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."
One thing I don't get... (Score:5, Interesting)
... is why human-made diamonds, made the same way as that carbon-rich rock was discovered, are not harder than natural diamonds - at least, the summary seems to imply this. If it's graphite in both cases, then shouldn't both be harder than diamonds?
Re:Mohs Scale of Hardness (Score:3, Interesting)
It is interesting that there has been a substance created harder than regular diamonds that has been published for seven years! I figured there would be saw blades everywhere which advertised "new, better than diamond tipped!"
Re:How long (Score:5, Interesting)
Women are only that way because men are ever scheming to hit-and-run their womb space. 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.
That we use diamonds for this purpose is a benefit to the man, because DeBeers has made sure that there is no resale market. If there was a resale market that offered even 50% value, then the man would first need an un-fake-able signal of the woman's seriousness before passing the rock across the table.
The De Beers Myth (Score:3, Interesting)
De Beers doesn't have a monopoly now; it's an urban legend. They do control about 50% of the diamond market currently, down from past years, but they are not a monopoly. It's still a popular myth though.
Re:One thing I don't get... (Score:4, Interesting)
fundamentally underinformed (Score:1, Interesting)
"suggesting that these areas were harder than the diamonds used in the polishing paste" is a fundamental misunderstanding and not the basis for a popularist msnbc "harder than diamonds" conjecture. if regions stand proud, it simply means they're harder than the substrate, not that they're particularly hard.