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Scientists Turn Tequila Into Diamonds

MaxwellEdison writes "Researchers, oddly enough from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, have found a way to make diamond films using tequila. They were originally testing methods of creating the films with organic solutions like acetone when it was noticed the ideal ratios of water and ethanol turned out to be about 80 proof, or 40% alcohol. '"To dissipate any doubts, one morning on the way to the lab I bought a pocket-size bottle of cheap white tequila and we did some tests," Apátiga said. "We were in doubt over whether the great amount of chemicals present in tequila, other than water and ethanol, would contaminate or obstruct the process, it turned out to be not so. The results were amazing, same as with the ethanol and water compound, we obtained almost spherical shaped diamonds of nanometric size. There is no doubt; tequila has the exact proportion of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms necessary to form diamonds."'"

40 of 249 comments (clear)

  1. this just makes sense by moderatorrater · · Score: 5, Funny

    Diamonds make girls easier to sleep with; tequila makes girls easier to sleep with. We really should have seen this earlier.

    1. Re:this just makes sense by dedazo · · Score: 5, Funny

      Which reminds me of this [NSFW]

      --
      Web2.0: I love when people Flickr my cuil and digg my boingboing until my google is reddit and I start to yahoo
    2. Re:this just makes sense by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 5, Funny

      Tequila is cheaper and produces better results imo.

    3. Re:this just makes sense by butalearner · · Score: 5, Funny

      Diamonds make girls easier to sleep with; tequila makes girls easier to sleep with. We really should have seen this earlier.

      I can't decide whether it's funny or sad that this was modded informative.

    4. Re:this just makes sense by Philip+K+Dickhead · · Score: 5, Funny

      My thoughts? Like a Pawn Shop in reverse-gear.

      Now, where's my candy colored clown?

      --
      "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
    5. Re:this just makes sense by Loibisch · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, me neither...that post is goddamn insightful!

    6. Re:this just makes sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Seriously! GGW isn't run on diamonds mister.

    7. Re:this just makes sense by Kamokazi · · Score: 5, Funny

      Quit rambling about your unfounded theories here....we all know damn well that no amount of tequila or diamonds could cause any girl to sleep with a Slashdot reader.

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    8. Re:this just makes sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Informative posts get karma, funny ones do not.

    9. Re:this just makes sense by eln · · Score: 5, Informative

      Which is why God invented roofies.

      I'm going to hell, aren't I?

    10. Re:this just makes sense by Kamokazi · · Score: 4, Informative

      That's the other great thing about Slashdot readers....many of us are atheists....so you can do whatever you want and just fade out of existence like the rest of us!

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    11. Re:this just makes sense by Fred_A · · Score: 4, Funny

      *And* tequila works just fine by itself when there aren't any girls around. What the hell are diamonds good for ?

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    12. Re:this just makes sense by geekoid · · Score: 5, Funny

      To buy more tequila.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    13. Re:this just makes sense by camperdave · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sigh! Neither do I mate. Neither do I.

      --
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    14. Re:this just makes sense by GooberToo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What the hell are diamonds good for?

      Enslaving people over a rock as common as the pebbles in your front yard.

    15. Re:this just makes sense by dissy · · Score: 4, Funny

      Results 1 - 10 of about 265,000 for slashdot orgy. (0.40 seconds)

      Hmm...

    16. Re:this just makes sense by budgenator · · Score: 4, Interesting

      What the hell are diamonds good for ?

      dude, durable non-stick cook wear, greases and oils stick to diamonds like nobody's business, that's how they separate the diamonds from gravel commercially, the diamonds stick to the greased slush box and the gravel washes out. With diamond coated cook-wear just a teaspoon (5ml) of oil sticks to the diamond coating and your eggs don't and it's tough enough to actually survive everyday use. Diamond coating would blow teflon and silverstone out of the water!

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    17. Re:this just makes sense by aproposofwhat · · Score: 5, Funny

      Fuck'em.

      When they invent a way of turning diamonds into tequila, wake me up.

      --
      One swallow does not a fellatrix make
    18. Re:this just makes sense by geekoid · · Score: 4, Funny

      Good news!

      Those girls will be in Hell as well. Along with some of the best Rock bands.

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    19. Re:this just makes sense by Miseph · · Score: 4, Funny

      I prefer chloroform. It even comes with a sure-fire pick up line: "hey, smell this rag..."

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    20. Re:this just makes sense by Abreu · · Score: 4, Funny

      There is no cow level

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      No sig for the moment.
    21. Re:this just makes sense by virgil_disgr4ce · · Score: 4, Funny

      I prefer the line, "Hey, does this smell like chloroform to you?"

