#Strontian

[florealegiardini]

Sunlight filters through the ancient oaks of the Ariundle Oakwood and falls on patches of bluebells that cover the woodland floor Strontian, Sunart. Scotland, UK and ~ Steven Marshall

[benjamineharrisonart]

Gladiator! #doodles #postitdrawing #postit #art #comic #comicbook #freehanddrawing #warmup #postitpopart #Marvel #marvelcomics #Gladiator #Kallark #Strontian #ShiarEmpire #ImperialGuard #Annihilators #GuardiansoftheGalaxy #DarkGuardians #CalKramer #xmen #uncannyxmen https://www.instagram.com/p/CpksrWrpZjC/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[crabscrabscrabs]

I really miss the woods in Lochaber.

[paolobrand]

Butterfly spotting 🦋 #strontian #sunart #lochsunart #lochaline #ardnamurchan #moidart #britain #westcoast #highlands #scotland #hame #staycation #scotland2022 #nofilter (at Strontian) https://www.instagram.com/p/ChE0wmTDGxS/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bestseasonsoflife]

Autumn's Gold II - Allt na Meinne, Ariundle Oakwood, Strontian, Sunart by Steven Marshall Via Flickr: The intensity of the Autumn colours of the Ariundle Oakwood was really brought out by a recent showering of rain and the contrast against the dark of the moss-covered rocks of the Allt na Meinne (Stream of the Mine).

[elgaberino-mcoc]

Deac’s Picks - Cosmic Gladiator

Kallark could offer so much. MAJOR defense, Incinerate immune, Heat Vision (Incinerate), Frost Breath (Coldsnap), Immune to Mental Debuffs (Emma), Plus he could add a new mechanic with his Confidence (Furies). The Shi'ar need to come to MCOC!

- UMCOC Deacon

[souurcitrus]

I want to talk about Kallark, Gladiator, because I like him a lot. Not as person, but more as a cool character.

He's present in the new ep of X-Men 97, don't have many lines and just standing there and being cool most of time. But, seeing Charles discussing with the Shi'ar about their government made me think about Gladiator's role in all of this, specially after he agreed with Charles about 'idealism being a sign of insanity', and because of his past.

I'm gonna try to put it into words as best I can. It's too long and i just want to ramble about one of my favorite underrated character(s).

Gladiator is the praetor, he's known for being extremely loyal to the Empire, to the person that sits on the throne, no matter who it is. Yet, hes known for being honorable and having respect for those who beat him up or have high morals, that includes Lilandra, for her kindness, Rachel, Charles and Cyclops (though we know he would not hesitate to fight them if it meant protecting the empire)

Right, he's too prideful, but that's because his powers comes from his confidence on himself. And what bugs about me in his character is that he's too loyal to this government, and they're the solely reason he's the last one of his species and he knows that what they do is wrong.

In War of Kings: Warriors we see Kallark thinking about his past while under the rule of Vulcan.

The Shi'ar are a imperialist and colonizing government. They invade other planets and force these civilizations to kneel under their ruler, and depending of the planet, these can people will end slaves for the Shi'ar without rights. This happened to Kallark's people.

The strontians are/were a very powerful species that even the Shi'ar were scared of their power, but they're mostly gone now, with Kallark, his son Kubark and his cousin Xenith being the last living ones.

Kallark was born to be a soldier and trained to serve the Shi'ar Empire, together with his peers, other strontians of his age, his close friends. And all of them were loyal to the Shi'ar, wanting to prove themselves worthy of being part of the Imperial Guard.

Of course, Kallark was chosen because he was the most dedicated. The only thing the Shi'ar didn't liked about him is that he would often leave the missions to save his peers.

So they test his loyalty by making him attack his own people and kill them to see which one he would choose, his family or his duty. In the end he ends dooming his people by doing exactly what the Shi'ar asked, and it's fucked up.

The elders even say that they knew that Kallark could never turn his back to his duty, because "he's a good soldier". His family dies knowing he had chosen the Shi'ar and not them, his friends die disappointed on him.

The flashback ends with Kallark wodering if he would still follow Vulcan if it meant the fall of the empire, and Kallark decides that he would, because Vulcan is the Emperor and Kallark is loyal to the throne.

