Mika McKinnon

Vancouver

Freelance Science Journalist at Freelance

Field geophysicist, disaster researcher, scifi science consultant, science writer, public speaker, irrepressibly curious. @[email protected]

Articles

Round 1 Match 10 — Mineral Cup

Sep 10, 2024 | mineralcup.org | Mika McKinnon

It’s story the surface versus depths as newcomers Mellite and Omphacite join Mineral Cup. Two minerals with very different and unique origin stories; crustal inorganic processes versus deep tectonic forces. Which story will you choose? Translucent warm gold with resinous sheen evocative of honey gives Mellite its name, although it can also be red, brown, grey, or white.
Round 1 Match 8 - Mineral Cup

Sep 8, 2024 | mineralcup.org | Mika McKinnon

It's a match of obscurity vs ubiquity as Vivianite faces off against Spinel. The popular Lady of Darkness Vivianite returns from peat bogs and old bones to do battle once again. This mineral starts colourless, then oxidizes to green, blue, and eventually black. It's soft enough to cut with a knife, and flexible enough to psuedomorph after wood and other fossils. Newcomer Spinel is so iconic that it lends its name to an entire mineral classification group.
Round 1 Match 4 - Mineral Cup

Sep 4, 2024 | mineralcup.org | Mika McKinnon

This pair of exotic gemstones are rare beauties. Wavellite is a soft translucent green mineral precipitating in watery cracks, its radiating spheres, its radiating spheres whispering secrets of alteration and metamorphism. Durangite is a fiery crystal made more bold by arsenic locked within it . It is pleochroic, subtly shifting shades of red, orange, and yellow when rotated. Both are striking and unusual, but only one can move to Round 2:
Round 1 Match 1 - Mineral Cup

Sep 1, 2024 | mineralcup.org | Mika McKinnon

We’re starting off the competition with beloved clay favourite Kaolinite and newcomer quirky porphyrin Abelsonite. Many-times-competing ubiquitous clay Kaolinite is in everything from paper to kitty litter, a soft mineral formed all over the world given enough time and water. Meanwhile, Abelsonite is still challenging scientists to understand exactly how it forms, straddling the boundaries between biology and geology that was discovered under a century ago and first synthesized even more recently.
Semi-Finals Match 1 — Mineral Cup

Sep 28, 2023 | mineralcup.org | Mika McKinnon

Voting for each match starts at 00:00 GMT and runs for 24 hours. Any votes received after that time will disappear into the void, having no impact on the results chart. Please vote only once per match. Your honesty is appreciated (as is your patience). While we could enact anti-cheating measures, we’d rather make the game as accessible as possible and trust our players to not ruin their own fun.
Vote in Semifinal Match 1 — Mineral Cup

Sep 28, 2023 | mineralcup.org | Mika McKinnon

It’s a semi-final match for the ages!Zircon is the undisputed Time Lord of geochronology, a mineral that can resist harsh environments that destroy other minerals. Harder then quartz, resistant to corrosion, and with a 2500°C melting point, zircon grains can withstand the process they form sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.
Quarterfinals Match 1 — Mineral Cup

Sep 24, 2023 | mineralcup.org | Mika McKinnon

Voting for each match starts at 00:00 GMT and runs for 24 hours. Any votes received after that time will disappear into the void, having no impact on the results chart. Please vote only once per match. Your honesty is appreciated (as is your patience). While we could enact anti-cheating measures, we’d rather make the game as accessible as possible and trust our players to not ruin their own fun.
Round 2 Match 8 - Mineral Cup

Sep 23, 2023 | mineralcup.org | Mika McKinnon

Voting for each match starts at 00:00 GMT and runs for 24 hours. Any votes received after that time will disappear into the void, having no impact on the results chart. Please vote only once per match. Your honesty is appreciated (as is your patience). While we could enact anti-cheating measures, we’d rather make the game as accessible as possible and trust our players to not ruin their own fun.
Vote in Round 2 Match 7 — Mineral Cup

Sep 22, 2023 | mineralcup.org | Mika McKinnon

Please vote only once per match. We’d prefer to keep playing as frictionless as possible and not enact rigorous registration policies to combat cheating. You can check Results at any time from the navigation bar, or you’ll be automatically redirected after voting. Voting for each match starts and ends at 00:00 GMT. Due to site limitations, the polls will continue to be visible until manually closed by volunteers, but only votes cast in the 24-hour period will be tallied.
Vote in Round 2 Match 6 — Mineral Cup

Sep 21, 2023 | mineralcup.org | Mika McKinnon

Please vote only once per match. We’d prefer to keep playing as frictionless as possible and not enact rigorous registration policies to combat cheating. You can check Results at any time from the navigation bar, or you’ll be automatically redirected after voting. Voting for each match starts and ends at 00:00 GMT. Due to site limitations, the polls will continue to be visible until manually closed by volunteers, but only votes cast in the 24-hour period will be tallied.