1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, the production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 2: Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My 3 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 2: name is Robert. 4 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 3: Lamb, and I'm Joe McCormick, and we're back with the 5 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 3: fourth and final part in our series on diamonds. Now, 6 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:25,320 Speaker 3: if you haven't heard the other three parts, you might 7 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 3: want to go back and listen to those first, though 8 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,159 Speaker 3: I guess this series is probably okay if you do 9 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,200 Speaker 3: them out of order. That we will refer to things 10 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 3: we've already talked about in previous episodes. Brief recap of 11 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,200 Speaker 3: what we talked about in the parts that already aired. 12 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 3: We addressed in the first episode the widely held belief 13 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 3: that diamond fragments or diamond powder are poisonous if ingested, 14 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 3: and we talked about some alleged attempted diamond poisonings in history. 15 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:57,400 Speaker 3: The short modern read on that is that it seems 16 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 3: like diamond powder is probably not actually reliably poisonous, but 17 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:04,040 Speaker 3: just to be saved, we were still saying, you know, 18 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 3: I probably wouldn't need it. We talked a bit about 19 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 3: the conditions under which diamonds form. There's going to be 20 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 3: some more about that today. We talked about their physical properties, 21 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,120 Speaker 3: and a bit about their use in ancient cultures in 22 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 3: ancient India, China, and the Roman Empire. In the last episode, 23 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 3: we talked about some strange ancient beliefs recorded in the 24 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:26,839 Speaker 3: writings of Plenty of the Elder and some other sources 25 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:30,400 Speaker 3: that in order to shatter a diamond, you must first 26 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 3: soften it in the blood of a he goat. That's 27 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,960 Speaker 3: a good one. We also talked about the legend found 28 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 3: in multiple cultures that there is this so called valley 29 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 3: of Gems where diamonds litter the ground. But you can't 30 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:44,840 Speaker 3: just go down there and get them because there are 31 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 3: I don't know, poisonous, venomous snakes or some kind of 32 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 3: monster or beast or something. Down there's some kind of danger, 33 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 3: so you've got to have clever ways of getting the 34 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 3: diamonds up to the cliffs above. Our favorite method that 35 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 3: we read about involved meat, getting them eat. 36 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 2: That's right, And so in today's episode we have a 37 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 2: couple of other avenues we want to discuss. Later on 38 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 2: in the podcast, I'm going to talk a little bit 39 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 2: about diamond body modification, so we'll get back into this 40 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 2: idea of diamonds and human bodies coming together. But before 41 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,640 Speaker 2: we get to that, Joe, I understand you want to 42 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,279 Speaker 2: return to something we touched on in the last episode. 43 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 3: Well, that's right. So in the last episode I did 44 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 3: a bit on the question of whether diamonds can burn, 45 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 3: can they be fuel in a fire? The answer is yes, 46 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,959 Speaker 3: they are carbon based, and you can have a diamond fire, 47 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 3: though they take higher temperature, they have higher ignition temperatures 48 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 3: and may require more oxygen supply than most normal fuels 49 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 3: you'd have, like wood or coal. But this raised the 50 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 3: question do diamonds actually come from coal? 51 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:52,359 Speaker 2: Now? 52 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 3: As I said in the last episode, anecdotally, this seems 53 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,679 Speaker 3: to be a common belief. Unfortunately, this is one of 54 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 3: those where I was reading about it before I actually 55 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,399 Speaker 3: checked my pre existing knowledge, So I don't know if 56 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:06,920 Speaker 3: I would have said that diamonds are formed out of 57 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 3: coal or not. Rob, was this a belief banging around 58 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 3: in your head? 59 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 2: Yes, but only because that scene in Superman three? You know, yeah, okay, 60 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 2: Superman does it. Then I'm just assuming that he's correct, 61 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 2: and who's going to doubt the Man of Steel. 62 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 3: I cannot argue with you there. So anecdotally it does 63 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 3: seem to be a common belief, and it's easy to 64 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,519 Speaker 3: see why people would think this. Diamonds and coal are 65 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 3: both types of compressed carbon dug up from underground. So 66 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 3: you might just assume that when a coal formation undergoes 67 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 3: intense heat and pressure, it gets pressed and compressed and 68 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 3: compressed until it turns into diamonds, and that's where diamonds 69 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 3: come from. And even some old books and authorities on 70 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 3: diamonds do seem to suggest they believe this, that diamonds 71 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 3: come from coal, but more recent sources argue that this 72 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 3: is not the case, at least not for most diamonds. 73 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 2: I should point out that this is something I'm sure 74 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 2: came up for you as well, Joe, and your diamond research, 75 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 2: is that diamonds. This is the subject of diamonds. This 76 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 2: is one other one of those areas where you have 77 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:16,720 Speaker 2: a lot of websites, often associated with jewelers, that are 78 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,039 Speaker 2: going after like search engine optimization, and so there's a 79 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 2: lot of like diamond content dump going on. You see 80 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:28,239 Speaker 2: this with other businesses and areas as well. Occasionally turns 81 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 2: up that I kept encountering that in my research. It 82 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 2: sort of drove me out of the traditional search mode 83 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 2: into some of the like a Google scholar and so forth. 84 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 2: But there are a lot of websites out there that 85 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 2: are clearly the main idea is like, let's just move 86 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 2: up in the search for diamonds because we're trying to 87 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 2: sell them exactly. 