#carbon

#carbon

Carbon Residue from Ancient Life Found in 2.5 Billion-Year-Old RubyProfessor Chris Yakymchuk of the University of Waterloo became one of the pioneers in studying the geology of ruby formation. During one of their research trips to Greenland, which is known for large deposits of rubies, Yakymchuk and his team found a sample of ruby that contained graphite. Graphite is a mineral made of pure carbon which was examined and found to be a remnant of early life. In fact, it was found in rocks older than 2.5 billion years ago. Looking back, this was a time when oxygen was not yet abundant, implying that only microorganisms and algae were alive. Studying the conditions necessary for ruby formation, the research team also found out that graphite does not only relate the gemstone to ancient life but was also a necessary factor for the ruby to exist by changing the chemistry of the rocks surrounding it.Image credit: University of Waterloo#ruby #graphite #carbon #gemstone #ancientlife #chemistry #geology

This is What Happens the Instant a Candle Flame is ExtinguishedWe’ve all blown out birthday candles, but few of us have seen up close what exactly happened to the recently extinguished candle wick.To help us understand what happens when a candle is extinguished, photographer @Macrofying took this close-up macro image and explained that when a candle is burning, the flame breaks down the hydrocarbon of the candle wax and burns all that carbon into carbon dioxide. But when the flame goes out, the glowing wick still has enough heat to break down carbon molecules in the wax but not enough heat to burn them into carbon dioxide. Instead, the carbon is released as smoke.#MacroPhotography #candle #smoke #candlewax #candlewick #hydrocarbon #carbon #carbondioxide

Scientists Created Glass That is Harder Than DiamondProfessor Tian Yongjun and colleagues from Yanshan University in Qinhuangdao, northern China, have successfully used fullerene - carbon molecules that are nicknamed buckyballs after American architect Buckminster Fuller - to create a new glass material that is stronger than diamond.The new material, called AM-III carbon, is a type of transparent glass with crystals. It is currently the world's hardest and strongest amorphous material, with a score of 113 gigapascals on the Vickers hardness test. In contrast, most natural diamonds are between 50 to 70, with some man-made diamonds reaching just 100 gigapascals. It is so hard that it could scratch diamonds easily.Yongjun noted that AM-III is about ten times stronger than steel and should be able to stop bullets better than any bulletproof window material available today.Image: S. Zhang, et al/National Science Review#glass #bulletproof #diamond #carbon #fullerene #buckyballs

'Nanoarchitected' Ultralight Material Can Stop Microparticles at Supersonic SpeedEngineers at MIT, Caltech and ETH Zurich have created a "nanoarchitected" ultralight material that can absorb impact and stop microparticles at supersonic speed:The researchers have fabricated an ultralight material made from nanometer-scale carbon struts that give the material toughness and mechanical robustness. The team tested the material's resilience by shooting it with microparticles at supersonic speeds, and found that the material, which is thinner than the width of a human hair, prevented the miniature projectiles from tearing through it.The material, which is more efficient than Kevlar, can potentially be used as armors, protective coatings, and blast-resistant shields in defense and space applications.#nanoscale #armor #carbon #KevlarImage: Carlos Portela et al.