Before and after pictures of the alien spores.
When we began our journey, all seemed well:
Those are the untouched rocks, in the same metal saucer (I gave in and cleaned it).
The addition of a bit of water (or maybe it was the metal saucer, or the bracing Colorado air, or the slightly more humid atmosphere in the bathroom, we'll never know):
Notice the growth on the container. Notice the mysterious color change.
Very disturbing, don't you agree?
Yeah, that definitely looks like some kind of saturation-dehydration product, probably with a pretty significant acidity quotient.
But I'm no chemist; I'm just guessing from some of the gunk I've dealt with in my time.
posted by: Jonathan Dresner on 09.24.07 at 12:27 AM [permalink]I eyeballed the refilled saucer this morning, but no signs of infestation. It must have been the addition of water. (I guess that guy was using a pool of scented oil? Either that, or it's because he was displaying the rocks in glass containers, not metal?)
I'm still puzzled why the rocks (I really should call them "crystals") changed color, though.
posted by: Anne on 09.24.07 at 07:55 AM [permalink]I decided to google "rock potpourri" and discovered it's made from either fancy sea salt crystals or water softener crystals and colored and scented. They say to use oils to carry the color and scent (various essential oils are recommended) and to "recharge" the crystals when the scent fades.
Being salt kind of explains the odd crystal growth when you put water on it :)
posted by: Dail on 09.24.07 at 05:28 PM [permalink]