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Article: Diamonds are forever.
- Article from:
- The Evening Standard (London, England)
- Article date:
- April 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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They aren't big or shiny, like the gems in a jewelry store window. Yet a handful of ancient "micro-diamonds." chipped from the rocks near Shark Bay in Western Australia. may yield a treasure of their own. Recently analyzed by an international team of experts led by geochemists at Australia's Curtin University, these four-billion-year-old diamonds might help answer one of science's most fascinating questions: When did life on Earth begin?
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It's alive!
Diamonds got their name from the Greek word adamas (meaning "indestructible"). Incredibly hard and durable, diamonds are made of pure carbon, which was subjected to immense ...