88 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, some jewel retailer who've got the pages on the 89 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,280 Speaker 3: website like interesting diamond facts or something, you know, and 90 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,600 Speaker 3: it's like they're not citing sources. You can't rely on this, 91 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:05,719 Speaker 3: so you gotta trudge through all that to get to 92 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 3: something real. 93 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:08,280 Speaker 2: Some of it might be good, some of it might 94 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 2: be good, but yeah, a lot of it is not 95 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:11,559 Speaker 2: sourced and so forth. 96 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 3: But anyway, I guess that does now that we're talking 97 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 3: about sources. So I found a number of books on 98 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 3: geology and gems making the simple claim that no, diamonds 99 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:25,160 Speaker 3: do not come from coal, but usually without any further explanation. 100 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:27,279 Speaker 3: So I was looking for somebody to really explained, like 101 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 3: how do we know they don't come from coal? And 102 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 3: the most extensive exploration of this that I turned up 103 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:37,160 Speaker 3: was on the good old geology dot com website, which 104 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 3: I'm sure you've hit before, Rob, which does have solid 105 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 3: articles that are well sited and you know, listing sources 106 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:45,040 Speaker 3: and all that. So it's one of these articles by 107 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 3: the geologist Hobart King, who I think is the author 108 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 3: of most of what's on geology dot com. 109 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 2: Or what does the King have to say about this? 110 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 3: Well, King seems to be in line with the modern 111 00:05:55,680 --> 00:06:00,720 Speaker 3: consensus here that coal very rarely and possibly ever plays 112 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 3: a role in the formation of diamonds. How can we 113 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 3: know this? One reason he cites, and I mentioned this 114 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 3: briefly in the last episode, is that most diamonds that 115 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 3: can be dated are older than most coal. So we 116 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 3: can actually test the age of diamonds through radiometric dating, 117 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,599 Speaker 3: though it's a little bit complicated because of course we 118 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 3: can't use carbon dating on them. The half life of 119 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 3: carbon fourteen that you use to you test the decay 120 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 3: of that in order to use carbon dating, that's too 121 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:38,479 Speaker 3: short in time to accurately date materials that are on 122 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 3: the order of millions of years old or more. This 123 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,159 Speaker 3: is why you can't use carbon dating for, you know, 124 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 3: anything from the Age of the dinosaurs or anything like that. 125 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,600 Speaker 3: Carbon dating is useful for carbon based remains that are 126 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:52,559 Speaker 3: on the scale of like thousands of years or tens 127 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 3: of thousands of years old. 128 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, and as we discussed, diamonds are much older. 129 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:00,720 Speaker 3: Right, So if carbon dating isn't act, you're for things 130 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 3: as old as diamonds, and diamonds are made of carbon. 131 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:07,200 Speaker 3: How can we test their age? Well, you can use 132 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 3: different radioactive decay series tests on things such as mineral 133 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:17,160 Speaker 3: inclusions in diamonds, meaning occasionally you can find a diamond 134 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 3: with bits of other minerals that are trapped inside it 135 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 3: or trapped along with it. And when scientists do these tests, 136 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 3: these radioactive decay series tests on diamond inclusions, it seems 137 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 3: that most diamonds are more than a billion years old. 138 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 3: The common range I've seen is that the youngest diamonds 139 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 3: are just shy of a billion years old and the 140 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 3: oldest are more than three billion years old, And that 141 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:46,840 Speaker 3: means that natural diamonds can be the ones that can 142 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 3: be dated are pretty much all older than the evolution 143 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 3: of the first land plants. Plants first appeared in the 144 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 3: Cambrian era roughly five hundred million years ago, and they 145 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 3: didn't really flur shon land until later, with the big 146 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:06,240 Speaker 3: coal forming period being more like three hundred million years 147 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 3: ago known as the Carboniferous period, which literally means like 148 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 3: the coal forming period. Since land plants are the source 149 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 3: of the carbon in most coal deposits, it is unlikely 150 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 3: that diamonds would have formed one to three billion years 151 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:24,240 Speaker 3: ago out of a chain of metamorphosis that has to 152 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 3: start with a type of organism that didn't exist yet. 153 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:32,240 Speaker 2: Wow, why isn't this in the diamond commercials. 154 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 3: You'd think that would be an interesting selling point. Yeah, Like, 155 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 3: if this is a diamond that came out of the 156 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:40,680 Speaker 3: Earth and wasn't like made in a lab or something, 157 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 3: it probably is billions of years old, is from a 158 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 3: time when the only life on Earth was like single 159 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 3: celled organisms. So that's one reason for thinking diamonds are 160 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 3: generally not formed from coal. Another reason is that coal 161 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 3: seams and diamonds are found in completely different geological contact. 162 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 3: Coal is found in sedimentary rocks formed by the deposition 163 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 3: of layers of material on Earth's surface. These layers of 164 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:12,719 Speaker 3: material eventually get buried, they get horizontally compressed, and they 165 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 3: harden into rock strata, with the coal in traps there 166 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 3: in the sedimentary rocks. Meanwhile, diamonds are usually found in 167 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 3: vertical formations of igneous rocks. Igneous rocks are formed by fire. 168 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 3: These are rocks that are created when magma cools and 169 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 3: hardens into a solid. So coal and diamonds, you're going 170 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 3: to find them in totally different geological settings. King goes 171 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 3: on to list the four known natural sources of diamonds, 172 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,199 Speaker 3: and he says that these are formation in the Earth's mantle, 173 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 3: formation in subduction zones, formation at impact sites, and formation 174 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 3: in space. Now, we talked in the last episode about 175 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 