References

Rocks, Minerals, & Fossils of the World by C. Pellant and R. Phillips. Published 1990 by Little, Brown and Co. ISBN: 0316697966

Mindat – Celestine. http://www.mindat.org/min-927.html

Wikipedia – Celestine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestine_(mineral)

Wikipedia – Crystal Cave. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Cave_%28Ohio%29

Fun with Organic Chemistry

So I took on the Mad Scientists of Etsy Team challenge of Organic Chemistry for May, and it was a challenge let me tell you! Organic chemistry is the study of chemical compounds containing carbon and hydrogen. Chemists often use a sort of 'short-hand' to represent how chemicals look. Carbon for instance can form a ring, often with hydrogen attached - when there are six of these carbons they are usually represented by a simple hexagon. Hence the inspriration for my item!


This pendant is about 2.5" long, and has a very cool looking Bronzite stone bead in the middle that moves!

I created a pendant out of 16 ga copper wire that I shaped, then wire wrapped a very fine gauge wire around it. Suspended in the middle is a hexagonal cut Bronzite stone bead. What I love about this pendant is that the Bronzite bead moves from side to side or even spins! My fingers have never been so sore - not even after a day long rock hunt! Wire wrappers I think you definitely don't have to worry about me - I can't see me doing it that often, lol The pendant can be found in my Etsy store here.

A length of soft brown sude cord really compliments the pendant and works well with the color scheme.

The team had quite the response to this challenge! So many that we ended up with not one but two treasuries on Etsy!

The first of two treasuries which can be found here.

The team's second treasury, featuring challenge items as well as a few other fun items from the team as we didn't have quite enough for the second treasury. Check it out here!

New Etsy Team for Scientists!

We're in the process of forming a team for scientists on Etsy - check out our thread for more details at: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5521620

Currently we are discussing the team name, so far the favorite seems to be Mad Scientists of Etsy! There is also a discussion about team membership - a poll is available on the left side of this blog to voice your opinion about it! (Please only vote if you are interested in joining the team!)

If a team name and membership options can be decided on in the next few days, then the info will be submitted later this week to Etsy so we can become official!

Please feel free to contact me with questions or suggestions!

EDIT: Names have been narrowed down, and a new poll is available for final name selection! Both polls are open until 3/21/2008 at 6pm central time.