Science-is-magical - Science Is Magic

ALL ROLLED UP

A newly identified mineral christened merelaniite tightly rolls up like a scroll as it crystallizes, forming shiny dark gray needles up to a few millimeters in length (Minerals 2016, DOI: 10.3390/min6040115). The overall formula of the mineral is Mo₄Pb₄VSbS₁₅. It crystallizes into a sheet composed primarily of alternating ultrathin layers of MoS₂ and PbS. “It’s like a natural nanocomposite,” says research team leader John A. Jaszczak of Michigan Technological University. Strain from the interacting layers likely causes the crystalline sheets to wrap around themselves as they grow. Jaszczak and coworkers named the mineral for the Merelani mining district in Tanzania, where the merelaniite samples originated. Collaborating research institutions included the U.K. Natural History Museum, U.S. National Museum of Natural History, and University of Florence.

Credit: Minerals (both)

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1. Normal vision

2.  Deuteranopia 

3.  Tritanopia

4. Monochromacy - An extremely rare type of color-blindness in which sufferers can see only in shades of grey, and perceive no color at all. About 1 in 33,000 people is born with this condition.

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