Beryl, the Dummy Version (Minerals Week 5)

Not all beryl crystals are gems

It's Thursday, and the Antisocial Network researchers still find themselves awash in bogus information about rocks, minerals, and crystals. The editorial board, however, remains convinced that it wouldn't be wise to expand Minerals Week to Minerals Year, even if it seems quite possible. Instead, we'll finish up our last three entries and move on to other subjects in which freelancers routinely contribute to the stupidification of the internet. Speaking of which, here's today's nominee: Tiffany Garden and her Sciencing.com post, "What Is the Mineral Beryl Used For?"

OK, Tiff, short answer: beryl is the chief ore of beryllium and, when found in gem form, is known as emerald or aquamarine. Unfortunately, that's only nineteen words, and DMS¹ only paid for answers meeting a minimum word count of 300 words. That's why "Garden" padded her answer to 400-plus words. The problems with those 400 words include, among others...

"Beryl is a well known mineral, although you most likely know it as one of the many gemstones that is formed from this beryllium aluminium [sic] cyclosilicate. Aquamarine and emeralds are two of the most popular forms of beryl, although there are several other varieties depending on the chemical inclusions in the stones. Modern uses for beryl tend to focus on jewelry and art applications. The varieties are very beautiful, and there are six in total."

Ummm, sure: Garden's bio says that she runs a "handcrafted jewelry business," and apparently her only exposure to beryl is in gem form. On the other hand, we use a hunk of a large hexagonal beryl crystal weighing about fifteen pounds as a doorstop at AN HQ, and we're quite sure it isn't gem quality. Oh, and Tiffany? It isn't the "chemical inclusions in the stones" that result in different colors of beryl, it's the presence of impurities in the crystal lattice; metals besides beryllium and aluminum (aka "aluminium" in BritEng).
We spotted a few other misstatements and misconceptions, such as

• "Beryl contains a very rare [sic] element called beryllium, which is only found in about 100 minerals." – We wouldn't say, "called beryllium," ourselves, and it's not very rare. Beryllium abundance in Earth's crust ranks 48th out of the naturally occurring elements, making it more common than tin, molybdenum, and iodine (among others).
• "That makes it very significant to the scientific community, although they have also used beryl in a few other applications." – WTF does this even mean?
• "Like many gemstones, the varieties of beryl have various holistic and magical properties associated with them." – Greetings from woo-woo land...
• "There are three different types of rock that beryl is commonly formed in. The first and most prevalent is granitic pegmatites. You can also find it in mica schists as well as limestone. This type of rock can be found in Colombia, home of the most famous emerald mines, as well as South Africa, Brazil, and the central and western United States." – Limestone? Uhhh, no!

Apparently this is the kind of "science" you get when you let jewelry designers post information about minerals. Perhaps Garden garnered her expertise while getting her certification as a computer technician – or while gaming. It's for sure she never read a mineralogy book, because if she had she wouldn't be our Dumbass of the Day. Probably...

¹ DMS, or Demand Media Studios, is the former name of Leaf Group. They owned, among other properties, eHow.com (the original home of Tiffany's content).

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