The answer, of course, is Egyptium. The same element was claimed by the Babylonians as Babylite, but the Egyptions had a better marketing department. Interestingly enough, the Tower of Babel would have been completed except they hit a pocket of Babylite during construction and that was it for the project. Sadly, they took large amounts of the ore to their legislature and it somehow changed the genetic DNA of politicians and they have been Babbling ever since. A little know fact. Egyptium deposits (huge ones) were often found near the banks of the Nile River, which explains the fertility of the Nile River valley when it flooded each year. Egyptium is an excellent cockroachicide which is why you never see any large statues of cockroaches in Egyptian ruins. There simply weren't any. And for you nitpickers out there, scarabs are beetles, not cockroaches. There are indeed two stable isotopes of the material, only one of which can be used for cosmetics. It is a trace element in diamond which is why some people look better with jewelry.The other isotope makes you ugly as sin. Same isotope is responsible for why some people look like they were sandblasted. Choose wisely. The Romans, who came much later, also tried to take credit for this material, but could never get pass the Senate. Must have been too much Babylite around. Come to think of it, must be a huge deposit of that stuff in Washington. Once again, I win the challenge with my great essoteric knowledge. But you just watch --> Hillman will disqualify me somehow. Jealousy and envy are nasty things in a metallurgist............ Doug Pauls "David D. Hillman" <[log in to unmask]> Sent by: TechNet <[log in to unmask]> 08/31/2011 04:24 PM Please respond to TechNet E-Mail Forum <[log in to unmask]>; Please respond to [log in to unmask] To <[log in to unmask]> cc Subject [TN] NTC Friday Element Quiz - the Question Hi folks - Here is the Friday Element Quiz Question a day early (I am taking vacation on Friday to whitewater kayak): The Question: References of this element can be traced back to documentation from ancient Babylon, Egypt and Rome. This element is used to make cosmetics have a silky feel and yet is the basis for many industry abrasives. Compounds of this element are being investigated as a treatment for brain tumors. This element is essential for plants and is added to fertilizers. This element is the basis for an insecticide for ants and cockroaches. This element has two naturally occurring isotopes with neither being radioactive. What element is being described? The winner of the weekly quiz will get the services of Clumpy and Kloumpios for the week. So far Clumpy and Kloumpios have: Week 1 Lamar Young, SCS Coatings - accomplished nothing (drank lots of coffee) Week 2 Bev Christian, RIM - conducted REACH material testing Week 3 Drew Meyer, Benchmark Electronics Inc. - Solderability testing and mowed the lawn Week 4 Ian Fox, Goodrich - had an epic journey of travel Week 4 Gary Ferrari, Garrick Global - unknown Week 5 Fredrick Miller, Astrolab - unknown Week 6 David Nelson, Raytheon - Were tackling dummys for Dallas Cowboys Week 7 Graham Collins, L3 Communications - Cleaned gutters and painted window trim Week 8 Bill Noel, ITT Geospatial Systems Division - unknown Week 9 Steve Gregory of RD Circuits - unknown Week 10 David Bealer of Watchfire Signs - descaled the in-line wash machine! Ouch! Week 11 Dick Krug of Sparton Corporation - assisted with AS9100 quality management systems requirements audit Week 12 Steve Creswick of Balanced Enterprise Solutions - Acted as Steve's "go fer" due to a broken leg! Week 13 Gebhard Neifer, Delphi - conducted a plasma pre treatment Taguchi DOE for a sealing process Week 14 Bev Christian, RIM - assisted with a tin pest investigation/test Week 15 Bev Christian, RIM - assisted Bev shoveling snow Week 16 David Bealer of Watchfire Signs - assisted with reflow profiling Week 17 Brian Ellis, rumored to be retired - assisted with rewiring the house, had a tractor accident and found his cousin Kloumpios Week 18 Denny Fritz, SAIC - assisted with tin whisker inspection/examinations Week 19 Graham Collins, L3 Communications - assisted with scraping barnacles, boat paint and boat engine maintenance Week 20 Mark Woolley, PTRL Laboratory Avaya - assisted with weather observations (70F to snow) and resolving electrochemical migration failures Week 20 Tom Carroll, Boeing Defense, Space and Security - assisted with commercial aircraft galley inspection Week 21 Brian Ellis, supposedly retired, and Tom Carroll, Boeing Defense, Space and Security - assisted with root cause corrective action tasks - assisted with nothing but catching up with the family Week 22 Drew Meyer, Benchmark Electronics Inc. - assisted with metallographic cross-sections and Dye & Pry testing Week 23 Bev Christian, RIM - assisted with a creep corrosion project and the setting up of an oxygen bomb Week 24 Steve Gregory, RD Circuits - unknown Week 25 Ahne Oosterhof, A-Laser - assisted with stencil aperture data analysis and split/stacked firewood Week 26 Scott Post, Delphi - assisted/participated in the Kokomo Airshow Race Event Week 27 Brian Ellis, supposedly retired - assisted with tedious website work and family home cooking Week 28 Nigel Burtt - abandoned Nigel and were rumored to be involved in UK News Corps/News International cellphone/journalism/politics scandal Week 29 Richard Stadem,GD-AIS - unknown Week 30 Robert Wolfe, Kimchuk Inc and Graham Naisbitt, Gen3 - assisted with a hot tub refurbishment for post work day de-stressing - assisted with SIR and Cleanliness testing Week 31 Bev Christian, RIM Inc, and Denny Fritz, SAIC - assisted with lab testing - assisted with tin whisker investigations Week 32 Steve Mikell, supposedly retired - attempted to provide both US Congress and EU lawmakers "engineered" solutions Week 33 Mark Woolley, PTRL Laboratory Avaya - unknown Week 34 Leland Woodall, CSTech Inc. - assisted with new model qualifications,updating supporting documentation, strain gaging, performing cross sections, verifying a new selective soldering process, and finally assisted with the development of a plant-wide countermeasure effectiveness auditing program (Wow, they had to work hard this week!) Week 35 Joe Russeau, Precision Analytical Laboratories - assisted with new equipment preparations Week 36 ????, ???? - assisted with ???? Dave Hillman Rockwell Collins [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. 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