Real-life kryptonite found in Serbian mine

Editors' note: This blog initially misstated where the mine is located. It is in Serbia.

As if being a superhero isn't already hard enough. Now scientists in Serbia have uncovered a new mineral with virtually the same chemical makeup as kryptonite, the green crystals powerful enough to bring even the Man of Steel to his knees. The mineral, sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide, will be called jadarite after the Jada mine where it was found.

Oddly, it does not contain fluorine, like the batch of kryptonite stolen from Lex Luthor's lab did, and it's white, not green. So its exact potency is not known. Still, as a precautionary measure, any living descendants of the great scientist Jor-El or other former inhabitants of the planet Krypton are being advised to avoid the mineral at all costs, or to dust off their lead armor, which can protect them from the dangerous mineral's effects.

The mineral, which geologists describe as white, powdery and not radioactive, will be on display to visitors of London's Natural History Museum on Wednesday and May 13.