Fluorescent Wernerite (Scapolite)

This mineral produces a strong yellow color when exposed to longwave ultraviolet (UV) light. It is called wernerite a variation of scapolite. The label for this mineral lists it as being from Otter Bay, Canada. I could not find any reference to this locality but did find that scapolite was found at Otter Lake, Québec, Canada.


Specimen is approximately 4 cm x 4 cm x 3 cm in size.


H.C. Dake 1953 book The Uranium and Fluorescent Minerals describes wernerite 'is generally regarded as one of the strongest of all long wave mineral "fluorescents."'.


According to mindat.org this mineral was named in 1800 from Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749-1817) who was a German mineralogy professor.


It is for sale on eBay CLICK HERE

Fluorescent Fluorite from Rogerly Mine, England

The Rogerly Mine of England produces amazing UV fluorescent fluorite.  It is normal a green fluorite in visible light but take it outside in bright sunlight and it starts turning blue.  Longwave ultraviolet (UV) light turns this fluorite blue/purple.

Hardystonite - Franklin, New Jersey

This specimen was bought from the Franklin Museum at Franklin, New Jersey.  It was obtained October 10, 1970.  It has a great orange glow under ultraviolet light.

Derby Hats!

Since this is Kentucky Derby weekend, it seemed like a good idea to post pictures of hats on display at the Louisville Science Center.  These hats were carefully selected from the larger apparel collection stored at the Louisville Science Center.  It is part of an exhibit entitled "Hats! Reflections in Time".  All the hats have labels describing the specimen and listing the donor.

Since the Louisville's star attraction, The Kentucky Derby is on Saturday, May 7, 2011, the Louisville Science Center is closed so for visitors still in town on Sunday or beyond visit the science center and view this classy exhibit in the Discovery Gallery on the second floor.

Learn more that the Louisville Science Center web site.

Colors from Heaven

A gift after all the rains this week...

Happy Easter 2011

Happy Easter every one!  This year I colored eggs again with two of my nephews with some mixed results.  The rainbow egg turned out a little more abstract than last year.

As for flowers, no Easter lily but orange-red tulips instead.

Dr. D. Jayne's Medicinal Bottle

While fossil hunting I came across this blue bottle probably from the early 1900s.  It had some sort of medicine(?) from Dr. Jayne's Family Medicines (founded 1831).  The company lasted over 100 years. Learn more about the operation HERE

The bottle has a seam line going to the lip which is a sign that it is machine made.  So it was made after 1905 or so.  The aqua glass was used till about the 1930s so it was before then.  Someone listed a picture of a bottle that looks similar to this one back in 2005 on Antique-Bottles.Net

UV Fluorescent Calcite from Illinois

This is a nice piece of calcite that is almost cabinet size.  It has fluorescent activated sections almost entirely around the mineral when exposed to longwave ultraviolet (UV) light.

UV Fluorescent Fluorite from Illinois

Most minerals that I find that fluoresce under longwave ultraviolet (UV) light tend to be white calcite.  This mineral is an exception being yellow fluorite found in southern Illinois.  One side of reacts to the light by producing a yellowish lemon colored glow.

Fluorescent Calcite from Kentucky

Longwave ultraviolet light fluorescent calcite from Hardin County, Kentucky.  I need to figure out how to filter out the visible purple light though.  Image taken with 2.5 second exposure.''

Fluorescent Calcite from Illinois

Purple Flowers Blooming

Blooming Red Flowers

Red flowers blooming in Clark County, Indiana.

More Spring Flowers

More spring flowers blooming in Clark County, Indiana.

Helleborus Flower "Christmas Rose"

Two colors of flowers blooming at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, Indiana.  The flower is called Heleborus Christmas Rose.

First Daffodils of Spring 2011

Purple Line Problem with Samsung LCD TV

Samsung LCD televisions manufactured in 2007 can develop display issues when they are first turned on.  See image of small purple dots and vertical lines that appear throughout the picture.  If the television is turned off and immediately turned back on the display clears up.

The issue has been reported to Samsung service so I will see what their response is. They told me it was not the capacitors but maybe the computer display board. I did not pursue finding out how much the board costs.

Reading this web site, the problem appears to be with the capacitors in the television: http://www.fixya.com/support/t5448000-samsung

UPDATE (February 2012): Samsung has listed a TV Capacitor Settlement Notice on their web site so owners of these televisions might be able to get financial reimbursement: http://www.samsung.com/us/capacitorsettlement/

I did not see any pictures of this phenomena so I posted these images.  Last picture is close up of screen.

UPDATE: The problem was caused by three 1000 uF 25 V SAMWHA electrolytic capacitors. The tops had bubbled up but not begun to leak yet. Another Samsung television I worked on which failed to turn on also had a SAMWHA 2200 uF 10 V capacitor fail.  Whew!  I am glad this is fixed.  It took about 30 minutes to repair though I did have to order the capacitors which took about 3 days to arrive from Mouser Electronics.

The problem documented in this posting now appears fixed.  See this posting for the fix CLICK HERE