3: diamonds that are formed in space and occasionally found in meteorites, 176 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,440 Speaker 3: and we also talk about diamonds that are created by 177 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:07,560 Speaker 3: the incredible heat and pressure of space impacts. So, for example, 178 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:10,959 Speaker 3: if you have like a ten kilometer asteroid traveling at 179 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:15,320 Speaker 3: twenty kilometers per second, it enters Earth's atmosphere, it hits 180 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 3: or explodes, there's going to it does that over an 181 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:22,959 Speaker 3: area with rocks bearing carbon, maybe rocks that have graphite 182 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 3: in them, which is a form of carbon based mineral 183 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 3: that's less dense than a diamond, that impact, and that 184 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:32,680 Speaker 3: the heat and pressure there could turn the graphite in 185 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 3: the rocks into diamonds. Now King says, in this case, 186 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 3: technically the carbon could also come from coal. So like 187 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 3: the asteroid maybe hits an area with exposed or near 188 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 3: surface coal seams, but most diamonds are not formed by 189 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 3: space impacts, so that could happen, but most of the 190 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 3: diamonds you come across are not going to be from 191 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:56,080 Speaker 3: this source. Instead, King says, basically, all the diamonds that 192 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 3: are commercially mined on Earth are the kind that are 193 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:04,360 Speaker 3: created deep down in the forge of the Earth's mantle. Now, 194 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:07,440 Speaker 3: we already mentioned a bit about diamond formation in the 195 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:10,880 Speaker 3: mantle in a previous episode, but just to refresh, scientists 196 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:14,680 Speaker 3: generally believe that the conditions of heat and pressure that 197 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 3: you need in order to create a diamond only occur 198 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 3: in certain areas, usually at a depth of about one 199 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,760 Speaker 3: hundred and fifty kilometers or greater from the surface, which 200 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 3: is well below the crust deep into the mantle, and 201 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:33,320 Speaker 3: usually this would be around the interior of continental plates. 202 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:36,560 Speaker 3: That is of course way too deep to mind. We 203 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 3: do not have any mines that go down one hundred 204 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:43,679 Speaker 3: and fifty kilometers underground, so we can only mine diamonds 205 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 3: that are brought closer to the surface somehow. And as 206 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 3: we mentioned in I think part two, maybe we find 207 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:54,359 Speaker 3: these diamonds in and around these vertical pipes of igneous 208 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:58,480 Speaker 3: rock known as kimber light or lamprote pipes, and these 209 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 3: are vertical columns of rock that were formed long ago 210 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 3: by incredibly explosive volcanic eruptions from deep in the mantle. 211 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:12,000 Speaker 3: So magma from below flows up to the surface rapidly, 212 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:16,600 Speaker 3: and sometimes it breaks off pieces of the mantle, and 213 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:19,960 Speaker 3: these flows bring diamonds up to the surface with them. 214 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:23,200 Speaker 3: And one sort of cool and creepy thing that King 215 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 3: mentions offhand is that no one in human history, as 216 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 3: far as we know, has ever witnessed the kind of 217 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,959 Speaker 3: deep source volcanic eruption that brings diamonds to the surface. 218 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 3: These are known as kimber light eruptions. They are rare 219 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:40,880 Speaker 3: compared to normal volcanic eruptions. They're very energetic and explosive, 220 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 3: and most of the ones we know about took place 221 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,200 Speaker 3: long ago, so there are no historical records, like since 222 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:50,400 Speaker 3: the dawn of writing, of anybody ever describing or seeing 223 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 3: one of these, And it seems like most of the 224 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 3: ones that have taken place took place long, long ago. 225 00:12:55,760 --> 00:13:00,080 Speaker 2: Again, why isn't this in the diamond commercials? Doesn't you 226 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 2: love deserve a diamond forged? Or not forged, but brought 227 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 2: to the surface towards the surface in a volcanic eruption 228 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,600 Speaker 2: so terrifyingly powerful that we've never seen its like in 229 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:11,360 Speaker 2: human history. 230 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:14,480 Speaker 3: You'd think that would be a selling point. You could 231 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 3: combine them. Actually, you could have that. You could have 232 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:18,880 Speaker 3: like the real science facts on one hand, and then 233 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:21,080 Speaker 3: like we said in the other episode that you know, 234 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:23,720 Speaker 3: the valley of the gem's legend, so like you you know, 235 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:26,600 Speaker 3: you've got to show using the meat to retrieve the diamonds. 236 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, like dig into all that the content is there, 237 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:31,560 Speaker 2: use it. 238 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 3: So we know that most diamonds that come from Earth 239 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 3: are formed deep in the mantle, So why should we 240 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,080 Speaker 3: not think coal is the source of the carbon in 241 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 3: these diamonds. Based on I did some quick research on this, 242 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:47,200 Speaker 3: it seems to me that coal deposits are mostly in 243 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 3: the top three kilometers of the Earth's crust. And remember, 244 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 3: diamonds are formed one hundred and fifty or more kilometers 245 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 3: down within the mantle. So the coal would have to 246 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,720 Speaker 3: somehow get from these locations in the top layer of 247 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 3: the crust down to like fifty times their normal depth 248 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,720 Speaker 3: or more underneath a continental plate to supply the carbon 249 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,599 Speaker 3: to make the diamonds, and that seems kind of unlikely 250 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,960 Speaker 3: or at least rare. King thinks a more likely origin 251 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 3: for the carbon in diamonds is just carbon that has 252 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 3: been present in Earth rocks since early in the planet's formation, 253 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 3: and there are sources of carbon that you can find 254 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:29,640 Speaker 3: within the rocks of the Earth. Like I was reading 255 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 3: another article about these incredibly explosive kimber light eruptions, and 256 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 3: one thing that seems to happen when these eruptions kick 257 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 3: off is that there is like an expansion of CO 258 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 3: two gas deep down in the mantle. Like CO two 259 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,400 Speaker 3: there's an area where there's a lot of carbon in 260 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 3: the mantle, and the CO two gas starts to come 261 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 3: out of solution, much like what happens when you pop 262 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:57,720 Speaker 3: the top on a carbonated soda. It starts to come 263 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 3: out of solution and turn into a gas want to 264 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 3: rise quickly to the surface, and this of course is 265 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:07,000 Speaker 3: extremely explosive and violent. However, to come back in the 266 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 3: other direction and talk about an analogy to coal being 267 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 3: the source of diamond formation, an analogy that is quite possible. 