Harder-Than-Diamond Natural Carbon Crystals Found 250
HikingStick tips a piece from the science desk at MSNBC.com about a new, naturally occurring form of carbon found in a meteorite fragment. "Researchers were polishing a slice of the carbon-rich Havero meteorite that fell to Earth in Finland in 1971. When they then studied the polished surface they discovered carbon-loaded spots that were raised well above the rest of the surface — suggesting that these areas were harder than the diamonds used in the polishing paste... [G]raphite layers were shocked and heated enough to create bonds between the layers — which is exactly how humans manufacture diamonds... [The research] team took the next step and put the diamond-resistant crystals under the scrutiny of some very rigorous mineralogical analyzing instruments to learn how its atoms are lined up. That allowed them to confirm that they had, indeed, found a new 'phase' or polymorph of crystalline carbon as well as a type of diamond that had been predicted to exist decades ago, but had never been found in nature until now."
Re:How long (Score:5, Insightful)
I wouldn't bother. It turns out that it's less expensive than a diamond, so women won't be as happy with it.
Re:Majorly confused now (Score:2, Insightful)
Just say "Yes,diamond is not the hardest metal known to man" and move on...
Re:Mohs Scale of Hardness (Score:3, Insightful)
According to the wiki article:
Since the invention of the scale, there have been reports of materials harder than the highest mineral on the scale, diamonds; so the Mohs scale may be changed in the future.
And the reference is:
T. Irifune, A Kurio, S. Sakamoto, T. Inoue, H. Sumiya "Ultrahard polycrystalline diamond from graphite" Nature 421 (2003) 599 [nature.com]
A big meh to this slashdot story.
Nature summary:
Polycrystalline diamonds are harder and tougher than single-crystal diamonds and are therefore valuable for cutting and polishing other hard materials, but naturally occurring polycrystalline diamond is unusual and its production is slow. Here we describe the rapid synthesis of pure sintered polycrystalline diamond by direct conversion of graphite under static high pressure and temperature. Surprisingly, this synthesized diamond is ultrahard and so could be useful in the manufacture of scientific and industrial tools.
Re:Majorly confused now (Score:5, Insightful)
A much better name for this stuff would be "carbonite", obviously.
Re:How long (Score:5, Insightful)
I wouldn't bother. It turns out that it's less expensive than a diamond, so women won't be as happy with it.
Give DeBeers a few years and then see.
Re:One thing I don't get... (Score:4, Insightful)
Does this mean De Beers will try to monopolize space as well?
Re:Majorly confused now (Score:1, Insightful)
Just say "Yes,diamond is not the hardest metal known to man" and move on...
Nor is diamond a metal.
Re:The De Beers Myth (Score:4, Insightful)
So you are saying that De Beers is only as big as everyone else combined? Crack a history book. Until the last decade, their business practices have been deplorable, and they are still huge.
Re:How long (Score:3, Insightful)
Women need an un-fake-able signal of a man's seriousness, so the signal must take the form of something very (to the suitor) expensive.
It's more than just expensiveness. Some years ago, I bought some earrings for my girlfriend which were handmade and embedded with a sapphire, a ruby and a tourmaline. Beautiful, and after negotiating, I still paid the full price because I just wanted. She says thanks, then continues to almost never wear it!
Looking back, I would have made her much happier with some stupid cheaper, mass-produced but diamond-studded earrings...
Read more carefully (Score:4, Insightful)
I wasn't defending De Beers. They have engaged in 'business practices' that are akin to that of organized crime. I was simply pointing out that they are not a monopoly. Reading comprehension is important and you need more practice.
Re:One thing I don't get... (Score:2, Insightful)
In the past, you could tell artificial diamonds from natural ones because of imperfections, but with today's technology, you can't tell even with a microscope.
Get some up to date info buddy!!
Re:One thing I don't get... (Score:4, Insightful)
Uhm, what do you think a fucking diamond is? Chopped liver? No. Chicken dinner? No. Random collections of carbon atoms in no particular order? No. It's a crystal. Of carbon. Crystalline carbon.
BUT WAIT!! -- There's more! What about pencil lead!? Wow-it, too, is a form of cabon? In a crystal lattice?
Idiot science reporters should go back to covering the MTV music awards.
Re:Contradict yourself why don't you... (Score:3, Insightful)
Space is natural unless you're a bible-thumping redneck.
I'm pretty sure carbon was discovered already.
Re:Contradict yourself why don't you... (Score:1, Insightful)
Why must our view of the natural world be limited to the terrestrial sphere?
Why must our view of the natural world exclude the results of human activities?
Re:Mohs Scale of Hardness (Score:3, Insightful)
I think the more interesting thing is, slashdot readers are assumed to know what Moh's scale is, but spinal tap needs a reference...
Re:One thing I don't get... (Score:3, Insightful)
THIS crystalline carbon has never been found... (Score:5, Insightful)
If the headline was about a musician granting an interview, and the sub-header was "Famous performer never interviewed before", you wouldn't be scoffing "What? You mean no famous performer has ever been interviewed? Well I have a thousand back issues of Rolling Stone that would disagree!"
What they're saying is that they have discovered a crystalline carbon, and it is something never seen in nature before. The sentence is accurate.
Yes the truncated verbal style often used in headlines may have made it less clear than it could have been by the simple expedient of adding "This".
Nevertheless, this is a perfect example of why I find pedantry to be so useless outside of technical fields where precise meanings not only exist but are required. Because more often than not, pedantry is just a way to fail to understand what is being said.
Re:How long (Score:2, Insightful)
Find a geek girl that doesn't like jewelry, flowers, or perfume; just chocolate and beer. Now, if only I could get her interested in single malts. She claims all whiskies are nasty. *Sigh*
What makes this hard is that I'd need to find one that doesn't also have the same figure as many of the male geeks I know.