And that's what makes me hate him! He's too loyal. To the wrong cause. He's so loyal to the empire he ends up forgetting things he actually cares about, like Lilandra's love for him and his own son.

He loves them deeply, he cares for his people, his friends from his home planet, his friends from the Imperial Guards, his soldiers, his son. However, he can't let go of being a soldier.

We don't know much about his past or what the Shi'ar Empire did to Strotia, but it's clear they forced and pushed their ideals and rules on the young strontians to turn them into loyal weapons. And after years and years of serving the crown, Kallark can't change.

He's fully aware of the atrocities the royal family, the elders, the people in the power do to other civilizations, yet he stays by their side.

That's why when he agreed with Charles in X-Men 97, and Charles started explaining to them how their system was harmful, I was wondering if Kallark feels guilty. If it even crosses his mind what he had done to his own people.

In the comics, when Lilandra is desposed from the throne and the elders try to kill her, Kallark, who has been working for Vulcan until now, despite hating doing so, stays on Lilandra's side.

He loves her, it's obvious, he respects her and knows she only has the best interests in her heart. He even refers to her as 'Majestrix Lilandra'. He mourns her death later, he goes in a blind rage massacre, he kills everyone in sight and Black Cloak even says 'it would be painful for him to live without her'.

Later in Watxm Annual, an issue that focus on Kubark, his son, he shows how much he cares for him, how much he loves and is proud of Kubark's strength and grow.

When Kubark shows he's unhappy in his situation, being the only strontian in a school where every student must stay with their own species, Kallark doesn't listen to him. Kubark says he wants to be unique and choose his own path, Kallark denies, because it's 'not the way of the empire'.

It reminds me that Kallark, who grew up brainwashed to obey the Shi'ar, to believe that being a soldier is his only choice, expects his son to do the same.

In the beginning, Kubark did want to be a soldier like him, he hated being on Earth because he believed his destiny was to be a warrior. Then he learned he would be lonely if he did and he decided he wanted to be a hero. To be himself. And to choose.

Kubark choose to be loyal to his friends and make his own choices. Kallark did not.

So, if he's willing to change his mind and leave his job as praetor aside to protect someone he loves like he did to Lilandra, why he can't do the same for Kubark?

In the end he allows Kubark to go back to Earth. Later Kubark is back on Shi'ar, so we don't know if he was allowed to stay on earth just until he graduated. But he allows Kubark to go back and be himself, because be loves him.

But he stays the same. He never changes. He keeps making had decisions and committing mistakes and doing bad things for the empire.

Kallark is a Shi'ar by citizenship, but he's a Strontian, he's not considerate a Shi'ar, and he might not even have the same rights the Aerie Shi'ar have. He might be the most loyal and powerful soldier of the Empire, but he's nothing more than a strotian, and nothing more than a soldier. He's a soldier first, then majestor, a father, a friend.

Later when I discovered about his past and started to read about him I just made the same questions all the time: Why he never tried to change the way the Empire works? Why he never changed the bad things that the Empire did?

It would be interesting if the writers acknowledged that (that would be expecting much from Marvel). Kubark shows that he cares for Earth and his friends, that he's genuinely good and wants to do goods things. It would be interesting to see him trying to fight his father's ideals and the Empire.

It will never happen. Both these characters are underrated and were already forgotten by the writers, but I wanted to see it.

[scotianostra]

Thomas Charles Hope, a Scottish chemist, was born July 21, 1766.

Born in Edinburgh, the third son of surgeon and botanist John Hope and Juliana Stevenson, he was educated at the High School then entered the University of Edinburgh at just 13, he went on to the University of Paris.

Hope taught chemistry at Glasgow and Edinburgh for over 50 years,on Wikipedia he is cited as a discoverer of the element strontium, and indeed he did some experiments to show that there was something else besides barium in the ores from the village of Strontian in Argyll, but others had discovered this earlier, and it was Humphry Davy who first isolated strontium in 1808 and gave it its name. Hope has a better claim to fame as being the first to determine, in 1805, that water has its greatest density at about 39.5 degrees F, which explained why icebergs float.

