from the diamonds-are-just-coal-that-stood-up-to-the-pressure dept.
The Australian National University (ANU) has led an international project to make a diamond that's predicted to be harder than a jeweller's diamond and useful for cutting through ultra-solid materials on mining sites.
ANU Associate Professor Jodie Bradby said her team - including ANU PhD student Thomas Shiell and experts from RMIT, the University of Sydney and the United States - made nano-sized Lonsdaleite, which is a hexagonal diamond only found in nature at the site of meteorite impacts such as Canyon Diablo in the US.
"This new diamond is not going to be on any engagement rings. You'll more likely find it on a mining site - but I still think that diamonds are a scientist's best friend. Any time you need a super-hard material to cut something, this new diamond has the potential to do it more easily and more quickly," said Dr Bradby from the ANU Research School of Physics and Engineering.
Her research team made the Lonsdaleite in a diamond anvil at 400 degrees Celsius, halving the temperature at which it can be formed in a laboratory.
Perfect gift for that geek girl you're sweet on.
(Score: 4, Funny) by FatPhil on Tuesday December 13 2016, @09:41AM
Oh, I see what you did there...
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 13 2016, @04:36PM
i like the one (diamond) that electrocutes you more.
also what is the difference between abrasion and cutting (noun and verb)?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 13 2016, @05:36PM
Abrasion is a scrape caused by friction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrasion_(geology) [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by cellocgw on Tuesday December 13 2016, @10:53PM
Diamond refers to carbon in a specific atomic structure. This new stuff is carbon in a different atomic structure. OK, it's carbon, and ok, it's hard. It's still not diamond.
I suppose only the other solid-state physicists and crystallographers care, though.
Physicist, cellist, former OTTer (1190) resume: https://app.box.com/witthoftresume