Don't tell Superman but Kryptonite exists

A newly-discovered mineral has been found to contain exactly the same elements as the large green crystals that rob the superhero of his powers.

Unlike fictional kryptonite, the real thing at London's Natural History Museum is white and powdery, emits no radiation, and comes from Serbia rather than outer space.

But scientists who analysed the find were astonished to discover that its chemical composition matched a description of kryptonite in the film Superman Returns.

In the 2006 movie, Superman's arch enemy Lex Luthor steals a kryptonite rock fragment from the Metropolis Museum.

On the case are written the words "sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide with fluorine".

Mineralogist Dr Chris Stanley, from the Natural History Museum, said: "Towards the end of my research, I searched the web using the mineral's chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide - and was amazed to discover that same scientific name written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luthor from a museum in the film Superman Returns.

"The new mineral does not contain fluorine and is white rather than green, but in all other respects the chemistry matches that for the rock containing kryptonite.

"We will have to be careful with it - we wouldn't want to deprive Earth of its most famous superhero!"

The unusual mineral was unearthed in Serbia by geologists from the mining group Rio Tinto. As it is unlike anything previously known to science, they enlisted the help of experts at the Natural History Museum.

Between 30 and 40 new minerals are discovered each year but before it can be classified as new, a mineral's chemical properties, including its crystalline structure, must be rigorously tested. Dr Stanley recruited colleagues at Canada's National Research Council (NRC) to examine the "kryptonite" using state-of-the-art X-ray facilities in Ottawa.

Dr Yvon Le Page, an expert in the field of crystallography at the NRC, said finding that a material's chemical composition was an exact match for fictional kryptonite was "the coincidence of a lifetime".

A comparison with a database of all existing known minerals proved that the new material was unique.

Tempting though it might have been to christen the new mineral kryptonite, scientists opted for the name jadarite. It will be formally described in the European Journal of Mineralogy later this year.

The mineral can be seen at the Natural History Museum in free events tomorrow and on Sunday May 13.