5 ms·

Let's just be grateful it wasn't ice-IX they found.

binarymax 9y ago
Yes! Getting close though. Only two stages left. For those who need context: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/135479.Cat_s_Cradle https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/135479.Cat_s_Cradle
- selectodude 9y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_IX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_IX
  - emmelaich 9y ago
    Interesting! For others, this isn't the Vonnegut Ice nine.
mcherm 9y ago
Sounds like they haven't actually broken open the diamond, so can we really be sure?
- kurthr 9y ago
  They don't mention it in the article, but it's likely to be IR spectroscopy, since that can measure resonance of H2O molecular bonds, which would be specific to symmetries/energies in Ice-7 and very different from the known spectrum of diamond. edit to add: http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/water_vibrational_spectrum.html http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/water_vibrational_spectrum.html However, I suppose it could also be X-ray crystallography, which would measure the actual crystal structure. Probably other methods as well...
  - creep 9y ago
    They do mention it in the article >But while they were scanning the diamonds with high intensity X-rays, they saw something else: The first conclusive evidence of ice-VII on the planet. But probably they used other methods to confirm.
  - mcherm 9y ago
    But of course, since ice IX is fictional, we don't know what it's IR spectrum or X-ray crystallography pattern is...
- creep 9y ago
  If you broke open the diamond, the sample would be destroyed. They used a technique called x-ray crystallography. You shoot a beam of x-rays at the sample, and the beam deffracts due to the crystal's atomic structure. In analyzing the resulting diffraction pattern you can build a *3D model of what the molecules look like structurally. This is why we know what DNA looks like. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_crystallography https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_crystallography
zer00eyz 9y ago
You forgot vanilla https://xkcd.com/1561/ https://xkcd.com/1561/

Yes! Getting close though. Only two stages left. For those who need context: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/135479.Cat_s_Cradle https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/135479.Cat_s_Cradle

selectodude 9y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_IX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_IX
- emmelaich 9y ago
  Interesting! For others, this isn't the Vonnegut Ice nine.

mcherm 9y ago

Sounds like they haven't actually broken open the diamond, so can we really be sure?

kurthr 9y ago
They don't mention it in the article, but it's likely to be IR spectroscopy, since that can measure resonance of H2O molecular bonds, which would be specific to symmetries/energies in Ice-7 and very different from the known spectrum of diamond. edit to add: http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/water_vibrational_spectrum.html http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/water_vibrational_spectrum.html However, I suppose it could also be X-ray crystallography, which would measure the actual crystal structure. Probably other methods as well...
- creep 9y ago
  They do mention it in the article >But while they were scanning the diamonds with high intensity X-rays, they saw something else: The first conclusive evidence of ice-VII on the planet. But probably they used other methods to confirm.
- mcherm 9y ago
  But of course, since ice IX is fictional, we don't know what it's IR spectrum or X-ray crystallography pattern is...
creep 9y ago
If you broke open the diamond, the sample would be destroyed. They used a technique called x-ray crystallography. You shoot a beam of x-rays at the sample, and the beam deffracts due to the crystal's atomic structure. In analyzing the resulting diffraction pattern you can build a *3D model of what the molecules look like structurally. This is why we know what DNA looks like. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_crystallography https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_crystallography

zer00eyz 9y ago

You forgot vanilla https://xkcd.com/1561/ https://xkcd.com/1561/