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[P class=textBodyBlack][SPAN id=byLine][/SPAN]LONDON - Kryptonite, which robbed Superman of his powers, is no longer the stuff of comic books and films.
[P class=textBodyBlack][SPAN id=byLine][/SPAN]A mineral found by geologists in Serbia shares virtually the same chemical composition as the fictional kryptonite from outer space, used by the superhero's nemesis Lex Luthor to weaken him in the film "Superman Returns."
[P class=textBodyBlack][SPAN id=byLine][/SPAN]"We will have to be careful with it — we wouldn't want to deprive Earth of its most famous superhero!," said Chris Stanley, a mineralogist at London's Natural History Museum.
[P class=textBodyBlack][SPAN id=byLine][/SPAN]Stanley, who revealed the identity of the mysterious new mineral, discovered the match after searching the Internet for its chemical formula — sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide.
[P class=textBodyBlack][SPAN id=byLine][/SPAN]"I was amazed to discover that same scientific name written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luther from a museum in the film 'Superman Returns,'" he said.
[P class=textBodyBlack][SPAN id=byLine][/SPAN]The substance has been confirmed as a new mineral after tests by scientists at the Natural History Museum in London and the National Research Council in Canada.
[P class=textBodyBlack][SPAN id=byLine][/SPAN]But instead of the large green crystals in Superman comics, the real thing is a white, powdery substance which contains no fluorine and isn't radioactive.
[P class=textBodyBlack][SPAN id=byLine][/SPAN]The mineral, to be named Jadarite, will go on show at the London's Natural History Museum starting tomorrow.
