1 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,039 Speaker 1: Hey, you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My 2 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: name is Robert Lamb and. 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,639 Speaker 2: I am Joe McCormick, and it's Saturday, so we are 4 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 2: heading into the vault for an older episode of Stuff 5 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 2: to Blow Your Mind. This is part four of our 6 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 2: series on the Diamond This originally aired January twenty fifth, 7 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 2: twenty twenty four. Hope you enjoy. 8 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 3: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 9 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My 10 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:40,919 Speaker 1: name is Robert. 11 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 2: Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and we're back with the 12 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:48,239 Speaker 2: fourth and final part in our series on diamonds. Now, 13 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 2: if you haven't heard the other three parts, you might 14 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 2: want to go back and listen to those first, though 15 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 2: I guess this series is probably okay if you do 16 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 2: them out of order. That we will refer to things 17 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 2: we've already talked about in previous episodes. Brief recap of 18 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,399 Speaker 2: what we talked about in the parts that already aired. 19 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 2: We addressed in the first episode the widely held belief 20 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:14,039 Speaker 2: that diamond fragments or diamond powder are poisonous if ingested, 21 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 2: and we talked about some alleged attempted diamond poisonings in history. 22 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,639 Speaker 2: The short modern read on that is that it seems 23 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:26,759 Speaker 2: like diamond powder is probably not actually reliably poisonous, but 24 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 2: just to be saved, we were still saying, you know, 25 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 2: I probably wouldn't need it. We talked a bit about 26 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 2: the conditions under which diamond's form. There's going to be 27 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 2: some more about that today. We talked about their physical 28 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 2: properties and a bit about their use in ancient cultures 29 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 2: in ancient India, China, and the Roman Empire. In the 30 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 2: last episode, we talked about some strange ancient beliefs recorded 31 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 2: in the writings of plenty of the Elder and some 32 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 2: other sources that in order to shatter a diamond, you 33 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 2: must first soften it in the blood of a he goat. 34 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 2: That's a good one. We also talked about the legend 35 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 2: found in multiple cultures that there is this so called 36 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 2: valley of Gems where diamonds litter the ground. But you 37 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 2: can't just go down there and get them because there 38 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 2: are I don't know, poisonous, venomous snakes or some kind 39 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 2: of monster or beast or something down There's some kind 40 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 2: of danger, so you've got to have clever ways of 41 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 2: getting the diamonds up to the cliffs above. Our favorite 42 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 2: method that we read about involved meat getting the meat. 43 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: That's right, And so in today's episode we have a 44 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 1: couple of other avenues we want to discuss. Later on 45 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 1: in the podcast, I'm going to talk a little bit 46 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: about diamond body modification, so we'll get back into this 47 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: idea of diamonds and human bodies coming together. But before 48 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 1: we get to that, Joe, I understand you want to 49 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: return to something we touched on in the last episode. 50 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 2: Well, that's right. So in the last episode I did 51 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 2: a bit on the question of whether diamonds can burn, 52 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 2: can they be fuel in a fire? The answer is yes, 53 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 2: they are carbon based, and you can have a diamond fire, 54 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,239 Speaker 2: though they take higher temperature, they have higher ignition temperatures, 55 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 2: and may require more oxygen supply than most normal fuels 56 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 2: you'd have, like wood or coal. But this raised the 57 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 2: question do diamonds actually come from coal? 58 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: Now? 59 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 2: As I said in the last episode, anecdotally, this seems 60 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 2: to be a common belief. Unfortunately, this is one of 61 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 2: those where I was reading about it before I actually 62 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 2: checked my pre existing knowledge, so I don't know if 63 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 2: I would have said that diamonds are formed out of 64 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 2: coal or not? Rob, was this a belief banging around 65 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 2: in your head? 66 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: Yes, but only because that scene in Superman three. You know, yeah, Okay, 67 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: Superman does it. Then I'm just assuming that he's correct, 68 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: and who's going to doubt the Man of Steel. 69 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 2: I cannot argue with you there. So anecdotally, it does 70 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 2: seem to be a common belief, and it's easy to 71 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 2: see why people would think this. Diamonds and coal are 72 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 2: both types of compressed carbon dug up from underground, So 73 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 2: you might just assume that when a coal formation undergoes 74 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 2: intense heat and pressure, it gets pressed and compressed and 75 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 2: compressed until it turns into diamonds, and that's where diamonds 76 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 2: come from. And even some old books and authorities on 77 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 2: diamonds do seem to suggest they believe this, that diamonds 78 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 2: come from coal, but more recent sources argue that this 79 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 2: is not the case, at least not for most diamonds. 