Thread: Is this silicified(colonial) coraL??

A-dog houses prototype 011.JPGA-dog houses prototype 010.JPGA-dog houses prototype 007.JPGA-dog houses prototype 009.JPGA-dog houses prototype 012.JPG

i found this in central Iowa.................what is it??? a fossil perhaps???
A-dog houses prototype 007.JPGA-dog houses prototype 010.JPGA-dog houses prototype 012.JPG
A-dog houses prototype 011.JPGA-dog houses prototype 009.JPG

When you say it "seems to put off energy" what do you mean by that?

Must be a fossilized battery, seems there was once a sentient species on the planet. That definition fits your criteria, I have no idea what else could be fossilized and put off energy. Or perhaps you picked up an animal turd, I hear some of it burns quite well.

It seems to contain some sort of regular internal structure, rectangular cells built up in layers. Could it be something that was manufactured and then melted?

Thanks for the comments.......sarcasm also....i dont know what it could be????? the energy i refered to is like the energy that some crystals give off. not quite sure it is good energy tho......really, it creeps me out !!!! i have sent some pics to the Dept of Natural Resources here in Iowa, but they have yet to reply . I do not think it is a manufactured item that has melted....i work construction and this piece came from a truck load of 1 inch river rock. probably from a quarry on the Raccoon River

Originally Posted by congamitch

the energy i refer ed to is like the energy that some crystals emit. not quite sure it is good energy tho

Huh? Which crystals?
How do you know it's emitting energy?
What do you mean by "good energy"?

Originally Posted by congamitch

the energy i refered to is like the energy that some crystals give off. not quite sure it is good energy tho......really, it creeps me out !!!!

Well don't hold it in your hand. It might corrupt your soul and give you the Black Spot.

Could you give us a link to crystals that emit energy please?

you can feel the energy fom amithist and some quarts crystals i am sure of ....something feels dark to me about this piece, idk what it is tho


neverfly .......stick it up your dark star, Save what brain cells u have left. mule

Originally Posted by congamitch

you can feel the energy fom amithist and some quarts crystals i am sure of

You sure?
No links on this supposed "crystal energy"? Just your word for it?

something feels dark to me about this piece

Huh?

Save what brain cells u have left. mule

Says the guy who seems to be promoting, or at least to have fallen for, complete woo.

For reference all Google brings up with regard to amethyst and "energy" are crackpot sites promoting specious "new age" crap that is totally without substantiation:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=am...ient=firefox-a

Originally Posted by congamitch

neverfly .......stick it up your dark star, Save what brain cells u have left. mule

Can't. My own energy is dark energy and for certainty, the combination of both dark powers would tear the universe asunder.

congamitch you aren't going to get any serious attention with the "puts out energy bit" unless you are specific and support your statements with evidence.

It is emitting energy, specifically IR EM radiation from being at room temperature.

As for what it is, I suspect it's some form of colonial coral dating from when Iowa was below sea level.

Suggest you look up or talk to a geologist and run some of the standard test, such as hardness. You could even test it by Geeger counter by someone who knows how to use one to check for any other than heat energy.

The post is so weak of scientific content that I'm moving it to general. In the future try to present a more solid scientific basis for discussion, it's not only the rules, but will draw less open ridicule and laughter from other members. For the rest, resist temptation.

If you don't mind damaging it, you could run some basic tests. Like Lynx said, you could test it against the Mohs scale by using pretty typical objects. You could check the cleavage, fracture, streak color. You could test it against HCl to determine if it contains calcium carbonate found in coral.

I mean, any of these options would give you some decent info with which to supply those of us who can identify rocks and minerals. Telling us it emits a dark energy like most quartz is asinine. It almost feels like you WANT this sample to be something incredible and if it bubbles in HCl and we say it's made of dead anthozoa, you're going to call us mules.

Crystals DO emit "energy", given certain requirements; this is known as the piezoelectric effect.

jocular

Originally Posted by jocular

Crystals DO emit "energy", given certain requirements; this is known as the piezoelectric effect.

jocular

Only when energy is put into the crystal first, in the form of mechanical force.

Here's a picture of what I think it is:

Mostly, it's a matter of speaking to us (or any other science-minded people) in scientific terms. If someone said they found a "really cute" flower and asked what it was, well, what does "really cute" mean scientifically? Same thing with an "ominous" or "menacing" looking piece of wood, or a stone with "energy", etc. All stones have potential energy (PE) simply by existing in a gravitational field, or kinetic energy (KE) if they are moving, or simply E=mc^2 on account of their mass.

So, to say that these stones have energy the way amethyst does, and this energy cannot be measured by a scientific instrument, well, you can't expect much (except some sarcasm) from us or the Department of Natural Resources or the Museum of Natural History at UI or NASA etc. You need to speak our language. (So don't expect to hear anything useful from the Dept of Natural Resources.)

The best scientific information that you have given us so far are the photos. Me? I don't know a stone from a scone, so I might guess that they are fossilized turds.

Ultimately, "energy" regarding a stone may be found to have some scientific equivalence, such as radioactivity or low thermal conductivity, but until then, use of such a word doesn't have much meaning to science-minded people.

thank you for your replies and info.....I can see how my statements open myself up to open ridicule. I will try to refrain from making unsupported statements in the future. That being said, I do not have any evidence to back up what kind of energy this item "puts off". My initial intentions of posting this for discussion is to hopefully find out what it is. If i could change the heading for this (puts off energy), I sure would. If you say the DNR can't help me, where could I take it to for help? My gut says it may be a form of coral.

Originally Posted by congamitch

I do not have any evidence to back up what kind of energy this item "puts off".

Do you have any evidence that it actually does "put off" energy? At all?

If you say the DNR can't help me, where could I take it to for help?

The point that jrmonroe was making is that the DNR won't be "useful" as far as the "energy" is concerned.
I'd expect that they'd be pretty damn good at actually identifying the sample.

Another simple test is calculating the density of the stone you've found. A weightwatchers or similar good food scale and good measuring cup should suffice.

well the Iowa DNR got back to me, here is what they say -

Thanks for sending me those photos. I've shown them to the senior geologists in my office to get their opinions and we've come to a conclusion. It appears to be part of a coral that has been "silicified". The coral was originally made of a mineral called calcite, but over time the calcite dissolved away by groundwater flowing in and around it, and was replaced by the mineral quartz. Quartz can appear in almost any color and is much harder and more durable than calcite, which explains why it survived being crushed at the quarry and then polished in your tumbler.

thanx again everyone who shared their thoughts on this subject

again it emphasizes the point that it's never easy to identify samples purely from a photograph without access to the actual object

Originally Posted by marnixR

again it emphasizes the point that it's never easy to identify samples purely from a photograph without access to the actual object

Tell that to my relatives who think that because I have a MS in Geology I should be able to identify every weird object in the photos Curiosity sends back. Got a phone call from someone referred to me by my mom-in-law wanting to know what the metal protrusion was in the recent rover picture. "Let me just pop up there real quick with a streak plate and a magnifying glass..."