268 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 3: King does acknowledge that very small diamonds are sometimes formed 269 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 3: in what are called subduction zones, and this is where 270 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 3: so you have different plates of the Earth's crust meeting. 271 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 3: You have maybe an oceanic plate that is the part 272 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:34,880 Speaker 3: of the crust sitting underneath an ocean, and then a 273 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:38,400 Speaker 3: continental plate that's where you have a continent, and they 274 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 3: meet at a sort of joint, and where they meet, 275 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:46,720 Speaker 3: the oceanic plate is pushed down underneath the continental plate 276 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,160 Speaker 3: at this joint where they meet. So in the case 277 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:55,240 Speaker 3: of subduction, sedimentary rocks formed on the ocean floor can 278 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,840 Speaker 3: indeed be shoved down into the mantle. And it does 279 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 3: seem that the carbon in these rocks may sometimes form 280 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 3: diamonds in extreme heat and pressure in this subduction zone. 281 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 3: But the rocks in question here would probably not be coal, 282 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 3: But King says instead other kinds of carbon bearing sediment 283 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 3: based rocks that form mostly on the ocean floor, things 284 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 3: like limestone and dolomite. 285 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,680 Speaker 2: Now, as we get into the final stretch here, I 286 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 2: want to get back into this area of diamonds and 287 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 2: the human body coming together again. We discussed various past 288 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:46,880 Speaker 2: beliefs about the dangers of ingesting diamonds, and this inspired 289 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:50,680 Speaker 2: me to look a little closer at Diamonds and the Flesh, 290 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:53,600 Speaker 2: and I wanted to start with one of the more recent, 291 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 2: and by some perspectives, more extreme examples of diamond at 292 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 2: flesh unity. That is, of course, the forehead diamond implant 293 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 2: of American hip hop performer lil uzi Vert born nineteen 294 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 2: ninety five. Joe, are you familiar with the lil Uzivert? 295 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:13,400 Speaker 3: Only a little bit? I think maybe the main thing 296 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:17,119 Speaker 3: I know is from articles about the diamond implant. 297 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, this definitely made a splash. I think there are 298 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:23,399 Speaker 2: plenty of people who have not heard lil Uzivert's music, 299 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,440 Speaker 2: but they are familiar with the story of the diamond implant. 300 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:32,439 Speaker 2: I have not heard any of their music. My knowledge 301 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:36,359 Speaker 2: of mainstream hip hop is like fifteen to twenty years behind. 302 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:40,399 Speaker 2: I know some indie stuff here and there, but I 303 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:42,520 Speaker 2: don't know most of the current trends and acts. But 304 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 2: it's hard to ignore this particular story. This all went 305 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 2: down in twenty twenty one, got a lot of media coverage. 306 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:54,920 Speaker 2: You might have heard something on late night comedy shows 307 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,040 Speaker 2: about this. In the way that it was described, I 308 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 2: think the way I initially picked up on it too, 309 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:02,680 Speaker 2: it sounded red. I kind of got the impression that 310 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 2: was something impulsive, you know, like here's a hip hop 311 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 2: artist and maybe on the spur of the moment, they're like, 312 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 2: I like that diamond, I want it in my forehead, 313 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:13,200 Speaker 2: and then they did it, you know, kind of like 314 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,080 Speaker 2: anybody else in the world might say, you know, get 315 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 2: a drunken tattoo or something like that. 316 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:20,680 Speaker 3: But no, you're going to say, this is a more 317 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:24,639 Speaker 3: thought out diamond implant than that would suggest. 318 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:27,919 Speaker 2: Yeah, I had no idea, but I was reading about 319 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:30,960 Speaker 2: it on Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone has a really nice 320 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:35,560 Speaker 2: ride up on it. This is by Jeff Haza, and 321 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 2: it gets into not only the case with littl Uzivert, 322 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:43,120 Speaker 2: but other hip hop stars who have had implants similar. 323 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,440 Speaker 2: But the way it's described in this article, this all 324 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 2: began like in twenty seventeen, they had to purchase the 325 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,680 Speaker 2: reported twenty four million dollar diamond, had to pay that off. 326 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,520 Speaker 2: Then the implantation was handled by professional jewelers. And I 327 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,120 Speaker 2: think they're referring to to a consult by an expert 328 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 2: piercer or an expert in body modification. So it sounds 329 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,399 Speaker 2: like it was rather an ordeal to get to the 330 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:13,440 Speaker 2: point where the diamond was actually put in the forehead, 331 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:19,919 Speaker 2: but it was successfully implanted, and now reportedly Liluzivert didn't 332 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:24,640 Speaker 2: keep the diamond implant. It came out during some crowdsurfing 333 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 2: at a concert, but then they put it back in 334 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 2: for a later concert, but then ultimately replaced it with 335 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:33,480 Speaker 2: a piercing. They still have the diamond though, so the 336 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,040 Speaker 2: way it was reported, A lot of late night shows 337 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,200 Speaker 2: had some fun with this idea too, that the diamond 338 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 2: came out or was quote ripped out during a concert, 339 00:19:41,359 --> 00:19:43,359 Speaker 2: then maybe made it sound like it was stolen, but 340 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:46,440 Speaker 2: that doesn't seem to be the case. I was also 341 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 2: impressed that and again this is just based on some 342 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:51,720 Speaker 2: articles looking up, but they said that that Vert is 343 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 2: a huge fan of the animated series Stephen Universe, and 344 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:58,080 Speaker 2: this was an influence on the choice in getting a 345 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:02,640 Speaker 2: pink forehead diamond. So I am familiar with Steven Universe. 