microMidas

Such a monarch might fall in love with this mass of pyrite, which is about 2 mm across. A thin section photographed with both transmitted and reflected light. Mississippian Fort Payne Chert, subsurface of Alabama.

minute pyrite cubes

Field of view less than 1 mm wide. Photo by Ann Arnold.

reminds me of "The Puppet Masters"

But these are real, less than 1 µm across, composed of pyrite, and clinging to the surface of an opening in Devonian shale collected more than 10,000 feet below the surface of the Earth. They're pretty cool, but I'm also looking for professional opinions from any who feel qualified to make them.

pyramid

Here's where the Aztecs went! Or was it the ancient Conniptions?