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Chemistry

Chemistry

The Mineral Aegirine

Description

Aegirine belongs to the pyroxene group and is found in a series with the mineral Augite. It is well recognized for its long, thin crystals with characteristic terminations, and some of the most lustrous varieties are truly classics. Hans Morten Thrane Esmark (1801–1882), a Norwegian mineralogist, named aegirine. In honor of the finding of Aegirine near the sea, Esmark named this mineral after Aegir, a mythological Norse sea deity.

Aegirine is renowned as a stone that helps us to “see the light”—for some, this might mean finding our way out of a low emotional condition, while for others, it can signify a burst of energy or unexpected insight. Aegirine is the conqueror of darkness in every aspect.

General Aegirine Information

CategorySilicate mineral, pyroxene
Chemical FormulaNaFe+++Si2O6
Crystal classPrismatic (2/m)
LocalityNorway, Buskerud, Kongsberg. Magnet Cove, Hot Spring County, Arkansas
SynonymAcmite

Identification Information

ColourGreen, Greenish Black, Reddish brown, Black.
FractureUneven
TenacityBrittle
Hardness6-6.5 – Orthoclase-Pyrite
LusterVitreous to slightly resinous
LuminescenceNon-fluorescent
Specific gravity3.50 – 3.60

Meaning and Energy

Aegirine is a powerful stone with a high vibrational frequency. It assists in cleaning and guarding, especially when bad energy is present. It is a stone of confidence and will benefit anyone who is lacking in self-love and admiration. By assisting you in realizing how powerful you actually are, you will be able to draw wonderful energy that you may not have recognized was even present.

Aegirine is a therapeutic stone that will boost one’s mental health significantly. It will help you break free from monotonous daily routines that are packed with negativity and drive you to focus on yourself. Aegirine will bring forth the power from deep inside that may have been buried behind internal imbalances for anyone battling with addiction of any kind.

Aegirine Physical Healing Energy

Aegirine helps the body digest and eliminate pollutants while also boosting the immunological, metabolic, and neurological systems. It is very beneficial to the liver, spleen, and gallbladder. It is a wonderful gemstone for increasing physical vitality and stamina, as well as for healing after illness or injury. Aegirine protects the nerves, muscles, and bones and can help with muscular discomfort and backaches. Aegirine is a useful stone in Reiki and other energy-transfer healing modalities that rely on the power of touch.

Aegirine Emotional Healing Energy

By breaking negative emotional patterns and attitudes created by blame, shame, guilt, worthlessness, or self-pity, Aegirine can help you overcome sadness, despair, or hopelessness. It helps to repair the emotional body by generating good ideas to replace harmful ones and allowing acceptance of what cannot be altered as well as acceptance of oneself and others as they are.

Aegirine aids in the mending of broken relationships and the transformation of grief following betrayal, separation, or death.

Meditation with Aegirine

Aegirine revitalizes and restores the body. It permits light and love to easily flow throughout the body, eliminating any obstacles in the way. It is a stone of detoxification and recuperation, allowing for long-term benefits and continuous improvements.

Aegirine blades are great for body layouts, guiding energy flow, and removing obstructions while also healing gaps in the aura. For more direct applications, blades can also be used as a wand. Matrix specimens may be held during meditation and are especially beneficial for inner-child work and mood enhancement.

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Chemistry

A Particular Cholinergic Receptor In The Brain Decreases Cocaine Usage In Hamsters.

Since humans first learned to harness these substances from plants, drug addiction, or the excessive use of narcotics like cocaine, has been linked to psychological degeneration and general health decline.

Cocaine, opioids, and other abused substances damage the brain’s reward system, causing users to prioritize getting more drugs over everything else. This persistent urge is notoriously tough to overcome for those struggling with addiction, but new research from MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research and partners suggests a therapy technique that might assist.

The new study shows how drugs inhibit or alter the brain’s reward system, which, when activated, allows us to experience pleasure and pleasant emotions. As a result, blocking this mechanism permits drugs to shift our perceived benefits away from other sources of rewards and toward additional drugs.

In a Jan. 25 online publication in the journal Addiction Biology, researchers from MIT Institute Professor Ann Graybiel’s lab and collaborators from the University of Copenhagen and Vanderbilt University report that activating a signaling molecule in the brain known as muscarinic receptor 4 (M4) causes rodents to reduce cocaine self-administration while simultaneously choosing a food treat over cocaine.