346 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,440 Speaker 2: Great show, so I would I got to say, great choice. 347 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:07,879 Speaker 3: I know nothing about that show except I know it 348 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:11,840 Speaker 3: has big fans. So is there a character with a 349 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 3: diamond in their forehead on the show? 350 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, there are some like there's some gemstone powers 351 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:20,400 Speaker 2: going on in that shows. It's good it's a family 352 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:25,200 Speaker 2: you know Slash Kids animated series on cartoon has some great, 353 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:29,400 Speaker 2: you know, feel good energy to it. Highly recommend it nice. Now. 354 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:33,920 Speaker 2: While Lilos Evert probably got the most attention for their 355 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:38,960 Speaker 2: diamond implant, they were not the first. The Rolling Stone 356 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:41,879 Speaker 2: article points out that rapper Young Thug had a diamond 357 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 2: tear drop implanted on his face in twenty sixteen. I 358 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,199 Speaker 2: couldn't find out much else about that one. Also, there 359 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:51,199 Speaker 2: was a rapper with the name of Sauce Walka who 360 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,880 Speaker 2: had a diamond facial implant, and another rapper, Little Pumped, 361 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 2: also had or has a diamond facial implant. So this 362 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 2: seems to be a This is not a trend that's 363 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:06,440 Speaker 2: isolated to a single individual. We have multiple individuals out 364 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:10,920 Speaker 2: there in the world who have or have had this procedure. Now. 365 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:16,440 Speaker 2: That Rolling Stone article includes some comments from Simon Babev 366 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,760 Speaker 2: speaking on behalf of the New York based jewelers Aliante 367 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 2: and Company that were involved with this particular forehead diamond 368 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 2: the pink diamond of litl loozy Vert, and he says 369 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:33,679 Speaker 2: the following quote. In the body modification world, they usually 370 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,480 Speaker 2: do everything in stainless steel or surgical grade steel. But 371 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 2: in our case, we did everything with precious metals. We 372 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 2: engineered a specific mounting that clips and locks in place. 373 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 2: There's a whole mechanism involved. It's not a standard piercing, 374 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:50,160 Speaker 2: a specific piece and part. We're both engineered with millimeter 375 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 2: precision to get this put on little loosey vert. So again, 376 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:57,960 Speaker 2: I think an important takeaway from this is the diamond 377 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 2: does not set directly in the fore It's not certainly 378 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:03,560 Speaker 2: not set in the skull or anything like that. When 379 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:06,200 Speaker 2: it came out, a lot of people made jokes referring 380 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 2: to a scene in one of the Avengers films in 381 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 2: which like an Android character's gym stone is ripped out 382 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:18,639 Speaker 2: of their forehead, and you know, it's not quite the same. 383 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:23,720 Speaker 2: And then so it's ultimately mounted in metal, and then 384 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:27,679 Speaker 2: that metal is implanted in the flesh, much like a 385 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,480 Speaker 2: diamond is mounted in a ring, and like a diamond 386 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 2: is mounted in an ear ring, which of course is 387 00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 2: then mounted in the flesh. Okay, so you know, obviously, 388 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 2: given the price tag on some of these diamonds, this 389 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:44,120 Speaker 2: is all extravagant, though in the end perhaps not all 390 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 2: that weirder than any other form of body modification, including 391 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 2: more mainstream forms that we take for granted and don't 392 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:53,440 Speaker 2: even necessarily think of as body modification, Like a standard 393 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:57,360 Speaker 2: ear piercing is so mainstream that you don't necessarily think 394 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:01,080 Speaker 2: of it as body modification. But coming back to the 395 00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:05,000 Speaker 2: idea of a diamond ear ring in comparison, a diamond 396 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 2: mounted in a piece of metal jewelry that is then 397 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:11,640 Speaker 2: secured to the human ear by one of several traditional methods, 398 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,720 Speaker 2: but most often via a hole punched in the ear lobe. 399 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:18,440 Speaker 3: Right, I mean that absolutely is body modification. I guess 400 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:23,880 Speaker 3: for some reason this phrase evokes associations of less common 401 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 3: body modifications. 402 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:26,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, And of course a lot of that just has 403 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:29,399 Speaker 2: to do with like what culture one is in. You know, 404 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:34,000 Speaker 2: there's so many forms of piercing and body modification that 405 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:37,440 Speaker 2: are thought of as new and counterculture today, and they, 406 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:41,440 Speaker 2: you know, they are generally perhaps counter to the mainstream culture, 407 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:44,200 Speaker 2: at least at least in western nations, but they are 408 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,720 Speaker 2: often based on older traditions in other cultures, you know, 409 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 2: traditions that were more standard and would not have been 410 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 2: thought of as counterculture in those specific cultures. So humans 411 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 2: have engaged in ear piercing since very ancient times, I 412 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,760 Speaker 2: mean the origins of the practice are ultimate lost to 413 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,760 Speaker 2: the mists of prehistory. Let's see the Iceman, for instance, 414 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:08,800 Speaker 2: who lived between thirty three fifty and thirty one oh 415 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:13,080 Speaker 2: five BCE. This is we've talked about before, with his 416 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:17,879 Speaker 2: well preserved body and articles on his body that have 417 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:20,919 Speaker 2: provided a great deal of evidence about what life was 418 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:23,679 Speaker 2: like or may have been like for individuals during this 419 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:26,439 Speaker 2: time period. There is also evidence that he had a 420 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:30,840 Speaker 2: pierced ear and an ear ring. We also have Sumerian 421 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,960 Speaker 2: graves from Earth that give us evidence of pierced ears 422 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:38,840 Speaker 2: from around twenty five hundred BCE. We have Egyptian ear piercings. 