  2. Now, are they sure about this? by jd · · Score: 5, Funny

    Drinking too much of the tequilla beforehand might impact the observations.

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  3. good news by TheMeuge · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is good news. Shortly, you'll be able to use the same substance that got you into this mess, for the ring.

    But now we'll have to protect these scientists, as well as tequila factories, lest DeBeers have them assassinated.

    1. Re:good news by oahazmatt · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is good news. Shortly, you'll be able to use the same substance that got you into this mess, for the ring.

      Hey, some of us can make that mistake perfectly sober, thank you very much.

      --
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      find their privates are on the Internet.
  4. Re:god and diamonds by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Ben Franklin

    "Tequila is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy and rich" -- Jose Cuervo Sauza-Patron

  5. Re:Yikes by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course women dream of wearing something on their finger that you passed through your penis.

  6. Re:cost of being an alcoholic has gone up by MaxwellEdison · · Score: 5, Funny

    You'll be okay. Turns out cirrhosis is just a build up of diamonds. So now liver transplants can pay for themselves!

    --
    -=Bang Bang=-
  7. Re:Yikes by alvinrod · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm almost certain there's a 'your mother' joke in there somewhere.

  8. Re:Yikes by MaxwellEdison · · Score: 4, Funny

    No worse than the other places she's put that finger.

    I was gonna call for a rimshot...but that would just be tasteless

    --
    -=Bang Bang=-
  9. They probably... by Amazing+Quantum+Man · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just got caught with the tequila at work, and had to come up with an excuse quickly.

    Umm... we're... um... um... trying to make diamond nanospheres with it! Yeah, diamond nanospheres! That's the ticket.

    --
    Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
    1. Re:They probably... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Just got caught with the tequila at work, and had to come up with an excuse quickly.

      Umm... we're... um... um... trying to make diamond nanospheres with it! Yeah, diamond nanospheres! That's the ticket.

      I just say my code is compiling.

    2. Re:They probably... by Hatta · · Score: 5, Informative

      This isn't the first time something like this has been done. Northern Blots involve the detection of RNA bound to a membrane by hybridizing it with a complementary radioactive RNA probe. Two things, to prevent non-specific binding of the probe to the membrane you need to block it with some inert protein. Powdered milk is a cheap convenient source of protein. In order to do they hybridization at a lower temperature, a little alcohol is used.

      Anyway, some genius figured that since Bailey's Irish cream contains milk and alcohol, you could use it in your hybridization buffer. Apparently it worked, it's even been used for published results. Generally formamide is used instead of ethanol these days, and the dry milk works just fine. Still, it's a clever way to get your liquor funded by your grant. ;)

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  10. This isn't a big deal by MrPBoy · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have personally turned tequila into many things. Including vomit and diarrhea.

  11. Re:It's inevitable by Stile+65 · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's hard to get 100% pure ethanol because ethanol is hygroscopic. This is part of the problem with using pure ethanol in vehicles (water ends up in your fuel without proper precautions), and why butanol may be a better choice for fuel.

    Also, I'm not sure why nobody's mentioned it, but vodka is about the closest you can get to a 60%-40% water/ethanol mixture. Very few if any extra chemicals. Why use tequila instead of vodka?

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  12. Re:It's inevitable by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Informative

    I'm not sure what goes into getting 100% ethanol, but I've heard you can't distill it that pure.

    In simple distillation it is impossible to get 100% ethanol. The highest purity you can get is 95.6% ethanol and 4.4% water because ethanol/water is an azeotrope. There are several ways to get pure ethanol, one of which is to add compounds like benzene which makes it unsuitable for human consumption.

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  13. Re:It's inevitable by Bemopolis · · Score: 4, Funny

    Because the research was done at UNAM. And the only thing worse than cheap Mexican tequila is cheap Mexican vodka. Even the worms refuse to drown in it.

    --
    "I guess the moral of the story is, don't paint your airship with rocket fuel." -- Addison Bain
  14. Ahh tequila by Daswolfen · · Score: 4, Funny

    is there nothing you can't do? From creating diamonds to making me forget my freshman (and most of my sophomore)year at college.

    Good Times,good times...

    --
    Don't rush me, Sonny. You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles.
  15. Re:god and diamonds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    "vodka is proof god hates us and wants us to die."
    --american dude morning after drinking with russians

  16. Re:This wasn't very good tequila by mako1138 · · Score: 5, Informative

    By law, something called "tequila" has to be 51% blue agave. The remainder can be made up of cheap reducing sugar, with the practical result of producing hangovers.

    The good stuff is the 100% blue agave tequila. Unfortunately, since there's been an agave shortage in Mexico, prices have gone up in recent years. You have to pay $20 and up for (750mL) 100% blue agave these days.