M4 receptors can be located on the surface of neurons in the brain, where they change signaling in response to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. They are abundant in the striatum, a brain area implicated in habit development by Graybiel’s group. Addiction researchers are interested in them because, together with a similar receptor called M1, which is also widespread in the striatum, they frequently appear to work in opposition to the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Drugs of abuse excite the habit circuits of the brain by enabling dopamine to accumulate in the brain. Chronic usage can cause that circuitry to become less sensitive to dopamine, making previously rewarding events less enjoyable and driving users to seek bigger amounts of their substance. Attempts to inhibit the dopamine system directly have not been proven to be useful in treating addiction and can have unpleasant or severe side effects, therefore researchers are looking for an alternate technique to restore balance within the brain’s reward circuitry. “Activating these muscarinic receptors is another approach to adjust that system,” says Jill Crittenden, a research scientist in the Graybiel lab.

Morgane Thomsen, a neuroscientist at the University of Copenhagen, discovered that stimulating the M1 receptor caused mice to choose food over cocaine. In the latest study, she demonstrated that a medication that specifically stimulates the M4 receptor had a comparable impact. When rats who have been trained to self-administer cocaine are given an M4-activating chemical, they instantly reduce their drug usage and aggressively choose food instead. Thomsen discovered that this impact increased greater during a seven-day course of therapy, with cocaine consumption decreasing day by day. When the M4-activating medication was withdrawn, the rats soon recovered their previous cocaine-seeking behavior.

While Thomsen’s research have now proven that activating either M1 or M4 will lower animal cocaine usage, it is obvious that the two muscarinic receptors do not influence cocaine use in the same way. M1 activation operates on a distinct time scale, taking some time to kick in yet leaving some effects long after the therapy is stopped.

Graybiel’s lab has confirmed that the two receptors impact drug-seeking behavior via separate biochemical pathways in genetically engineered mice. Previously, the researchers observed that activating M1 had no effect on cocaine desire in mice lacking the CalDAG-GEFI signaling protein. M4 activation, on the other hand, lowers cocaine intake independent of the presence of CalDAG-GEFI.

“The CalDAG-GEFI is entirely necessary for the M1 impact to occur, but it does not appear to play any part in the M4 effect”

Thomsen

The findings imply that activating M4 might aid in the recovery of patients suffering from drug misuse problems and that this method could be even more beneficial if paired with M1 receptor activation.

When Graybiel’s group observed that CalDAG-GEFI was exceptionally plentiful in the main compartment of the brain’s striatum in the late 1990s, it piqued their curiosity. CalDAG-effects GEFI’s on behavior was unknown for a long time, despite the fact that their study found the protein to be critical for regulating movement and even uncovering an essential part in blood clotting. It’s satisfying, according to Graybiel, that this long-standing curiosity has finally resulted in the discovery of a prospective therapy method for drug misuse disorder. As part of the McGovern Institute’s new addiction effort, her group will continue to investigate the molecular processes that underpin addiction.

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Chemistry

The Mineral Adamite

Description

Adamite is a zinc arsenate mineral that was identified in Chile for the first time in 1866. In 1866 it was named by Charles Friedel after Gilbert Joseph Adam, the French Government’s Inspector (Auditor) of Finance, who provided the first specimens of his mineral.

Adamite is a zinc arsenate hydroxide mineral that appears as a clear to translucent botryoidal radiating habit. Adamite is a member of the Phosphate Class’s Arsenate subclass. Adamite, the copper arsenate Olivenite, and the intermediate, structurally different component Zincolivenite create a solid solution.

Zincolivenite is a separate intermediate member of this group.


Adamites can take on a variety of hues due to the presence of several impurities. Iron (Fe), for example, can give yellow tints. Green colours can be seen in Cuprian (Cu bearing) types. Rose or purple/violet colours can be seen in specimens containing cobalt (Co). Manganoan or manganese (Mn) containing specimens can be purple/violet, pink, or lavender in hue.


Mexico, Namibia, Russia, China, New Zealand, British Columbia, Canada, and Taiwan are all home to adamite. Namibia and Mexico have produced some of the most beautiful Adamite specimens.

Uses

The heart, lungs, throat, and glands are all supported by adamite. Adamite stimulates the endocrine system, especially the release of hormones associated with love and joy. This can help those who are sad or have severe symptoms connected to hormonal imbalances like PMS and SAD, as well as other cyclical hormone abnormalities. It can help with the mental fog that comes with hormone imbalances, chronic fatigue syndrome, or a general lack of power. Adamite is beneficial for finding delight in physical activity and expression, as well as for those who need to reconnect with their body or who want to lose weight or improve their physical fitness.

If someone ever needs to concentrate on a certain job or make a difficult decision, Adamite can help. It is suitable for meditation.

The hardness of adamites is 3.5, and they have good cleavage. As a result, they produce jewelry that is less than ideal.