To others, Hope’s name is familiar through Charles Darwin, who spent two years at Edinburgh between 1825 and 1827 studying medicine, in his Autobiography, Darwin recalled: “The instruction at Edinburgh was altogether by Lectures, and these were intolerably dull, with the exception of those on chemistry by Hope.” Professor Hope fared better than Professor Duncan, of whom Darwin said: “Dr. Duncan’s lectures on Materia Medica at 8 o’clock on a winter’s morning are something fearful to remember.”

Hope died in 1843 aged 77 and is buried in Edinburgh's Greyfriars Kirkyard.

[docgold13]

365 Marvel Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

July Supplemental - The Imperial Guard

The Imperial Guard is a legion of super-powered champions from throughout the intergalactic Shi'ar Empire who acted as enforcers of Imperial law. The original Imperial Guard was formed to stop Rook'shir, a Shi'ar who became the host of the Phoenix Force.  The unit continued on as the primary defensive force of The Shi’ar Empire.

When the X-Men sought to rescue the Princess-Majestrix Lilandra from her insane brother, then-Majestor D'Ken, they fought members of the Guard on the planet of the M'kraan Crystal.  With the aid of the Starjammers, the X-Men defeated the guard and saved the universe from destruction.  The X-Men and the Guard subsequently clashed again after Lilandra had assumed the Shi'ar throne and sought to end the universal threat posed by the Phoenix Force, which had assumed the form of X-Man Jean Grey. This time, the Guard defeated the X-Men, but allowed them to return to Earth after the Phoenix Force seemingly ended its own life.

The Guard continued to serve the Empire, yet became divided when the Mutant known as Vulcan killed Lilandra and assumed the Shi’ar throne.  After Vulcan fell in battle against Black Bolt, Kallark (the leader of the Guard) became the stewardship Majestrix of the Shi’ar.  Unfortunately, the civil war Vulcan had created left the empire in a weakened state and it was defeated and annexed by The Kree.  

In the wake of the Secret Wars event, the Shi’ar Empre became freed from the Kree.  Kallark pledged to help revuild the empire and reform the Imperial Guard to once more defend the Shi’ar people.  

Key members of The Imperial Guard include:

Kallark The Gladiator

A powerful and nobel being from the planet Strontia who possesses incurable strength, speed and durability along with the capacity to fly through outer space.  Earning the supreme title of Gladiator from his native Strontians, Kallark has served the Shi’ar people for over a century as the leader of the Imperial Guard.  His son, Kubark, has trained with both the Imperial Guard as well as with The X-Men in preparation of one day succeeding his father as leader of The Guard.  

Oracle

Lady Sybyl is a powerful psychic and telepath from the planet Dockrum VII.  Recruited to serve the Guard, Oracle has proven herself in battle and quickly became Gladiator’s top lieutenant.  She has acted as leader of the Guard during times when Gladiator was unavailable.  Oracle was briefly married to her teammate, Flashfire.

Flashfire

Sometimes known as ‘Tempest,’ Grannz is a native of an unspecified alien world and possesses electrokinetic powers where he can summon and mentally manipulate powerful masses of electrical energy.  He has served the Imperial Guard admirably for a long tenure and has had an ongoing, tumultuous romance with his teammate, Oracle.   Flashfire continues to serve as a high-ranking member of The Imperial Guard.  

Nightside

Nightside was a member of an unidentified alien race whose members possess the ability to tap into the other-dimensional realm of the Darkforce, an energy source of pure darkness.  Nightside perished while serving the Guard and was later replaced by another member of her species who assumed the same name to continue serving the Empire.    

Mentor

Mentor is from a race of super-intelligent beings who posses computer-like minds.  Mentor has acted as the primary strategist in the Imperial Guard.  During a mission to the Fault, Mentor was forced to give himself over as a host to the Fraternity of Raptors so to augment their firepower. Mentor bonded with a Raptor amulet and was taken over by Strel. His fate in the wake of this adventure remains thus far unrevealed.

Astra

Astra is a native of an unspecified world and possesses attributes that allows her to alter the molecular density of her physical form.  This allows her to phase in a fashion where she can pass through solid matter and cause attacks to phase through her without harm.  Astra continues to serve as a member of The Guard.

