#mincup
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mikamckinnon.bsky.social
Sure, you could get sucked into and disappointed by the lack of rocks in TikTok drama.

Or you could contemplate why of the four discussed minerals, only #Arsenolite has never competed in #MinCup. Kinda feel like it should be nominated…
October 28, 2026 at 3:22 AM
cbdawson.bsky.social
I came to say something similar -- shadows of mincup past 🤣 #TeamIceMinForever
October 17, 2026 at 11:12 PM
phaneritic.bsky.social
Look at you trying to start some stuff on a perfectly fine Saturday. Tapping into MinCup trauma for engagement.
🤣
We Listen We Dont Judge
ALT: We Listen We Dont Judge
static.klipy.com
October 17, 2026 at 4:08 PM
richardaiguy.bsky.social
It's been a hard several months after leaving my PhD.

Doing some consulting stuff now, in tbr finance area. Which is fine, I guess. But it still doesn't take the place of actual discovery.

It's also a lot less toxic. So double edge sword and stuff.

I'm sorry I missed MinCup.
October 13, 2026 at 2:56 AM
salvaterra.bsky.social
💎 Here is the final art of all the minerals competing in the Mineral Cup 2026, at last. 🧵

#mincup26 #mincup #minerals #sciart
colourful illustration of 32 minerals competing in the 2026 mineral cup. they from deep red, greem, to blue, white and grey, as we have here rocks, crystals and metallic minerals. azurite, cuprite, quartz, talc, halite, vesuvianite, graphite, pyromorphite, julianite, andalusite are just some of the minerals that compose the list.
October 10, 2026 at 1:26 PM
salvaterra.bsky.social
This year, the champion is Quartz! 🏆

Here is my 2026 bracket.

#mincup26 #mincup #minerals #sciart
a cup bracket of the 32 minerals competing in the 2026 mineral cup. they from deep red, greem, to blue, white and grey, as we have here rocks, crystals and metallic minerals. azurite, cuprite, quartz, talc, halite, vesuvianite, graphite, pyromorphite, julianite, andalusite are just some of the minerals that compose the list. the champion is quartz, who beat cuprite in the final.
October 10, 2026 at 1:29 PM
salvaterra.bsky.social
BW version of the minerals.

I'll be uploading these as stock art on my Patreon next year, 4 minerals per bimester.

But the entire set is already available for purchase if you don't want to wait: salvaterra.itch.io

Also, art prints: www.inprnt.com/gallery/salv...

#mincup #mincup26 #minerals
black and white illustration of 32 minerals competing in the 2026 mineral cup. we have here rocks, crystals and metallic minerals. azurite, cuprite, quartz, talc, halite, vesuvianite, graphite, pyromorphite, julianite, andalusite are just some of the minerals that compose the list.
October 10, 2026 at 3:08 PM
salvaterra.bsky.social
💎 the stages of the cup 🏆

#mincup #mincup26 #minerals #sciart
colourful illustration of 16 minerals eliminated in the first round of the 2026 mineral cup. smithsonite, erythrite, anorthite, bournoite, orpiment, asagiite, monazite, talc, hafnon, gypsum, calcite, pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite, riebeckite, xocolatite and cassiterite. blues, grees, yellow, silver hues. colourful illustration of 8 minerals eliminated in the second round of the 2026 mineral cup: azurite, vesuvianite, andalusite, stichitte, putsinite, cylindrite, chrysocolla and gadolinite. colourful illustration of 4 minerals eliminated in the quarterfinals of mineral cup 2026: sphalerite, skutterudite, julienite and pyromorphite. colourful illustration of the four minerals in the semifinals and final match of the mineral cup 2026: quartz, the champion, cuprite, second place, halite and graphite.
October 10, 2026 at 2:01 PM
dotsandlines.bsky.social
Perhaps a fitting way to celebrate this year's #MinCup winner would be eat some ice cream straight from the carton.
October 6, 2026 at 7:05 AM
tanterei.bsky.social
For a future #mincup or #orecup.

Though, correct me if I'm wrong, but that solution is used to chemically etch circuit boards.
October 5, 2026 at 10:59 PM
cornduck3.bsky.social
I thought about this a few times today and have decided that this was fucking hilarious. Nice work! 🫵😜

If I had known, I would've voted for Pepite in the MinCup.
October 3, 2026 at 10:07 PM
vickyveritas.bsky.social
I can’t think of a more appropriate ending for the 10th Anniversary of #MinCup than Quartz winning, the mineral that started it all! Thank you to @mikamckinnon.bsky.social and the team for all the tireless work you do! The ballot stuffers can stuff it, though!
Cherryfurby: Who's Awesome? You're Awesome!
Alt: Cherryfurby: Who's Awesome? You're Awesome!
static.klipy.com
October 2, 2026 at 11:33 AM
crossbaumann55.bsky.social
Thank you to MinCup admins for a great contest. And thanks to all posters from whom I learned a lot. Enjoyed this so much! My only question- now that MinCup26 is over and Fat Bear Week is over...what do I do now? 🫤
October 2, 2026 at 8:03 PM
dotsandlines.bsky.social
Hooray for Quartz! A hard-earned win.

