Trinitite

This little piece of rock is the only sample of kryptonite available on Earth, taken from the darkest regions of Hell itself, brought by the ancient Quetzalcoatl and passed from generation to generation by my ancestors... nah... just pulling your leg.
It is actually trinitite, although not as popular or mystified as kryptonite may very well do the trick, for it is the closest thing we have of a once nocive radioactive material brought into existence by "unnatural" methods: a casual [plutonium] nuclear test "somewhere in the middle of nowhere". That is about a 200 km north of the US-Mexico border, in New Mexico.

It does not glow in the dark and is still radioactive in strictu sensu, since the appropiate detectors would in fact register some radiation, but in practical terms, radioactivity after 60 years amounts to zero. It does not grant magical powers and does not suck the souls of your enemies... but it is a very interesting piece or rock.

Trinitite is primarily silica with small, very small, olivine and feldspar traces. In other words, just common sandy material of the Earth's crust with some traces of magnesium and iron. The region of the test itself, the Trinity Site, is located about 50 km southeast Socorro, in what is called the Tularosa basin, which explains the sedimentary nature of the site. As we can see, nothing really peculiar about the place, except for being absolutely proper to do some horse riding... until my fellow namesake Oppenheimer suggested it as an ideal location for a test. No wonder that he indeed enjoyed riding there and knew the region perfectly.

That's when the ordinary sandy soil became the jade-green glassy residue we see in the picture (along with minor traces of radioactive isotopes Cobalt-60, Barium-133, Europium-152, Cesium-137, Thorium-232, Potasium-40, Americium-241, and Uranium-238). For the really geeks, check this brainy study of the radioactivity in Trinity site.

Obtaining trinitite nowadays is illegal, but back in the day, people living in nearby areas were known to wander and collect respectable amounts of 'samples', that were sold afterwards, or given away. The military bulldozed the site and buried it, but some fragments appear here and there throughout the site. I obtained the trinitite in the picture as a gift from a local. The measurements are 4mm x 6mm x 6mm.

Ground Zero

To be honest, the place itself is not that imposing. To the naked eye the place would be quite forgettable if it were not because of the monolith standing there. But in all fairness, to take the caravan (with police and military escort) gives more pomp to the visit, which only happens twice a year, the first saturday of April and October. Besides, you can check out the house were the bombs were assembled and see some replicas of the bombs used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There is also a surviving little piece of the tower were the bomb was detonated... and quite a few geeks with Geiger counters. But I'll tell you a little secret, the Fat Tire Fiesta, which is a cycling event in Socorro, can give you the chance to actually enter the place outside those two days mentioned above, having one more day to go, plus the benefit of having a ride in your bike.

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