Starbolt

The heroic Starbolt heralds from an unspecified world were his species is composed of a sentient cosmic energy resembling fire.  Starbolt can channel this energy so to avail flight and the capacity to fire devastating bolts from his hands.  The original Starbolt perished in a mission to The Fault, yet was subsequently replaced with another of his species who assumed the former’s mantle.  

Magique

The Guardian known as Magique heralded from an unknown world and possessed magical powers.  The powers enabled her to cast certain spells and her most prominent spell was one that enabled her to project highly realistic illusions.   Magique was tasked with obtaining the Nega-Bands from the hero, Quasar.  Although she managed to defeat Quasar, the bands were taken by Adam Warlock.   Magique was seemingly killed in battle against Warlock.

Hobgoblin

Hobgoblin was from an alien species that possess shapeshifting powers similar to that of the Skrulls.  He served as a member of the Imperial Guard, acting primarily as a spy and body guard.  Hobgoblin sacrificed himself to save Majestrix Lilandra, assuming her guise and taking her place to foil an assassination attempt.  Since then he has been replaced by another member of his species who serves the Guard as Hobgoblin II.  

Electon

Electon was a native of the Shi’ar home-wolrd and gained the ability to mentally control electrical energies by way of a special experiment.  After battling The X-Men on the planet of the M'kraan Crystal, Electon was part of a contingency off Guardians dispatched to obtain the Nega-Bands.  Herein Electon perished in a battle against The Silver Surfer.  

Manta

The Guardian known as Manta comes from an unspecified alien race and it remain untold whether her powers are endemic to her people or are unique.  By opening her cloak, Manta can release a powerful blinding flash of light that has an incapacitating affect on nearly all who see it.  Manta has served alongside the Guard since the trial of Jean Grey and remains a crucial member of the team.  

Fang

Fang is a member of the Lupak, one of the many extraterrestrial species who comprise the Shi'ar Empire. The Lupak procreate by way of advanced cloning and Fang was created with advanced combat skills and wolf-like physical features.  He served admirably as a member of the Imperial Guard until he was killed by The Brood.  A new clone of Fang was provided to the Guard to replace him.

Scintilla

The Guardian known as Scintilla heralds from an unspecified alien world.  The natives of her planet cultivated the power to alter their size and shrink down to approximately two centimeters in height.  Shrinking down in this fashion additionally bestows increased strength and speed.  Scintilla has used this ability to serve as a member of the Guard and she remains a part of the team.  

Smasher

Vril comes from an unspecified world inhabited by a race of beings closely resembling humans.  Outfitted with a specialized pair of goggles called the Exospex, Vril is able to utilize a number of super powers, including flight, super strength and invulnerability (although the workings of these Exospex makes it so he can only use these powers one at a time).  Taking on the name of Smasher, Vril has acted as one of the Imperial Guard’s longest-serving members.  Smasher perished in a mission to warn the X-Men about Cassandra Nova.  His Exospex ended up in the hands of the human, Isabel Kane, who used them to become the new Smasher.  

Titan

The Guardian known as Titan heralded from an unspecified alien world of The Shi’ar Empire.  The inhabitants of this world possess the power to alter their size and grow instantly to five times their original height and weight.  This additionally bestows greatly enhanced strength and durability.  Titan used this ability to serve alongside the Guard, ultimately falling in battle during a mission to The Fault.  

Hussar

The Guardian known as Hussar heralds from an unspecified alien world.  She possess enhanced strength and dexterity and wields an electromagnetic whip.  Hussar is highly proficient with this whip and can use it to devastating effect.  After siding with Deathbird in an attempted coup, Hussar was expelled from the Guardians.  She later joined a force of former guardians who sought out the X-Man, Rachel Grey, in a twisted scheme to gain revenge against the Phoenix Force.  Her current status and whereabout remains unknown.  

Neutron

Formerly known as Quasar, the Imperial Guardian called Neutron heralds from an unspecified world.  The origins of his powers remain unrevealed; he possessed a specialized form housing a quantum singularity whose energy he could manipulate for various effects (including invulnerable, increased strength, flight and energy projection).  Neutron served the Guard until he sacrificed himself to save the life of his teammate, Fang.  

