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Diamond Rain In Saturn

Taco Cowboy writes "Back in 1999, it was postulated that diamonds may rain from the sky in the atmospheres of our solar system's gas giants. Now, research has shown that diamond rains on Saturn are more than probable. '"We don't want to give people the impression that we have a Titanic-sized diamondberg floating around," said researcher Mona Delitsky, of California Specialty Engineering, "We're thinking they're more like something you can hold in your hand." Recent data compiled by planetary scientists ... has been combined with newly published pressure temperature diagrams of Jupiter and Saturn. These diagrams, known as adiabats, allow researchers to decipher at what interior level that diamond would become stable. They also allow for calculations at lower levels – regions where both temperature and pressure are so concentrated that diamond becomes a liquid. Imagine diamond rain or rivulets of pure gemstone.' 'At even greater depths, the scientists say the diamond will eventually melt to form liquid diamond, which may then form a stable ocean layer.'

6 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Is there a cartel on Saturn? by gbjbaanb · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It [gold] also remains far over valued versus its industrial use

    so does paper with funny symbols, old dude's faces and a signature printed on it.

  2. wrong by slashmydots · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "temperature and pressure are so concentrated that diamond becomes a liquid"
    Correction:
    "temperature and pressure are so concentrated that carbon becomes a liquid"
    It's not considered a diamond if it's a liquid. Diamonds are crystalline.

  3. good news for space exploration by sl4shd0rk · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nothing prompts exploration like greed.

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    Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
  4. Re: Is there a cartel on Saturn? by Instantlemming · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Colour other than 'no colour' used to be thought of as inferior/impure, and those diamonds were ground up and used as industrial sandpaper. So quality is very, very subjective.

  5. Re: Is there a cartel on Saturn? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Color, Clarity, Cut, and Carat. It's the right combination of all four that makes a diamond valuable. This is regardless of the cartel. Quality is quality.

    Not true. A "cultured" diamond will sell for considerably less than a mined diamond of the same quality. The DeBeers diamond cartel has gone to considerable effort and expense to promote the perception that laboratory grown diamonds are somehow inferior to "real" diamonds produced by African children digging up hundreds of tons of dirt.

  6. Re:Liquid diamond!? by egcagrac0 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If this story was on the internet 150 years ago, they would have been excited about the oceans of liquid coal.

    A practically limitless supply of coal, essential for rail transport and industry, we just need to build a 1.2 terameter long pipeline...