An anonymous reader shares a report: Some diamonds were formed billions of years ago in space as the carbon-rich atmospheres of dying stars expanded and cooled. In our own planet’s lifetime, high-temperatures and pressures in the mantle produced the diamonds that are familiar to us as gems. 5,000 years ago, a large meteorite that struck a carbon-rich sediment on Earth produced…
Tag: diamonds
What’s the birthstone for December?
If you were born December, you’ve got 2 birthstones, turquoise and zircon. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/december-birthstone-zircon-turquoise…
Scientists Produce Rare Diamonds In Minutes At Room Temperature
Iwastheone writes: While traditional diamonds are formed over billions of years deep in the Earth where extreme pressures and temperatures provide just the right conditions to crystalize carbon, scientists are working on more expedient ways of forging the precious stones. An international team of researchers has succeeded in whittling this process down to mere minutes, demonstrating a new technique where they…
The First Room-Temperature Superconductor Has Finally Been Found
Joe2020 shares a report from Science News: Now, scientists have found the first superconductor that operates at room temperature — at least given a fairly chilly room. The material is superconducting below temperatures of about 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit), physicist Ranga Dias of the University of Rochester in New York and colleagues report October 14 in Nature. The team’s…
New insights into the origin of diamonds in meteorites
Scientists have offered new insights into the origin of diamonds in ureilites (a group of stony meteorites). These diamonds most likely formed by rapid shock transformation from graphite (the common low-pressure form of pure carbon) during one or more major impacts into the ureilite parent asteroid in the early solar system. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-09-insights-diamonds-meteorites.html…
Carbon-rich exoplanets may be made of diamonds
As missions like NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, TESS and Kepler continue to provide insights into the properties of exoplanets (planets around other stars), scientists are increasingly able to piece together what these planets look like, what they are made of, and if they could be habitable or even inhabited. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-09-carbon-rich-exoplanets-diamonds.html…
Can diamonds burn?
With enough heat and oxygen, diamonds will burn. Source: https://www.livescience.com/can-diamonds-burn.html
Can This Company Build Self-Charging Batteries From Radioactive Nuclear Waste?
Heart44 writes:
There is a lot of C-14 radioactive waste from graphite rods that is expensive to store. This graphite can be converted to C-14 diamonds covered in C-12 diamonds. C-14 has a half-life of 5,700 years, so such batteries would last a long time and are supposedly safe. Sounds like an April fool but… New Atlas considers the possibilities: …what you…
Hope diamond formed stunningly close to Earth’s core
Most diamonds originate at the bottoms of tectonic plates. But the giant blue Hope and Cullinan diamonds may have originated far deeper within the planet. Source: https://www.livescience.com/hope-cullinan-diamonds-deep-origins.html
Born in June? Here’s your birthstone
Happy birthday June babies! Your month has 3 birthstones – pearl, moonstone, and alexandrite. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/june-birthstone-pearl-moonstone-alexandrite…