423 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,399 Speaker 2: This pushes the evidence in this case back to sixteen 424 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 2: hundred BCE. We have Chinese examples that go back to 425 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 2: one thousand BCE. South American examples date back to between 426 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:53,280 Speaker 2: eighteen hundred BC and three thousand BCE. Plus just a 427 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 2: lot of the literature of the ancient world makes at 428 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:59,600 Speaker 2: least passing mention of the ear rings of the air piercings. 429 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:02,320 Speaker 2: Uh So, you know, there's there's a there's a rich 430 00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:06,160 Speaker 2: and varied history here of poking a hole through part 431 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:08,199 Speaker 2: of the ear lobe or parts of the ear lobe 432 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:12,680 Speaker 2: and inserting things for decorative purposes. But of course we're 433 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:15,080 Speaker 2: not just talking about piercings and earrings in general. Here, 434 00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:18,040 Speaker 2: we're talking about diamonds. We're talking about ultimately mounting a 435 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 2: diamond in your flesh. And when we get back into diamonds, 436 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,480 Speaker 2: you can probably guess where some of the oldest evidence 437 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 2: of diamond ear rings is going to take us. It's 438 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 2: of course going to take us to India. 439 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:31,639 Speaker 3: Right, So, as we discussed in previous episodes in the series, 440 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,399 Speaker 3: it seems that in the ancient world, India was a 441 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 3: real hot spot of diamond mining and diamond use in culture. 442 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:41,199 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, and definitely a place where, yeah, they had 443 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:45,240 Speaker 2: diamonds the longest, and a place where diamonds were upgraded 444 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 2: to gym status earlier than you know, than other places. 445 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,960 Speaker 2: So yeah, and again to drive home, like for the 446 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 2: for the longest, like diamonds in the world came from India. 447 00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:56,399 Speaker 3: Yeah. 448 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:59,040 Speaker 2: So Jack Ogden in Diamonds in Early History of the 449 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,800 Speaker 2: King of Gems, which referenced in the earlier episodes as well, 450 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:09,119 Speaker 2: he points out a couple of examples of these old 451 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:13,359 Speaker 2: diamond ear rings He includes in his book an ear 452 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,960 Speaker 2: decoration from the tenth to eleventh century c. This is 453 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:20,560 Speaker 2: diamond and pink sapphire to be specific, set in gold, 454 00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:24,240 Speaker 2: and Ogen adds that it's probably an ear ring, but 455 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:29,720 Speaker 2: similar artifacts from Java were actually vervals. These are decorative 456 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:32,560 Speaker 2: rings that went on a hawk or a pet bird's 457 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:38,080 Speaker 2: leg whoa. So it's interesting ambiguity regarding some of these things. 458 00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:40,720 Speaker 2: But he also includes an example of a golden ear 459 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:45,160 Speaker 2: ring from the first century BCE from India classified as 460 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 2: an early ear ring fragment. So suffice to say that 461 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,800 Speaker 2: we've been combining diamonds with our anatomy for more than 462 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,840 Speaker 2: two thousand years, but how long have we been using 463 00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 2: them for our teeth? Because you know, I've already mentioned 464 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:01,080 Speaker 2: musical performers, but also you have athletes, you have other 465 00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:06,760 Speaker 2: celebrities who sometimes show up with diamond implants on their teeth, 466 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 2: some sort of diamond dental work going on grills and 467 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:14,879 Speaker 2: so forth. Hell I was looking into this a little bit. 468 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:16,399 Speaker 2: We talked about, like, you know, some of these older 469 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:18,239 Speaker 2: ideas about you know, don't put a diamond in your 470 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 2: mouth because like the venom of the snakes from the 471 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:26,960 Speaker 2: Valley of gems will kill you, and other ideas health wise, 472 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:29,000 Speaker 2: the main concerns, and there don't seem to be a 473 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,000 Speaker 2: lot of like overt health concerns with grills, for example, 474 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,919 Speaker 2: most of the health concerns at all seem to relate 475 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:39,720 Speaker 2: to things like prolonged usage, like these are not things 476 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,639 Speaker 2: that are seemingly designed to just be worn day in 477 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 2: day out. These are for special occasions, These are for concerts, 478 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 2: these are for media appearances or what have you. And 479 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 2: on top of that, potential allergic reactions to base metals 480 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:57,120 Speaker 2: and if they're actually used and said grill, and also 481 00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:00,199 Speaker 2: just the responsibility of keeping something that goes into your 482 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,200 Speaker 2: mouth clean and so forth. But I didn't run across 483 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:17,680 Speaker 2: any concerns related specifically to the presence of diamonds themselves. Now, 484 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:19,919 Speaker 2: it's worth noting that while a lot of you know, 485 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,640 Speaker 2: current of the current popularity of elaborate grills has its 486 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,240 Speaker 2: roots seemingly in like nineteen eighties hip hop culture, I 487 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 2: think a lot of it coming out of New York. 488 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,159 Speaker 2: And there's of course a strong connection here to dental 489 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 2: procedures that replace teeth or portions of teeth with precious 490 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:36,680 Speaker 2: metals and or jewelry, but the use of gold dental 491 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:40,280 Speaker 2: appliances goes back centuries and one of the most fascinating 492 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 2: examples are the dental appliances of the etruscans. These go 493 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:48,520 Speaker 2: back as far as six thirty PCE. There is a 494 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:50,920 Speaker 2: really good article this is This was published on Vice 495 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 2: back in twenty fourteen called the title The Ancient History 496 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,920 Speaker 2: of Grills by Lauren Schwarzburg. I highly recommend given this 497 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:01,200 Speaker 2: a read. It goes into a lot more depth than 498 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 2: I'm going to cover here, but just to hit on 499 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 2: some of the main points that the author brings out 500 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 2: that relate to what we're talking about. First of all, 501 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:13,440 Speaker 2: there's a pervasive idea that grill's originated in ancient Egypt, 502 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 2: and I think this is something you can probably find 503 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,000 Speaker 2: like repeated on certain websites. Like