diamonds

11.21.09

Gone In a Flash: Burning Diamonds With a Torch and Liquid Oxygen

Diamonds are for, well, a couple seconds

By Theodore Gray Posted 10.08.2009 at 11:24 am 11 Comments

I can’t stand diamonds. No, really, they just tick me off, because nearly everything about them is a lie. Diamonds are neither rare nor intrinsically valuable nor uniquely romantic. Those are ideas invented by the diamond industry. And no, despite what the ads tell you, diamonds are not forever. They are flammable and will burn brightly with a little help from a torch. This makes perfect sense when you consider that they are made of pure carbon, which reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide (“reacts with oxygen” just being another way of saying “burns”).

[ Read Full Story ]

READ MORE ABOUT > diamonds, DIY, gems, How 2.0, liquid oxygen, September 2009, torch

Creating Diamonds from Tequila

From the "too good to be true" files: A team of Mexican scientists have found a way to turn everyone's favorite liquor into everyone's favorite precious stone

By Jaya Jiwatram Posted 11.10.2008 at 3:49 pm 9 Comments

Tequila may be just another drink to those out in the town, but to a team of scientists in Mexico their country's native alcohol turned out to be a gem; a diamond, to be precise. Javier Morales, Luis Apátiga and Victor Castaño at the National Autonomous University of Mexico made the alchemist-worthy discovery while experimenting turning various organic solutions, such as acetone and ethanol, into diamonds. The scientists noted that 80-proof tequila (40 percent alcohol) had the ideal proportion of ethanol to water to create diamond films.

[ Read Full Story ]

READ MORE ABOUT > alcohol, diamonds, gems, rocks, tequila

The Only Thing Better than a Huge Diamond

It's not bling, but this nano-ring may be the key to a quantum computer

By Gregory Mone Posted 03.17.2008 at 12:58 pm 0 Comments

Granted, it will be far too small for her to show off to her friends, but if your potential fiancée has a love of science, she just might accept this bauble over something flashier. Its the worlds smallest diamond ring, created by a group of Australian physicists. The ring measures just 5 microns wide and 300 nanometers thick. And no, its not really for advertising your engagement. The ring is actually part of a device used to produce and detect single photons.

[ Read Full Story ]

READ MORE ABOUT > diamonds, Gregory Mone, nanotech, nanotechnology, photons, quantum comuter

Flawless Man-Made Diamonds

After decades of experimentation, scientists can finally grow diamonds that outshine even the rarest De Beers rocks. Launch the slideshow

By Elizabeth Svoboda Posted 05.30.2006 at 1:00 am 2 Comments

What: Perfect single-crystal diamonds of more than two carats
(the average engagement ring is less than a carat) churned out in a day. Scientists create the gemstones using a process called chemical vapor deposition (CVD), which grows diamond crystals one carbon atom at a time.

[ Read Full Story ]