DailyDirt: Diamonds, Diamonds Everywhere
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Creating artificial diamonds could lead to some really interesting semiconductor materials — or even some insanely hard touchscreen displays (no more scratches!). Fortunately, synthesizing diamond-like materials is getting cheaper and easier, but at the same time, we’ve also discovered significantly large diamond deposits. But will diamonds still be included in engagement rings when the market prices plummet? Aluminum used to be the most expensive metal in the world… but it’s no longer as highly regarded as it once was. Here are just a few links on one of our favorite allotropes of carbon.
- Forget OxiClean. The “power of diamonds” can help clean away tough stains in every laundry load. Nanodiamond particles in laundry detergents can dislodge dirt from fabrics without using hot water — saving energy and adding some sparkle. [url]
- There’s a recently de-classified deposit of impact diamonds in Russia — and it’s so big that it’s estimated that this resource could serve the world’s diamond needs for 3,000 years. These impact diamonds are twice as hard as traditional gemstones because they’re formed when a carbon-rich meteor collides with the earth and the resulting explosion creates this unique material. [url]
- Diamonds aren’t as rare as most people think they are — if you’re willing (or able) to travel a few thousand light years, you can find a whole planet made of diamond. A carbon-rich planet that is probably crystalline (and hence diamond-like) orbits the pulsar J1719-1438, and it’s the most dense planet seen so far. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.
Filed Under: allotrope, carbon, diamonds, impact diamonds, laundry, nanodiamond, oxiclean, planet, russia
Comments on “DailyDirt: Diamonds, Diamonds Everywhere”
supply-demand economics
Unlike other industries, a glut of diamonds is quite unlikely to tip prices downwards.
Firstly, diamond quality matters.
And secondly, the diamond market has to contend with the excessive weight of De Beers Group. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamonds_as_an_investment#Price_fluctuations
diamonds … what a scam
Is It True Diamonds Cannot Scratch Iron Or Steel?
I read somewhere that, if you try to scratch an iron or steel object with a diamond, the metal will actually dissolve the carbon, wearing down the stone.
(Steel is already an iron-carbon mixture.)
Re: Is It True Diamonds Cannot Scratch Iron Or Steel?
No, diamond is routinely used to etch and cut steel. A standard test for hardness of metals involves measuring how deeply a diamond point pushes into the metal for a given force.
The diffusion of carbon into iron (to make steel) requires high temperatures, and probably wouldn’t happen with diamond anyway since the carbon it tightly bound.
Re: Re: Is It True Diamonds Cannot Scratch Iron Or Steel?
I tried to reply with a thank you, but my comment got held up for moderation!
A planet of diamonds? Orbiting a star that emits ultra deadly radiation? DONT ANSWER THAT KNOCKING!
Diamonds aren’t all that rare here on Earth either.
If it weren’t for the diamond cartels controlling the supply, you’d spend more for a same-size, same quality Herkimer quartz than you would for a diamond, based on rarity alone.
Re: If it weren't for the diamond cartels ...
There was a movie about that…
Diamonds aren’t as rare as most people think they are — if you’re willing (or able) to travel a few thousand light years, you can find a whole planet made of diamond. A carbon-rich planet that is probably crystalline (and hence diamond-like) orbits the pulsar J1719-1438, and it’s the most dense planet seen so far. [url]
except, as usual your probably WRONG, Diamond is less stable that graphite (carbon in another form) so a planet would most probably form as a graphite planet not Diamond..
“and it’s the most dense planet seen so far”.. !!!! SO WHAT, that would make a difference if diamond as a particularly dense material.. it’s about half the density as IRON.. so why try to make the argument that ‘it’s dense, therefore it’s diamond’…
carbon steel, is rich in carbon, it has a crystaline structure and is twice the density of diamond is far more abundant in the universe..
Re: except, as usual your probably WRONG, Diamond is less stable that graphite
Oh look, somebody is trying to do a science.
Re: Re: except, as usual your probably WRONG, Diamond is less stable that graphite
Dont you just love it when they capitalize stuff.
Re: Re: except, as usual your probably WRONG, Diamond is less stable that graphite
Maybe it’s Bill Nye spouting his know-it-all crap again.
Re: Re:
Except, you know, you can’t fucking google, as usual for the retarded AC.
http://arstechnica.com/science/2011/08/neutron-star-has-turned-its-companion-into-a-planet-of-diamond/
Continue to hurr and durr for my amusement.
really? wow, some of you people...
For starters, density is highly dependent on the temperature of the material and it’s phase. For all of you people talking about carbon rich steel, note that an object ORBITING CLOSE TO A STAR is likely to be molten if it is comprised of metal, and therefore significantly LESS DENSE than one made of diamond.
Even of it were orbiting further out, planetary mechanics would suggest that the core is generally molten, which, again, reduces the density significantly. Except diamonds don’t melt, and carbonaceous steel does. Graphite wouldn’t be stable that close to an active star, either.
Read the damn articles. You’re giving Anonymous a bad name.
Re: really? wow, some of you people...
the iron at the center of a planet, even if molten is FAR MORE DENSE than solid iron.. you really dont have a clue do you..
and DIAMONDS DO MELT (pressure dependent)..
GRAPHITE is MORE STABLE THAN DIAMOND
“Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions.”
Dont take up science for a career, it’s not your ‘thing’..
A planet made of diamonds?
Oh shit…
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Midnight
A planet made of diamonds?
Haha that would save us a ton on rings wouldn’t it?
http://find-engagement-rings.com