Massive Diamond Found Orbiting Pulsar

HairyNevus writes "A recent survey of pulsars has revealed a fascinating discovery of a millisecond pulsar in system PSR J17191438 that has stripped a nearby white dwarf star down to its very core. Although no longer visible, is still has the mass of Jupiter. The remaining core rotates its neutron star companion with a period of just under 2 hours, indicating extremely close proximity. Given this distance, scientists have calculated that the substance of the core must be very compact, and, without building up the point, they conclude it is made of diamond. One thing I found misleading about the article is that it refers to the core as having 'the size of Jupiter' and 'the mass of Jupiter.' Given their different densities (diamond vs. mostly helium), it would seem clear that their size (i.e. volume) differs."

Re:Diamonds are not rare, not even on Earth.

[Riceballsan]

Well they are actually rediculously common, were it not for a very very large percentage of the supply in the hands of a handfull of companies, and making a perfect undetectable forgery of a diamond is extremely easy with the right equipment. Without the right lobying and rules, forcing all manufactured diamonds to have a watermark to be distinguished as "fake", and having the actual supply in control of a handful of companies that intentionally release the supply slowly to keep demand high, Diamonds could easilly become cheaper then copper.