Friday, January 2, 2009

Diamond is Life

Scientists are reporting that diamonds could have created chemical reactions billions of years ago that were believed to have caused life on Earth.

Diamonds may have been life's best friend. Billions of years ago, the surface of these gems may have provided just the right conditions to foster the chemical reactions believed to have given rise to life on Earth, researchers in Germany reports.

In the new study conducted, Andrei Sommer, Dan Zhu, and Hans-Joerg Fecht point out that scientists have theorized for years that the chemical precursors of life gradually evolved from a so-called "primordial soup" of simpler molecules. But the details of how these simpler amino acid molecules, the building blocks of life, were assembled into complex polymers, remains one of science's long standing mysteries.

To find out, the research team studied diamonds, crystallized forms of carbon which are older than the earliest forms of life on Earth. In a series of laboratory experiments, the scientists showed that after treatment with hydrogen, natural diamond forms crystalline layers of water on its surface, essential for the development of life, and involved in electrical conductivity.

When primitive molecules landed on the surface of these hydrogenated diamonds in the atmosphere of early Earth, the resulting reaction may have been sufficient enough to generate more complex organic molecules that eventually gave rise to life, researchers say.

Diamonds have always been responsible for life, up until now. A husband gives his wife a 3Ct Diamond ring and then there goes life. Just something to laugh about....

Sources: physorg.com

Ann
JewelryDays.com
My Life is Beautiful

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

very interesting post! there have been many stories about how life started on earth but this is the first story i've come across with that explains how diamond could have caused the emergence of life on earth billions of years ago. it's a possibility though given the fact that chemical reactions between and among various things can cause almost anything when subjected to different conditions. i would still like to believe though that life began when God decided to create earth and man, and diamonds were created to motivate couples to produce more life!

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