| Author |
Message |
Lady_Satine
Title: Head of Lexian R&D
Joined: Oct 15 2005
Location: Metro area, Georgia
Posts: 7287
|
Astronomers discovered the largest diamond of all times in space. The weight of the precious stone reportedly makes up ten billion trillion trillion carats or five million trillion trillion pounds).
The space diamond is virtually an enormous chunk of crystallized carbon, 4,000 kilometers in diameter. The stone is located at a distance of 50 light years from Earth, in the Constellation Centaurus.
Scientists believe that the diamond is the heart of an extinct star that used to shine like the Sun. Astronomers have already dubbed the space diamond as Lucy in a tribute to the Beatles song ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.’
"You would need a jeweler's loupe the size of the Sun to grade this diamond!" says astronomer Travis Metcalfe (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), who leads a team of researchers that discovered the giant gem.
The cosmic stone completely outclasses all diamonds that have ever been found on Earth. The largest diamond weighing 546 carats was found in South African Republic. The diamond, The Star of Africa, resides in the Crown Jewels of England. The Star of Africa was cut from the largest diamond ever found on Earth, a 3,100-carat gem.
Lucy, also known as BPM 37093, is actually a crystallized white dwarf. A white dwarf is the hot core of a star, left over after the star uses up its nuclear fuel and dies. It is made mostly of carbon and is coated by a thin layer of hydrogen and helium gases.
The white dwarf is not only radiant but also harmonious. It rings like a gigantic gong, undergoing constant pulsations. "By measuring those pulsations, we were able to study the hidden interior of the white dwarf, just like seismograph measurements of earthquakes allow geologists to study the interior of the Earth. We figured out that the carbon interior of this white dwarf has solidified to form the galaxy's largest diamond," says Metcalfe.
Astronomers say that our Sun will die in five billion years and become a white dwarf too. About two billion years after it will turn into a similar diamond that will continue to sparkle in the center of the solar system forever.
|
 "Life is a waste of time. Time is a waste of life. Get wasted all the time, and you'll have the time of your life!" |
|
   |
|
TheRoboSleuth
Title: Sleuth Mark IV
Joined: Aug 08 2006
Location: The Gritty Future
Posts: 2739
|
Thats incredibly awesome.
|
|
|
  |
|
username
Title: owner of a lonely heart
Joined: Jul 06 2007
Location: phoenix, az usa
Posts: 16136
|
I must agree w/RGS, that is pretty fucking interesting!!
|

| Klimbatize wrote: |
| I'll eat a turkey sandwich while blowing my load |
|
|
     |
|
Black Zarak
Title: Big Coffin Hunter
Joined: Feb 01 2006
Location: Phyrexia
Posts: 4098
|
Well, when we finally develop faster-than-light travel and run out of diamonds, we'll be safe and secure knowing there's a stockpile waiting just fifty light years away.
|

REVIEWS, LEGOS, NONSENSE Check out Zarak's Barracks!
"Let that be a lesson to you, your family and everyone you've ever known..."
"Thanks to denial, I'm immortal!" |
|
   |
|
Ross Rifle
Title: Rock N Roll God
Joined: Oct 29 2006
Location: Chilliwack, BC
Posts: 4844
|
How amazing would it be to be flying through space Star Wars style and oops, there's this enormous fuckin diamond in front of you...man, that'd be like a total zen moment
|
|
|
     |
|
ReeperTheSeeker
Joined: Aug 26 2007
Posts: 2752
|
It's too bad Futurama is not on anymore, they would probable have an episode devoted to some intergalactic diamond rush on Lucy with fry and bender trying to take more then the ship can carry, featuring a crazed Lucy Ball impersonator and in a surprise twist, Lela goes mad with greed and tries to kill them all and take it all for herself.
|
|
|
  |
|
Cattivo
Joined: Apr 14 2006
Location: Lake Michigan
Posts: 3332
|
They probably have time to put it into one of their straight-to-DVD movies. Certainly ripe material for them.
|
|
|
  |
|
Optimist With Doubts
Title: Titlating
Joined: Dec 17 2007
Posts: 5042
|
Do you know how many space africans had to die for that?
|
|
|
    |
|
Knyte
2010 SLF Tag Champ*
Title: Curator Of The VGM
Joined: Nov 01 2006
Location: Here I am.
Posts: 6749
|
At least my dreams of a solid diamond toliet can finally come to fruition.
|
|
|
   |
|
Ross Rifle
Title: Rock N Roll God
Joined: Oct 29 2006
Location: Chilliwack, BC
Posts: 4844
|
That's funny Knyte, when I'm a super famous rock star in the biggest band on the planet, I'm going to have a 24k solid gold toilet installed in my Super-Lightning-Awesome Rockstar Mansion
|
|
|
     |
|
Kacen
Joined: Dec 18 2007
Posts: 154
|
If we somehow had access to that, I'd imagine the price of diamonds would go down...terribly...to the point they'd be worthless.
|
|
|
  |
|
Black Zarak
Title: Big Coffin Hunter
Joined: Feb 01 2006
Location: Phyrexia
Posts: 4098
|
I imagine something similar to the blood diamond situation would happen; multiple governments would try to claim ownership as well as bands of straight out pirates, it would probably constantly be encircled by the armed forces of some group and control would shift constantly.
|