Warstar

The Guardian known as Warstar is a being composed of two symbiotically linked mechanoid aliens.  The smaller of the two aliens is B’nee who acts as the being’s primary intelligence and strategist; whereas the larger of the two, C’cil, acts as the primary body, possessing greatly enhanced strength along with a bevy of offensive and defensive capabilities.  Warstar has acted as a member of the Guard since the Trial of Jean Grey and continues to serve as a member of the team.  

Pulsar

Sometimes known as ‘Impulse,’ the being called Pulsar heralds from an unspecified world where the inhabitants are beings of sentient energy.  Utilizing a special containment suit that offers a humanoid form, Pulsar can release his energies in the form of a powerful, concussive blast emanating from a large visor on his head.  Pulsar served the Guard until he perished when his containment suit was breached during a mission to The Fault.

Earthquake

Earthquake was a long standing member of the Imperial Guard who heralded from an unspecified alien world.  He possessed the ability to generate seismic energy projections that create tremors beneath the surface of a planet.  Earthquake has not been seen from in some time and his fate remains unrevealed.  

Kid Gladiator

Kubark is the son of Kallark The Gladiator and possesses many of the same Strontian powers as his father.  Following a semester at The Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngster on Earth, Kubark began training alongside the Imperial Guard, readying himself to one day take his father’s place as praetorian and commander of the Guard.

The Imperial Guard and its members were originally designed as analogs of DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes.  The team first appeared in the pages of X-Men Vol 1 #107 (1977).  

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Periodic Table Championship: Round 1, Day 4, Strontium vs. Platinum

The final match of day 4 puts us halfway through round one, with element 38, strontium, competing against element 78, platinum.

Strontium is a soft, reactive, alkaline earth metal that crystalizes in the face-centered cubic structure at room temperature. It is the fifteenth most abundant element on Earth and its reactivity means it is not typically found as the pure element. Historically, strontium has been used in the production of sugar from sugar beets and cathode ray tubes, but its use has declined in recent years. Its name comes from the Scottish village of Strontian where it was discovered.

Platinum is dense, unreactive, transition metal element that crystalizes in the face-centered cubic structure at room temperature. It is a member of the platinum group metals and considered to be one of the rare elements in the Earth's crust. Platinum is perhaps most well known as a component of catalytic converters (and other catalysts), but it is also used in glass making, laboratory equipment, and electrical contacts. Its name comes from the Spanish for little silver.

[scotlandsladies]

“As messengers, Jacobite Scotswomen personally hand delivered secret correspondence as a safeguard against discovery. After the ‘Forty-five, Jean Cameron of Dungallon (c. 1705-1753?) — wife of the well-known doctor Archibald Cameron of Lochiel, brother of the Gentle Lochiel [XIX Chief of Clan Cameron] and the last Jacobite to be executed for treason in 1753 — was employed by one of the Highland chiefs to transmit messages of intelligence in the area. According to two different sources of enemy intelligence, Jean Cameron, who was living in Strontian, Western Lochaber, was working alongside the younger Clanranald, who had been left behind by those fleeing Scotland, ‘to be at hand to receive such ships and dispatch Expresses with accounts of their news.’ Jean’s job was to carry the intelligence and the ships’ news to a contact in Dounan in Rannoch, who would then forward them to important Jacobite officers such as Cluny and Ardsheal. She was also noted by another government agent, Aeneas McDonnell, as receiving messages from Lochiel. She was requested to deliver them to Jacobites in hiding with the instructions ‘to come to him, but not in a body so as to be taken notice of.’ Although these are the only accounts of Jean Cameron’s role as a messenger, it is quite likely that she was used at other points throughout the ‘Forty-five and it’s aftermath. Using a Highland lady to deliver messages may have been done at this time with the hope that she was less conspicuous and suspicious than a Highlander on the road, who would likely have been searched for weapons, etc., if seen by the frequent Red Coat patrols. This was therefore a precaution against capture and interception; however the acknowledgement of her actions in enemy intelligence reveals that the ploy of using a woman had failed. This could likely be due to an informant or a double agent, of which there were several known at this time and in this region. Yet the success of others could be one reason why little is known about such roles performed by Scotswomen.” — Anita Randell Fairney, “Petticoat patronage": Elite Scotswomen’s Roles, Identity, and Agency in Jacobite Political Affairs, 1688-1766

[Jean Cameron of Dungallon is not to be confused/conflated with Jean Cameron of Glendessary.]

