Slashdot Mirror
World's Largest Crystals
el_guapo writes: "OK, this is just cool. From here, a mining company in Mexico opened up a couple of chambers containing the world's largest known crystals. From the article 'Walking into either of these caves is like stepping into a gigantic geode.'" Looks pretty impressive.
Why? Why would they need to shut down the cave?
It's not like the crystals, unseen and unharmed by the public, are doing anything remotely useful.
Other than generating "feel good vibes," preserving the crystals does no good whatsoever. And damaging the cave system isn't likely to be a big consideration, given that it's a *mining* company. Destroying rocks is what they do best.
I can appreciate, understand and give in to the sloppy sentimentality that's being displayed by so many Slashdotters -- but, on the other hand, I'm also pragmatic enough to admit that if the crystals aren't viewed by tourists, they might as well be chopped up and sold.
--
--
Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
--
I'd expected some bunch of tofu munching tree huggers would mine the hell out of it.
Never stopped giving me a good wheeze. "Oh, save the whales! Beach the turtles! Oh, look! A sale on geodes and crystal pendants! I'll drive my Jeep Grand Cherokee that gets 10mpg the 100 miles to buy some!" Meanwhile there are thousands of slobs digging up huge portions of natural wilderness so they can sell these rocks for ten bucks a pop.
I'm in the wrong line of work...
At least these are being kept safe (for now). Those pictures looked very cool.
Ceci n'est pas une sig.
When I was 6 I found a very light-weight rock on the playground of my brother's pre-school. It couldn't have been more than an inch in diameter. I kept it in my pocket, and the next day I was bouncing it on my desk at school, because it made a neat sound, almost as though it was hollow. One time I missed catching it after it bounced, and it dropped on the floor and cracked. I was disappointed, knowing that it would now not be in a shape conducive to bouncing, which I thought was just great at age 6. Then I looked, and saw what was inside. I had found a closed geode on a playground in Virgina, USA, and of all the rocks there, it was the one I happened to pick up. To this day I have no clue how it happened, but I know that it did.
WARNING: there is a trojan on your
Did anyone else see the Superman Hall of Justice* when looking at those fotos?
*isnt that what its called...
Air conditioning tends to do this anyway. When the air is cooled moisture is removed, which is why air conditioners drip water.
Also, while selenite is not the most durable of minerals neither is it the most fragile in this sense. The much smaller selenites in my personal collection are unharmed after ~ 10 years despite being kept in open cabinets in New Orleans, LA which is not exactly a low-humidity environment.
In fact, the air conditioning would probably help to preserve the crystals, since the introduction of outside air cannot be undone. By making that outside air cooler and drier any damage to the crystals will be slowed.
Brackets contain world's first nanosig, highly magnified:[.]
________
Does anyone actually have a Java program designed to control air traffic, or for the operation of a nuclear facility?
How about if they build glass tunnels through the caves and airconditioned only those while preserving the natural environment around the crystals. That would keep people from going of the trail and damaging crystals. It would prevent the new atmosphere from damaging the crystals. Also it would save a fortune on the air conditioning bill.
134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
are doing anything remotely useful
Moderators: Do your worst.. ive got karma to burn.
You know FFFish - its people like you who are responsible for the mess this planet is in...
*JUST EXISTING* and knowing that the Crystals are there is 'enough use' for their preservation. HUMANS of every generation feel they have the right to take anything they please with no consideration to the planet or future generations. Why the fuck should this natural wonder be forced to live up to some asshole's expectation of 'something usefull'? Have you no sense of wonder???? These Crystals took millenia to form - through natural processes of the planet - their mere existance should cause humans to reflect on the planet and the natural wonder around us... instead close minded jackasses like yourself spew shit like "anything remotely usefull".
Give your head a shake pal- 'God' willing - when your long dead and forgotten these things will still be here, despite your arrogance and hubris.
According to the article, the mining company will install airconditioning to make the caves more tolerable to tourists. One thing they must consider when choosing airconditioning is the effect of a steady stream of tourists through an enclosed space. Humans continuously give off a steady stream of water vapour, carbon dioxide and other metabolic wastes, and this may have an adverse effect on the stability of the crystals. The airconditioning must not only lower the temperature of the cave, but must also remove these metabolic wastes, particularly the water vapour.
There are ancient Egyptian sites that have been closed to tourists because the water vapour from the tourists was dissolving the relics, which had been preserved because of the dryness of the site.
I hope the mining company carefully monitors the effect of the airconditioning and tourists on the caves and crystals. They may need to shut down or limit the tourist access if tourism is having an adverse effect on the crystals or cave system.
--
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke
It sounds nice at first, but it may be more destructive than it sounds. I've been spelunking and studying geology as a hobby for several years now, and it is quite possible that the act of opening the caves to the public alone can destroy some crystals.
What, then, would you have us do? Sure, we could preserve the caves indefinately by sealing them up forever. But then they would benifit no one.
As the article says, the choices, as far as the mining copmany sees it, is tourism and mining. Obviously mining the caves for the crystals in much more destructive than letting people take a look.
Even saying that we could avoid this dichotomy, what are the alternatives? Just let "seriosu" spelunker down there? That seems rather elitist to me. I'm not a seriopus spelunker, but I have a healthy respect for and awe of mother nature, and to be told that I can't go spreading around my water vapor, only "serious spelukners" just seems wrong to me. Shouldn't everyone be given equal access to the gaves, in anyone is giving access? Then everyone can enjoy them, and some regular guys might become interested in serious spelunking.
To me, this seems to paralell the ideals behind free software. Everyone is given equal acess to the finite software resiource (coders can only work so hard), and everyone can appreciate it, all in the sense of irony. And if a microsofty can be one over for Linux or BSD, everyone wins.
Stupid like a fox!