REVIEWS, LEGOS, NONSENSE Check out Zarak's Barracks!
"Let that be a lesson to you, your family and everyone you've ever known..."
"Thanks to denial, I'm immortal!" |
|
   |
|
Char Aznable
Title: Char Classic™
Joined: Jul 24 2006
Location: Robot Boombox HQ
Posts: 7542
|
That is, until the Diamond People enslave humanity with their quantum radiation blasts.
|
|
|
    |
|
erock
Title: likes to party
Joined: Dec 21 2007
Location: Phoenix. its hot outside
Posts: 1219
|
| Black Zarak wrote: |
| I imagine something similar to the blood diamond situation would happen; multiple governments would try to claim ownership as well as bands of straight out pirates, it would probably constantly be encircled by the armed forces of some group and control would shift constantly. |
most likely space pirates or space governments.
|
|
|
   |
|
Knyte
2010 SLF Tag Champ*
Title: Curator Of The VGM
Joined: Nov 01 2006
Location: Here I am.
Posts: 6749
|
The USA would just slap a flag on it, and yell out "Finders Keepers!",just like we did with the moon.
|
|
|
   |
|
Black Zarak
Title: Big Coffin Hunter
Joined: Feb 01 2006
Location: Phyrexia
Posts: 4098
|
| erock462 wrote: |
| Black Zarak wrote: |
| I imagine something similar to the blood diamond situation would happen; multiple governments would try to claim ownership as well as bands of straight out pirates, it would probably constantly be encircled by the armed forces of some group and control would shift constantly. |
most likely space pirates or space governments. |
Well, that goes without saying.
|

REVIEWS, LEGOS, NONSENSE Check out Zarak's Barracks!
"Let that be a lesson to you, your family and everyone you've ever known..."
"Thanks to denial, I'm immortal!" |
|
   |
|
Optimist With Doubts
Title: Titlating
Joined: Dec 17 2007
Posts: 5042
|
| erock462 wrote: |
| Black Zarak wrote: |
| I imagine something similar to the blood diamond situation would happen; multiple governments would try to claim ownership as well as bands of straight out pirates, it would probably constantly be encircled by the armed forces of some group and control would shift constantly. |
most likely space pirates or space governments. |
didnt L Ron predict this?
|
|
|
    |
|
Cattivo
Joined: Apr 14 2006
Location: Lake Michigan
Posts: 3332
|
|
  |
|
Bouya
Title: Delinquent
Joined: Aug 15 2007
Location: Suzuran
Posts: 1443
|
| ross_rifle113 wrote: |
| That's funny Knyte, when I'm a super famous rock star in the biggest band on the planet, I'm going to have a 24k solid gold toilet installed in my Super-Lightning-Awesome Rockstar Mansion |
I bet it would be so cold that when your asscheeks touched it, your anus would retreat into your abdomen.
|
|
|
  |
|
Black Zarak
Title: Big Coffin Hunter
Joined: Feb 01 2006
Location: Phyrexia
Posts: 4098
|
| -bjork- wrote: |
| ross_rifle113 wrote: |
| That's funny Knyte, when I'm a super famous rock star in the biggest band on the planet, I'm going to have a 24k solid gold toilet installed in my Super-Lightning-Awesome Rockstar Mansion |
I bet it would be so cold that when your asscheeks touched it, your anus would retreat into your abdomen. |
Well, if you've got the kind of money to invest in a solid gold toilet, you'd likely have them work a seat heating system into it. Actually, you'd probably think of that for the second solid gold toilet, it would just be like everytime you sit on the first one, you think "Damn, I really should have found a way to heat this thing up." So when you install the solid gold toilets in the guesthouse, the seats would be warm.
|

REVIEWS, LEGOS, NONSENSE Check out Zarak's Barracks!
"Let that be a lesson to you, your family and everyone you've ever known..."
"Thanks to denial, I'm immortal!" |
|
   |
|
Blackout
Title: Captain Oblivious
Joined: Sep 01 2007
Location: That Rainy State
Posts: 10376
|
|
     |
|
|
|