OT: Planet Kypton discovered...or maybe not.

[Randallw]

Scientists have announced the discovery of a new earth like planet about 20 ly away. Noticeably it has a red sun.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6589157.stm

meanwhile miners have discovered Kryptonite.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6584229.stm

but it only glows pink under UV. Anyone want to know what Pink Kryptonite does to Superman? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Of course the planet hasn't blown up thus spreading its minerals into space so it doesn't add up in the end.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

I'm pretty sure one of the elements on the periodic table was named Kryptonite, too.

[Randallw]

I imagine you're thinking of Krypton.

[Atrocities]

Another news link Planet Found (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,268230,00.html)

[geoschmo]

If I lived there I'd be 1200 years old and weigh 400+ pounds. Hey, I'd be Jabba the Hut! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Renegade 13]

narf poit chez BOOM said:
I'm pretty sure one of the elements on the periodic table was named Kryptonite, too.

You're thinking of the element Krypton, an inert noble gas, atomic number 36. Surrounded by Bromine on the left, Rubidium on the right, Argon above and Xenon below (on the periodic table).

[Arkcon]

When I first heard of the mineral "kryptonite" being found on Yahoo news, I was confused as hell too. I didn't realize the reference to "sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide" from one quick scene in one movie. I always figured kryptonite was the oxide, or sulfate or some chemical compound of -- well, some element that didn't exist on Earth at all.

Thing is thay can't formally name their new found mineral "kryptonite" Naming conventions would require it to be a compound based on the element krypton -- which it isn't.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

I stand (Or rather sit) corrected.

[Aris_Sung]

The scientists also believe that the planet is tidally locked, so any future colonists would have to live at the equator where the "light" side of the planet meets the "dark" side.