The Hypatia Stone, the strangest rock on Earth

Editor's note: A version of this was previously published on the author's blog.By definition, anything superlative is the most-whatever of its type; the coldest winter, the greatest rainfall, the highest mountain. It's unique, untouchable among its kind. The tiny Hypatia Stone is such an object. It's the strangest rock on Earth.In December 1996, Aly A. Barakat, a researcher with the Geological Survey of Egypt, was in the southwestern section of his country participating in an Egyptian-Italian ex