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Feedback: It's raining gems, Honolulu, it's raining gems

Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more

27 June 2018

raining gems cartoon

Paul McDevitt

It’s raining gems

ONGOING eruptions at the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii have sprung a new surprise: showers of gemstones. They are made of olivine, a green mineral formed deep underground long ago, and common in Earth’s mantle. When the volcano ejects lumps of basaltic lava, olivine crystals are freed from the syrupy liquid and fall out.

As a gemstone, olivine is known as peridot. Turning to our trusty guide on these matters, Mary Lambert’s Crystal Energy: 150 ways to bring success, love, health, and harmony into your life, we find that peridot is useful for relieving stress and erasing…

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