we were saying, but 504 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:22,040 Speaker 2: this was apparently due to an early twentieth century archaeological 505 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:25,719 Speaker 2: find that consisted of two teeth, two human teeth, actual 506 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:28,959 Speaker 2: teeth woven together with a gold wire and this was 507 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:33,320 Speaker 2: dated to twenty five hundred BCE, and this was in Giza. 508 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,280 Speaker 2: Early interpretations of this artifact were that this wire work 509 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 2: was done while the individual was still alive that this 510 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:43,080 Speaker 2: was some sort of a dental procedure. But the more 511 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:46,720 Speaker 2: popular interpretation, the more recent interpretation, is that these teeth 512 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 2: probably came out, you know, fell out or had to 513 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:54,160 Speaker 2: be pulled out, and were kept as a pendant, you know, 514 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 2: worn around the neck or something, and then the individual 515 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:00,000 Speaker 2: was buried with them. So, as short Bird points out, 516 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 2: there does not seem to be strong evidence for ancient 517 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:04,080 Speaker 2: Egyptian gold or metal teeth. 518 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:06,760 Speaker 3: Okay, so this would just be that the gold wire 519 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:09,600 Speaker 3: is used to hold together the teeth that the person 520 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,360 Speaker 3: is perhaps keeping after they've come out of their mouth 521 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:15,720 Speaker 3: for whatever reason magical or otherwise. 522 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:19,680 Speaker 2: Right. But indeed, as Schwarzberg points out, the Etruscans of 523 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 2: ancient Italy from around eight hundred BCE to two hundred 524 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:29,000 Speaker 2: BCE did have gold dental appliances teeth woven with delicate 525 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:32,560 Speaker 2: golden wire, and apparently this would have been the domain 526 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:37,000 Speaker 2: of high status women that apparently would actually have some 527 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:41,400 Speaker 2: front teeth removed in order to make room for like 528 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:45,480 Speaker 2: this gold band appliance that would be inserted with either 529 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:49,080 Speaker 2: replacement or reused teeth. So, to be clear, though this 530 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,200 Speaker 2: was not functional, this is not something that you could 531 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:55,360 Speaker 2: they could have apparently eaten with, but it was decorative 532 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:56,640 Speaker 2: and it was a status symbol. 533 00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:59,520 Speaker 3: So you would be, am I understanding this right? Then 534 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:01,960 Speaker 3: this would be you're sort of giving up some of 535 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:05,920 Speaker 3: your your mouth's eating power in order to have this 536 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 3: decorative item. 537 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, So the author here cites Gene McIntosh Turfa, 538 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:16,640 Speaker 2: who wrote a book called The Golden Smile, The Etruscans 539 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:20,600 Speaker 2: and the History of Dentistry cited in this article, and yeah, 540 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:23,280 Speaker 2: apparently this it was a mark of freedom and power. 541 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 2: Like so this wasn't something I mean, you can get 542 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:31,200 Speaker 2: into probably complex analysis of societal pressure for various beauty 543 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:33,400 Speaker 2: trends and so forth, but for the most part, it 544 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:36,720 Speaker 2: sounds like this was something that the women in question 545 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:40,200 Speaker 2: did because it established their status and it said, Hey, 546 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:43,080 Speaker 2: I don't need functional front teeth like I have. I 547 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:45,960 Speaker 2: have cooks that will cook food for me that I 548 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:50,080 Speaker 2: that I can eat regardless of what the functionality of 549 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:53,960 Speaker 2: my teeth. This is about, you know, showing that I 550 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:57,000 Speaker 2: have this heightened status. You know, I have wealth, I 551 00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:59,200 Speaker 2: have power, and I do not have to live like 552 00:31:59,280 --> 00:31:59,960 Speaker 2: common people. 553 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:01,160 Speaker 3: Wow. 554 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:06,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, now we've we've mentioned etruscans before. Because a lot 555 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:08,560 Speaker 2: of there are a number of ideas that the Romans 556 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:11,040 Speaker 2: ran with that they got from the Etruscans. I mean 557 00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:14,080 Speaker 2: the Romans, as we've discussed many times, they were not 558 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:18,080 Speaker 2: shy about taking technologies as well as beliefs and fads 559 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:21,480 Speaker 2: from the cultures that they conquered and absorbed. But the 560 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 2: grills did not transfer and then they and they did 561 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 2: not remain a popular aspect of Etruscan culture under the Romans, 562 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,000 Speaker 2: or they were and they were also not absorbed into 563 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 2: Roman culture either. Now in terms of putting gems in teeth, 564 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:39,520 Speaker 2: and we see this today again with diamond dental implants. 565 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 2: I'm not going to run through all the very you 566 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 2: can find lists online of all the various musical artists 567 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:49,400 Speaker 2: and celebrities who have diamonds and other gems in their 568 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:54,000 Speaker 2: mouth of one designer another. But Schwarzberg does point out 569 00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:57,880 Speaker 2: that we have an example from Mayan civilization during the 570 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 2: Classic period three hundred and nine hundred CE. Mayan royalty 571 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:07,840 Speaker 2: would often have these small holes drilled into their upper teeth, 572 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 2: and then they would have round pieces of jade implanted 573 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:15,920 Speaker 2: into those teeth, again as a status symbol. The article 574 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:20,600 Speaker 2: goes into again more depth, more ancient history, but also 575 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 2: a lot more recent history of dental augmentations like this. 576 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:27,280 Speaker 2: The author does point out that in the Philippines there 577 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,320 Speaker 2: were also traditions that go back I think around the 578 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:33,400 Speaker 2: thirteen hundred CE, in which you would have gold wrappings 579 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:39,200 Speaker 2: and gold pegs in teeth as another form of dental augmentation, 580 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:45,600 Speaker 2: again to announce one's status more than anything else. All Right, 581 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:48,560 Speaker 2: I have one final area to touch on here on 582 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:51,880 Speaker 2: the fusion of the human body with diamond, and that 583 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:56,959 Speaker 2: concerns the proposition of diamond hip replacements. So I ran 584 00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:58,920 Speaker 2: across this. I was looking at articles about this that 585 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:02,080 Speaker 2: date back to at least the late nineteen nineties, and 586 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,280 Speaker 2: then a more recent paper published in a twenty twenty 587 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:09,680 Speaker 2: two issue of ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces that continues 588 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:11,920 Speaker 2: to discuss the possibility. 