Adamite

Characteristics of Adamite:

  • Category: Arsenate mineral.

  • Formula: Zn2AsO4OH.

  • Occurrence: Secondary mineral found in the oxidized zone of ore deposits.

  • Colours: Colourless, Pale yellow, honey-yellow, brownish yellow, reddish; ideally white, blue, pale green to green.

  • Crystal system: Orthorhombic.

  • Crystal class: Dipyramidal (mmm).

  • Crystal habit: Wedge-like prisms seen in druses and radiating clusters, as well as smooth botryoidal masses.

  • Fracture: Uneven to subconchoidal

  • Tenacity: Brittle

  • Luster: Vitreous

  • Specific gravity: 4.32 – 4.48

  • Hardness: 3.5 on Mohs Scale

  • Cleavage: Distinct/Good

                 on {101}, good; on {010}, poor.


Because Adamite is an extremely rare crystal that is only found in small bits, it’s typical for users to combine it with an enhancing crystal-like Quartz or Rose Quartz to enhance the benefits. Rose Quartz, as well as other heart and solar plexus stones like Citrine and Heliodor, will add fuel to that “inner fire.” Any faraway goal or desire will become a not-so-distant reality you’ll be able to work towards reaching thanks to your increased drive and dedication.

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Chemistry

Actinolite is a member of the amphibole family of minerals

Definition: Actinolite gets its name from the Greek word “aktis”, which means “beam” or “ray”. The amphibole family includes actinolite, which is a common mineral. It develops when mafic igneous rocks or carbonate-rich rocks like limey mudstones undergo low-grade metamorphism. Actinolite can be found in Quartz crystals as thin, splintery inclusions. Chatoyancy in Quartz occurs when the inclusions are parallel and dense. Actinolite crystallizes seldom. Radiating fibrous to asbestiform masses are the most typical manifestations. It may also be found as bladed crystals up to 15 cm in length; columnar, Crystals can be twisted or kinked. A crystal is a kind of substance in which the atoms, molecules, or ions are organized in a three-dimensional lattice that is highly ordered.

Value: The mineral actinolite belongs to a group of minerals that include different proportions of iron and magnesium. The Mg end is tremolite, and the Fe end is ferro-actinolite, with actinolite in the center. Actinolites with more than 50% Fe are extremely uncommon. Actinolite is a bad jewelry stone because it is simple to cleave but difficult to cut. The main component of nephrite is actinolite (jade).

Use: Many other products, notably those containing talc and vermiculite, include actinolite as a contaminant. Actinolite is a trace contaminant that can be found in mineral-rich paints, sealants, fireproofing goods, concrete products, gardening soils, and other items.

Common Products made with Actinolite Asbestos:

  • Vermiculite-based structural fireproofing materials
  • Concrete with asbestos
  • Children’s toys
  • Drywall
  • Sealants
  • Talcum powder
  • Vermiculite loose-fill attic insulation

Actinolite is used as a gemstone in some forms. One of the two varieties of jade is nephrite. The chatoyant variant of actinolite known as cat’s-eye actinolite is another gem variation. The hue of this stone ranges from translucent to opaque, and it is green to yellowish-green in appearance. The common name for this type is jade cat’s-eye. Transparent actinolite is a gem collector’s favorite since it’s uncommon and faceted. Taiwan and Canada are the primary suppliers of various types of actinolite. Madagascar, Tanzania, and the United States are among the other sources.

Actinolite

Characteristics of Actinolite:

  • Category is Inosilicates
  • Group is Amphibole
  • Formula is Ca2(Mg4.5-2.5Fe2+0.5-2.5) Si8O22(OH)2
  • Color is usually pale to dark green, white or gray, yellowish green and black.
  • Luster is vitreous to dull.
  • Diaphaneity is translucent to transparent.
  • Crystal System is monoclinic
  • Crystal Class isPrismatic (2/m)
  • Crystal Habits: bladed, fibrous, radial
  • Cleavage: is perfect in two directions at close to 60- and 110-degree angles.
  • Fracture is splintery to uneven.
  • Hardness is 5 – 6.
  • Specific Gravity is 3.00
  • Streak is white.
  • Associated Minerals are quartz, lawsonite, epidote and glaucophane.
  • Other Characteristics: the compact nephrite type is highly strong, even tougher than steel.
  • Notable Occurrences include the Lake Baikal Region, Russia; China; New Zealand; British Columbia, Canada, Taiwan, Madagascar, Tanzania, and the United States.

Actinolite is a relatively common crystal that may be found in many different places across the world. Actinolite comes in two extremely uncommon forms, both of which are highly sought after by collectors and practitioners.

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