[stumbleimg]

Scottish Woodland, Strontian, Scotland [OC] [4800x2505]

[wizard-irl]

Celestine Care Guide

Composition: SrSO₄ (strontium sulphate)

Hardness: 3-3.5 (scratched by penny)

Varieties

Barium-rich celestine

Barytosulfate of strontian

Calciocelestine

Hydrosensitivity: Reactive. While strontium sulphate is poorly soluable in water, celestine will be damaged by prolonged contact to water.

Photosensitivity: Mixed. Celestine fades in sunlight but some of this colour my be recovered when put in the dark.

Thermosensitivity: Unreactive.

Reactivity: Unreactive.

Fragility: Fragile.

Toxicity: Not toxic.

Recommended care: Keep away from water and sunlight. Take care to not break.

Conditions are described based on normal use. Sources and definitions below the cut.

Definitions

Composition: Chemical composition

Hardness: Mohs hardness, gauges how tough a crystal is

Varieties: List of varieties a crystal can be.

Hydrosensitivity: Ability to be damaged or altered by exposure to or lack of water. Crystals should never be submerged in water for long regardless of their hydrosensitivity, and salt water can damage crystals no matter what.

Photosensitivity: Ability to be damaged or altered by light, often light with UV rays (sunlight).

Thermosensitivity: Ability to be damaged or altered by heat, often high heat.

Reactivity: Any other notable reactivities.

Fragility: Ease that the crystal breaks or scratches.

Toxicity: Note of anything toxic inherent to the crystal's chemical composition. Not toxic does not mean you should eat it!

Recommended care: The recommended course of action for this crystal.

Other notes: Any other care notes.

Sources

"Celestine", MinDat.

"The Care of Minerals", Journal of the Russell Society.

"Solubility Data on 646 Common and Not So Common Minerals", MinDat.

"Can Celestite go in the Water? (And in the Sun, Salt)", Earth Eclipse.

[animexlinks]

Scottish Woodland, Strontian, Scotland [4800x2505]

[roleplay-abiogenesis2]

Strontium

Strontium is a soft, silver alkaline earth metal that develops a yellowish oxidation layer. You probably won't ever see this element in its pure form except in pictures, but it's used in fireworks and emergency flares for the bright red color it adds to flames.

Strontium is named after Strontian, a small town in Scotland.

[ieisia]

William Cruickshank

He identified carbon monoxide as a compound containing carbon and oxygen in 1800. In 1800 he also used chlorine to purify water. He also discovered the chloralkali process.

Strontium

Some authors credit Cruickshank with first suspecting an unknown substance in a Scottish mineral, strontianite, found near Strontian, in Argyleshire. Other authors name Adair Crawford for the discovery of this new earth, due to the mineral's property of imparting a redding color to a flame. It was later isolated by Humphry Davy and is now known as strontium.

Diabetes

Cruickshank worked with John Rollo at Woolwich in the 1790s, and some of his discoveries about diabetes were published in Rollo's book on the dietary treatment of the condition. This research led him to isolate urea in 1798, though his priority was not recognised at the time.

Trough battery

Circa 1800, Cruickshank invented the Trough battery, an improvement on Alessandro Volta's voltaic pile. The plates were arranged horizontally in a trough, rather than vertically in a column.

Electrolysis

Shortly after learning of Alessandro Volta's discovery of the Voltaic Pile in 1800, Cruickshank conducted a number of experiments involving electrolysis. He connected wires of silver to the poles of a battery and placed them into a solution of distilled water, and later into a variety of other solutions, observing the results. When the wires were placed into the various solutions of lead acetate, copper sulfate and silver nitrate, deposits of pure lead, copper and silver formed, respectively, on one wire. From these experiments he observed that "where metallic solutions are employed instead of water, the same wire which separates the hydrogen revives the metallic calx, and deposits it at the extremity of the wire in its pure metallic state." This process of extraction of pure metals from metallic solutions is known today as electro winning. It is used in the refining of copper and other metals.