Thank you to everyone who shared science facts, art, history, poetry, and all that good stuff for #MinCup!
October 2, 2026 at 12:58 AM
yirara-bah.bsky.social
Yay to #TeamQuartz. So glad a properly hard mineral won with all the softies this year. No: No more quartz goodness in future #minCups to come. Boo: Cheating is just lame. Idea: If there are enough winners, what about a winner short mincup just with these?
October 2, 2026 at 9:17 AM
mineralcup.bsky.social
Congratulations, Quartz!

After a decade of #MinCup, this key rock-forming mineral of optical tricks is the #MinCup26 Champion!

Due to intense manipulation attempts in the final hours, the exact winning margin is still being audited. Please join us tomorrow for celebration!
A clear double-terminated quartz crystal with petroleum inclusions. Credit: John Sobolewski
October 2, 2026 at 12:06 AM
bkania.bsky.social
🤯🤣👍
Psst...you should volunteer for next year's #MinCup @mineralcup.bsky.social
👆😎
October 2, 2026 at 6:42 AM
snapcracklepoppies.bsky.social
Yay!!! 🥳 Quartz deserved it 🥰

Thank you to the organizers & all the folks that make MinCup so much fun~
mineralcup.bsky.social Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · Oct 2
Congratulations, Quartz!

After a decade of #MinCup, this key rock-forming mineral of optical tricks is the #MinCup26 Champion!

Due to intense manipulation attempts in the final hours, the exact winning margin is still being audited. Please join us tomorrow for celebration!
A clear double-terminated quartz crystal with petroleum inclusions. Credit: John Sobolewski
October 2, 2026 at 4:01 AM
moreorloess.bsky.social
Wisconsin Central Sand Plain finally wins MinCup.
View across the western part of the central sand plain of Wisconsin, a landscape of thin sandy soils over quartz-rich sandstone bedrock. The landscape is forest covered, in fall color, with small hills in the distance. Top of a small bluff of Cambrian sandstone, with a rock outcrop surrounded by birch trees and a mix of forest and open land in the distance. There is snow on the ground.
October 2, 2026 at 12:16 PM
bkania.bsky.social
If nothing else, a tenacious individual. When I choose to be. Eddie's #MinCup was a dream come true for me. That is why I campaigned fairly rigorously for #Quartz this year especially. #QuartzDeservesThis
I wish to thank anyone and everyone who put up with me. This is part of my #MinCupStory
October 2, 2026 at 5:48 AM
bkania.bsky.social
He waited until I was home before he took his legal supervised *life ending cocktail*. I was determined then that I would campaign ferociously 4
#TeamFlourite in the 2022 #MinCup We were beaten ( just barely😉) in the finals in 2021. We were soo close. In 2023, organically, ##TeamFlourite unified
October 2, 2026 at 5:21 AM
eos.org
Quartz was the original inspiration to start #MinCup, and (anecdotally) it's an inspiration for many kids to fall in love with the big beautiful world of minerals.

#Quartz has done a lot for us! And so, the least we could do is cast our final vote for this abundant—and abundantly stunning!—mineral.
mineralcup.bsky.social Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · Oct 1
#MinCup26 FINALS!!!
We have a pair of geometric beauties as deep red #Cuprite is against versatile #Quartz.

VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
Split image of fine red needles of cuprite on one side and chunky clear quartz crystals on the other.
October 1, 2026 at 8:18 PM
obialik.bsky.social
Ha... you can still vote for #MinCup - go and vote for quartz. ⚒️
mineralcup.bsky.social Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · Oct 1
#MinCup26 FINALS!!!
We have a pair of geometric beauties as deep red #Cuprite is against versatile #Quartz.

VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
Split image of fine red needles of cuprite on one side and chunky clear quartz crystals on the other.
October 1, 2026 at 7:00 AM
dotsandlines.bsky.social
For the watch fans on team #Quartz this #MinCup: Did you know there's a calibration contest?
astrokatie.com Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · Oct 1
I went to Geneva a few weeks ago and spoke on a panel about the nature of time for a Geneva Watch Days event. While I was there, on a lark, I entered a competition to most precisely calibrate a Swiss watch. And today I found out that I won! 😃 www.instagram.com/reel/Dd6hUTB...
Me peering through a little magnifier at a tiny watch mechanism connected to some monitoring equipment, while making adjustments with a small screwdriver
October 1, 2026 at 3:56 AM
dotsandlines.bsky.social
It doesn't take much editing to make xkcd 2501 about #MinCup.

marshdeer.github.io/xkcd2501-gen...
Custom variant of xkcd comic 2501: Average Familiarity. [Ponytail and Cueball are talking. Ponytail has her hand raised, palm up, towards Cueball.] Ponytail: Minerals are second nature to us MinCup fans, so it's easy to forget that the average person probably only knows graphite and halite. Cueball: And quartz, of course. Ponytail: Of course. [Caption below the panel] Even when they're trying to compensate for it, experts in anything wildly overestimate the average person's familiarity with their field.
October 1, 2026 at 6:41 AM