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Cremation? Burial? How about Diamonds?

travisbecker writes "From Reuters via Yahoo! comes this story. "A Chicago company (Lifegem) says it has developed a process for turning cremated human remains into diamonds that can be worn as jewelry." As for the quality... "If it's done slowly and with a great deal of care, one could have a reasonably high-quality diamond," according to a quote in the story." This should not be confused with our earlier diamond discussion.

10 of 398 comments (clear)

  1. But the real benefit... by M.C.+Hampster · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...is the fact that in the future they will be able to reconstruct your entire body from the diamond.

    --
    Forget the whales - save the babies.
  2. Most of you are forgetting... by ungulation · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It will take money (most likely large quantities of it) to turn that person into a diamond. Therefore, you wouldn't be able to become extremely rich by, say, digging up graves and turning the bodies into jewlery.

  3. This fucken rules. by Tom7 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is great. Do you think if I collect enough of my body tissue and hair and stuff that I can get one of these made while I'm alive?

  4. Why did they say that? by Jack9 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why did the article make it a point not to associate itself with a related article posted a few days ago when they are both specifically about the same topic and are obviously related in so far as being about obtaining diamonds not sold by the diamond mafia can be considered "related"? (yes that was a run-on question) I cant be the only one irked by this ridiculous *hint* *hint* look at the other one too *hint* *hint* plug.

    --

    Often wrong but never in doubt.
    I am Jack9.
    Everyone knows me.
  5. how? by Gumber · · Score: 2, Interesting

    How do you turn creamated remains into diamonds? All the carbon has been driven off as CO2. Or are the collecting the remains before that point?

  6. Insurance coverage? by nanaki · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Most life insurance (at least the ones I've seen advertisements for, that's the only way I'd know anything about them, much too young to seriously think about it) pays cash to the family when someone dies... but are there life insurance plans that simply cover the costs of the funeral and other ceremonies connected with the death, up to the point where the person needs it, kind of like car insurance or other damage insurance? If so, would it ever cover this? ;)

  7. Why do I have a euphoric Final Fantasy feeling? by Mustang+Matt · · Score: 5, Interesting

    hehe.

    This feels like it's straight from a Final Fantasy game. I can be a piece of Materia someday! Now all they need to do is figure out how to summon people back out of the diamonds for a whopping good time.

    --
    The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
  8. a very expenisve cubic zirconia! by fermion · · Score: 2, Interesting
    A small thimbleful of carbon can be made into 0.25 carat diamond, for which LifeGem would charge $4,000. A full karat would cost $22,000.

    So this is no use to a super villain who wishes to convert a body to diamonds.

    A cynical person would say this was just another grab by the death industry to separate grieving family from their money. What is it that this company does for the $4K. A 1/4-caret cubic zirconia can be had for fifty dollars or so. The only thing that Lifegem does is to extract the base carbon from the body remains, apparently using a simple furnace. Assuming that they contract out the actual diamond production, their risk and capital equipment expense should be relatively small. I admit that the purification process is probably innovative, and development costs must be recovered, but a nearly 100 times markup. Ridiculous.

    --
    "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
  9. Re:The question is ... by Maggot75 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, but let's see it from the other end. Wouldn't it creep you out if a widow you were dating told you that diamond necklace she always wears is really her late husband?

  10. Where are the BS filters? by CactusCritter · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Evidently, everyone wants to be a comedian tonight.

    Diamonds, non-gem grade, can be produced from the vapor phase from several carbon-based molecules. Obviously not suitable for corpse transformation.

    Diamonds, of any grade, can be produced from elemental (or, perhaps, from suitably doped) elemental carbon by application of extremely high pressures and temperatures.

    There is no extant process for reducing a human body so that only the carbon atoms are left.

    Therefore, the very suggestion of converting a human body to diamond seems to be pure bullshit.

    Anyone want to invest in the venture?