A friend of mine recently came back from Tokyo, Japan and brought back
several gifts, one of which particularly caught my attention. It was a
cellphone strap with a "TV Stone" attached at the end. It feels like a
piece of plastic but when you place the stone on any surface, the
image magically appears on the top of the stone. I did some research
of my own and found a website that sells the cellphone strap. It can
be purchased at:

https://secure11.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=phonestrap&BusType=BtoC&Count1=330425441&Count2=247565865&ProductID=13818&Target=products.asp

My question is what type of material is the "TV Stone" made out of,
and do any companies in the US or abroad sell this material for
commercial uses?

Dear eklay923-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. 

Wonder no more - the mystery is solved! ?Television stone? (or ?TV
stone? as you know it) is actually a mineral known as ?ulexite? that
has some unique (and yes, odd) characteristics:

?Ulexite is named for the man who discovered it, G. L Ulex, a German
chemist. It is an evaporite mineral and forms in arid regions where
closed basins or playas concentrate the mineral content of the water.
Ulexite often forms as small, fluffy "puffballs" but also form with
the crystals aligned creating the better known variety nicknamed "TV
stone" for its optical properties.?

ULEXITE
http://www.museums.udel.edu/mineral/mineral_site/collection/alphabetical/U/ulexite.html

WEB MINERAL - ULEXITE
http://webmineral.com/data/Ulexite.shtml
http://webmineral.com/specimens/picshow.php?id=1176


I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

ASU OPTICS
http://pirt.asu.edu/detail_6.asp?ID=1615&offset=50

NCSU PHYSICS
?TELEVISION STONE?
http://demoroom.physics.ncsu.edu/html/demos/538.html



SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

TV STONE

TELEVISION STONE

ULEXITE

OPTICS

MINERAL

---

Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 31 Aug 2005 13:36 PDT

Some companies, such as National Boraxx Corporation, recognize a
commerical use for Ulexite for commercial, technical, pharmaceutical
and chemical products:

NATIONAL BORAXX
http://www.nationalboraxx.com/

tutuzdad-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 31 Aug 2005 13:41 PDT

I also found this search term to be quite helpful, albeit somewhat after the fact:

?TV rock? mineral

ULEXITE
http://geology.about.com/b/a/2003_12_28.htm
http://geology.about.com/b/a/2003_12_28.htm

tutuzdad-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by eklay923-ga on 31 Aug 2005 13:53 PDT

Great job! Do you know of any other companies besides National Boraxx
Corp. that sells ulexite?

---

Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 31 Aug 2005 14:27 PDT

Sure, I found a couple more.

KCM CORPORATION
http://www.kyoritsu-kcm.co.jp/english/glass/glass_04.html

EXCALIBUR MINERAL CORPORATION
http://www.excaliburmineral.com/mins-z.htm

You may find others here. This is a list of companies around the world
that deal to some extent in boron products.

ROSKILL
http://www.roskill.com/reports/boron/contents

I look forward to your rating and final comments.

Regards;
Tutuzdad-ga

Amazingly fast response. Thanks Tutuzdad!