589 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,080 Speaker 3: Of diamond hip replacements. So what would be the advantage 590 00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:17,959 Speaker 3: of using diamond in an artificial hip. 591 00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:21,799 Speaker 2: Well, traditional hip replacements tend to be made out of titanium, 592 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:25,400 Speaker 2: and yes, titanium's great. It almost has that status of 593 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:31,319 Speaker 2: fictional adamantium, at least in casual usage. Right, But the 594 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:35,480 Speaker 2: idea here is that there are still limitations to titanium, 595 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:39,240 Speaker 2: but you could enhance the titanium or some other traditional 596 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:42,400 Speaker 2: metal by covering it with a kind of diamond coating 597 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:45,440 Speaker 2: that would even better, be even better. This would provide 598 00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:51,200 Speaker 2: lower friction, higher wear and corrosion resistance, as well as 599 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:55,279 Speaker 2: an improved bonding surface to the bone. So you know, 600 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:59,040 Speaker 2: in not only making it more durable, but also just 601 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:04,400 Speaker 2: like letting it interface with bone a little easier. Hmm okay, yeah, 602 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:07,920 Speaker 2: So according to Zealicas at All in the twenty twenty 603 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:14,040 Speaker 2: two ACS paper quote, despite the excellent biocompatibility and superior 604 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:18,680 Speaker 2: mechanical properties, the major challenge of using diamond for implants 605 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:23,040 Speaker 2: such as those used in hip hip arthroplasty is the 606 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:29,040 Speaker 2: limitation of microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition or CVD techniques 607 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:34,319 Speaker 2: to synthesize diamond on complex shaped objects. So what they're 608 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:37,360 Speaker 2: talking about here, this is a process that involves depositing 609 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:41,319 Speaker 2: a solid material from a gaseous phase, and they go 610 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:45,120 Speaker 2: in to present a new CVD technique to apply diamond coating. 611 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:47,520 Speaker 2: I'm not going to get into all the technical details 612 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:50,120 Speaker 2: of this. Some of it kind of washed over me, 613 00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:53,560 Speaker 2: to be honest, But like The general idea is that 614 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:56,080 Speaker 2: there seem to be a lot of experts out there 615 00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:57,960 Speaker 2: who think, like this could be the way that we 616 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:03,520 Speaker 2: enhance and improve the functionality of hip replacements of these 617 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:08,560 Speaker 2: hip implants. But we're just not quite there, it seems, 618 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:10,440 Speaker 2: when it comes to figuring out the best way to 619 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:15,120 Speaker 2: apply said diamonds. H And again, it don't if you're 620 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:19,000 Speaker 2: imagining like a sort of blinged out human hip ry 621 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:21,719 Speaker 2: hip replacement, I don't think that's quite what it would 622 00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:24,719 Speaker 2: look like. We're again talking more in the world of 623 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:27,360 Speaker 2: like you know, micro and nanodiamonds that are suspended and 624 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:31,600 Speaker 2: so forth. It's like a coating. But I think it's 625 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:34,480 Speaker 2: interesting how these ideas kind of come back to some 626 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:37,280 Speaker 2: of the ideas we were discussing earlier. You know, diamonds 627 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:40,160 Speaker 2: implanted in the body, but not as mere decoration in 628 00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:43,560 Speaker 2: this case, but as a functional coating for a metal implant. 629 00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:46,879 Speaker 2: And it also gets us close, maybe a little bit, 630 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:50,680 Speaker 2: to that fictional idea of Wolverine and his adamantium coated 631 00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:56,480 Speaker 2: bones or diamond patch and his presumably diamond based skeleton. 632 00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 3: If only ben Venudo Cellini could know that, we'd have 633 00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:04,120 Speaker 3: medical science talking about diamond based codings for implants in 634 00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:09,480 Speaker 3: the human body. Yeah, after his soliloquy on how they 635 00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:10,760 Speaker 3: cut your guts apart. 636 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:15,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, And in this case, diamonds essentially put inside 637 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,920 Speaker 2: the human body as a way to improve the functionality 638 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:22,439 Speaker 2: of medical implants. It's pretty amazing. 639 00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:25,680 Speaker 3: All right. Should recap our exploration of diamonds there. 640 00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:28,960 Speaker 2: I believe you know, it's possible some other stuff's going 641 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:31,719 Speaker 2: to come up in listener mail, in which case, you know, 642 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:34,480 Speaker 2: write in tell us about it. We'd love to hear 643 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:36,799 Speaker 2: from you. A lot of you have certainly a more 644 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:40,400 Speaker 2: experience with diamonds than we do. You might be aware 645 00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:44,480 Speaker 2: of some other nuggets from diamond culture around the world, 646 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:48,840 Speaker 2: from diamond mythologies around the world. We're always game to 647 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:51,560 Speaker 2: learn more. As we close out here, just a reminder 648 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:53,560 Speaker 2: that Stuff to Blow your Mind is primarily a science 649 00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:57,080 Speaker 2: podcast with core episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Mondays 650 00:37:57,120 --> 00:37:59,000 Speaker 2: we do listener mail. On Wednesdays we do a short 651 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:00,960 Speaker 2: form episode and I'm Fredies. We set us out most 652 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:03,600 Speaker 2: serious concerns to just talk about a weird film on 653 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:04,719 Speaker 2: Weird House Cinema. 654 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:08,920 Speaker 3: Huge thanks as always to our excellent audio producer JJ Posway. 655 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:10,719 Speaker 3: If you would like to get in touch with us 656 00:38:10,719 --> 00:38:13,320 Speaker 3: with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest 657 00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:15,440 Speaker 3: a topic for the future, or just to say hello, 658 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:18,600 Speaker 3: you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow 659 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:27,800 Speaker 3: your Mind dot com. 660 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:30,840 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 661 00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:33,680 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 662 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:50,839 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.