According to ScienceMag, the palmlike Pandanus candelabrum plant has an affinity for diamonds. Or more precisely, an affinity for kimberlite.
A geologist has discovered a thorny, palm-like plant in Liberia that seems to grow only on top of kimberlite pipes—columns of volcanic rock hundreds of meters across that extend deep into Earth, left by ancient eruptions that exhumed diamonds from the mantle. [...] It has a stilt-like aerial root system, similar to mangrove trees, and rises to a height of 10 meters or more, spreading spiny, palm-like fronds. [...] Kimberlite pipes bring the gems to the surface in eruptions that sometimes rise faster than the speed of sound. The pipes are rare.
The Kimberlite pipes are rich in magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus, and the plant appears to be particularly adapted to these soils. It appears to grows no where else.
Prospecting has just gotten much easier. That may be good for the West African nations, but not necessarily for P. candelabrum. Kimberlite mines tend to be narrow and vertical, with much smaller footprints than open-pit copper mines, and their effluent—ground-up kimberlite—is benign.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 05 2015, @08:20AM
It doesn't have an affinity for diamonds.
It has an affinity for a type of rock, which is more likely to contain diamonds.
Stop reversing causes just to make a better bait headline.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 05 2015, @03:21PM
A bait headline at 8:01 UTC. Oh the humanity.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Adamsjas on Tuesday May 05 2015, @06:53PM
Good job, AC, you made read all the way to the end of the title.
Seems you couldn't quite make it to the end of the first paragraph of the summary, and you obviously never bothered reading the linked articles.
But nice work anyway, you can certainly feel good about yourself today.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 05 2015, @08:26AM
Unlikely. It may be good for DeBeers.
(Score: 3, Informative) by bob_super on Tuesday May 05 2015, @03:17PM
I'm pretty sure DeBeers is stocking up on defoliant right now.
They don't need more diamonds. They only need to ensure they have no easy competition.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 05 2015, @07:56PM
Diamonds aren't rare at all. [knowledgenuts.com] Stop getting suckered out of your money and playing into the DeBeers' cartel's scam. If you really want diamonds (why? there's nothing special about them) don't buy from DeBeers.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Adamsjas on Tuesday May 05 2015, @07:13PM
DeBeers normal stomping grounds were much further south. They have not been all that active in these equatorial African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and places further north for a long time (They left Sierra Leone in 1984).
However, it appears that they have taken some steps to get back into these areas with the help of Canada and the UN. They even managed to get a Canadian commission to recommend that DeBeers manage the equatorial diamond trade to stem the flow of so-called conflict diamonds. See: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/13/sierraleone.unitednations [theguardian.com]
Many people consider the whole concept of "Conflict/Blood Diamonds" to be a scam by DeBeers. Not that there hasn't been rebels enslaving people to mine, that has in fact happened, but the numbers of conflict diamonds in the market place is tiny. Still, the UN has marked ALL diamonds from these equatorial countries as blood diamonds, preventing these countries from utilizing all their natural resources.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Nuke on Tuesday May 05 2015, @08:45AM
A geologist has discovered a thorny, palm-like plant in Liberia [it] rises to a height of 10 meters or more
Science has only just discovered a tree that grows to 10m high ?
I wonder what else is just waiting to be discovered. 50m high mammoths in the White House garden?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by wonkey_monkey on Tuesday May 05 2015, @09:19AM
Incorrect placement of "that":
A geologist has discovered a thorny, palm-like plant in Liberia that seems to grow only on top of kimberlite pipes
A geologist has discovered that a thorny, palm-like plant in Liberia seems to grow only on top of kimberlite pipes
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 3, Informative) by CoolHand on Tuesday May 05 2015, @02:41PM
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Tuesday May 05 2015, @06:48PM
"But the new plant, identified as Pandanus candelabrum
Well, it is a bit confusing to refer to it as a new plant, then in the same sentence say it's been identified as a species that was first described more than 200 years ago without further qualification.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 05 2015, @09:58AM
Science has only just discovered a tree that grows to 10m high?
No, you're reading it wrong.
A geologist has discovered a thorny, palm-like plant in Liberia that seems to grow only on top of kimberlite pipes [...] It has a stilt-like aerial root system, similar to mangrove trees, and rises to a height of 10 meters or more, spreading spiny, palm-like fronds.
I'm not sure why everyone's focusing on the thorny, palm-like-plant in Liberia when the real news is that of a palm frond giveaway sponsored by a giant geologist with apparent genetic ties to Treebeard!
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 05 2015, @09:49AM
The women who find themselves following me around all day act so confused, unable to understand why their money sense is tingling.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 05 2015, @10:13AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/02/AR2010070203990_pf.html [washingtonpost.com]
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell-a-diamond/304575/ [theatlantic.com]
See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_diamond#Gemstones [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Tuesday May 05 2015, @03:43PM
Are you sure it wasn't initially deposited by metorite near the Tiber River?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_%26_Conquer_%281995_video_game%29 [wikipedia.org]