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Rare Blue Diamonds Lurk Deep In Earth's Core (washingtonpost.com)
Scientist believe they now know how extremely rare blue diamonds are formed. After studying 46 of the gems, they found that blue diamonds are formed as deep as the transition zone between the planet's upper and lower mantle (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source) -- far greater depths than other diamonds, some deeper than 410 miles. The Washington Post reports: Just 1 out of 200,000 diamonds are blue. Like all diamonds, they are made when carbon comes under intense pressure and extreme heat deep inside the Earth. As they form, they can trap tiny bits of rock inside -- like fossils in amber. "Diamond is an extraordinary container, a time capsule," said Steven Shirey, a geochemist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington. Shirey and his colleagues used lasers to examine the diamonds' imperfections -- slivers of embedded rock -- at the Gemological Institute of America. The researchers suggest that boron in the ocean floor was pushed down when plates that make up the Earth's crust collided. The element allows the stone to absorb some red light, so the diamond looks blue. The findings were published in the journal Nature.
Specifically they lurk in my wife's engagement ring. Go ahead Slashdot trolls... Bring on the hate for being married on Slashdot.
But in all seriousness, that's the beauty of lab created gemstones. You want a blue diamond? Not really any different than creating a clear one. You can even pick from different shades of blue.
Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
... is exactly why humans values these stones so highly. Sure, they're hard, but thats a pretty niche use. Apparently they look pretty. To me they just look like bits of glass which also doesn't tarnish. I honestly don't get why our species craves this stone so much.
They do. Lab grown diamonds come in a variety of colors.
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Or roughly 2.5 Miles. Yes the US should change to the Metric System, but why mix measurement systems in a comment post. It only adds to confusion.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
TFS summary says they're formed in the mantle, not the core.
The deepest mine in the world is about 4km underground...
The main obstacles to going deeper are getting air in and getting heat out. The solution is to get humans out and robots in. Robots don't need oxygen, and they can tolerate much higher temperatures. They can also work in much narrower shafts, and can even work submerged in pressurized liquids that can reduce cave-ins. There are also huge savings from avoiding all the safety measures, shift changes, and even gem theft.
That's sideways. If mining companies went straight down, they would reach China and owe the Chinese government mining royalties.
This is the attitude that keeps the US from switching in the first place.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
I wish I could have visited the lab where they made the gemstones. That would have been awesome.
As for the actual procurement process, the ring was made by Krikawa https://www.krikawa.com/ and they did a fantastic job using one of their existing designs in Palladium for my wife. The actual diamond I was able to select myself from their synthetic diamond supplier D.NEA http://d.neadiamonds.com/ . Surprisingly, the detail page link is still active http://d.neadiamonds.com/lab-c... 5 years later. The side stones are lab grown sapphires manufactured by Chatham.
For the wedding bands we have anodized titanium rings with each others' ring finger print laser engraved onto the inside of the band.
Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
Sorry, no.
The main obstacle is literary.
"Journey To The DeBeers Diamond Mine At The Center Of The Earth" just doesn't have the same ring and doesn't roll off the tongue as smoothly.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
You're correct, but there's more to it.
https://www.google.com/maps/@3...
This is where I grew up. See how the roads are spaced pretty regularly? Those aren't kilometers.
There's a huge amount of our country that's based on imperial measurements, and those for whom metric makes more sense - such as in science - already use metric. There's really no reason to change.
Do you have ESP?