80 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 1: I should point out that this is something I'm sure 81 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: came up for you as well, Joe, and your diamond 82 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: research is that diamonds. This is the subject of diamonds. 83 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: This is one other one of those areas where you 84 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:41,720 Speaker 1: have a lot of websites, often associated with jewelers, that 85 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: are going after like search engine optimization, and so there's 86 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 1: a lot of like diamond content dump going on. You 87 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: see this with other businesses and areas as well. It 88 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:58,919 Speaker 1: occasionally turns up that I kept encountering that in my 89 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: research sort of drove me out of the traditional search 90 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: mode into some of the like a Google scholar and 91 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: so forth. But there are a lot of websites out 92 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: there that are clearly the main idea is like, let's 93 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: just move up in the search for diamonds because we're 94 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: trying to sell them exactly. 95 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:20,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, some jewel retailer who've got the pages on the 96 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 2: website like interesting diamond facts or something, you know, and 97 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,839 Speaker 2: it's like they're not citing sources. You can't rely on this, 98 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,919 Speaker 2: so you gotta trudge through all that to get to 99 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 2: something real. 100 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:33,480 Speaker 1: Some of it might be good, some of it might 101 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:35,479 Speaker 1: be good, but yeah, a lot of it is not 102 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: sourced and so forth. 103 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:39,360 Speaker 2: But anyway, I guess that does now that we're talking 104 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 2: about sources. So I found a number of books on 105 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:46,280 Speaker 2: geology and gems making the simple claim that no, diamonds 106 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 2: do not come from coal, but usually without any further explanation. 107 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:52,479 Speaker 2: So I was looking for somebody to really explain, like, 108 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 2: how do we know they don't come from coal? And 109 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,719 Speaker 2: the most extensive exploration of this that I turned up 110 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 2: was on the good old geology dot com website, which 111 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 2: I'm sure you've hit before, Rob, which does have solid 112 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 2: articles that are well cited and you know, listing sources 113 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:10,279 Speaker 2: and all that. So it's one of these articles by 114 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 2: the geologist Hobart King, who I think is the author 115 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 2: of most of what's on geology dot com. 116 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: Or what does the King have to say about this? 117 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 2: Well, King seems to be in line with the modern 118 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 2: consensus here that coal very rarely and possibly never plays 119 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 2: a role in the formation of diamonds. How can we 120 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 2: know this? One reason he cites, and I mentioned this 121 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 2: briefly in the last episode, is that most diamonds that 122 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 2: can be dated are older than most coal. So we 123 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 2: can actually test the age of diamonds through radiometric dating, 124 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 2: though it's a little bit complicated because of course we 125 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:53,359 Speaker 2: can't use carbon dating on them. The half life of 126 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 2: carbon fourteen that you use to you test the decay 127 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,479 Speaker 2: of that in order to use carbon dating that's too 128 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 2: short in time to accurately date materials that are on 129 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 2: the order of millions of years old or more. This 130 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 2: is why you can't use carbon dating for anything from 131 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:11,520 Speaker 2: the age of the dinosaurs or anything like that. Carbon 132 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 2: dating is useful for carbon based remains that are on 133 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 2: the scale of like thousands of years or tens of 134 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 2: thousands of years old. 135 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, and as we discussed, diamonds are much older. 136 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 2: Right, So if carbon dating isn't accurate for things as 137 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:29,560 Speaker 2: old as diamonds and diamonds are made of carbon, how 138 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 2: can we test their age? Well, you can use different 139 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 2: radioactive decay series tests on things such as mineral inclusions 140 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 2: in diamonds, meaning occasionally you can find a diamond with 141 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 2: bits of other minerals that are trapped inside it or 142 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 2: trapped along with it. And when scientists do these tests, 143 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:56,120 Speaker 2: these radioactive decay series tests on diamond inclusions, it seems 144 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 2: that most diamonds are more than a billion years old. 145 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 2: The common range I've seen is that the youngest diamonds 146 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 2: are just shy of a billion years old and the 147 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 2: oldest are more than three billion years old. And that 148 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 2: means that natural diamonds can be that the ones that 149 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 2: can be dated are pretty much all older than the 150 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 2: evolution of the first land plants. Plants first appeared in 151 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 2: the Cambrian era roughly five hundred million years ago, and 152 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 2: they didn't really flourish on land until later, with the 153 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:31,119 Speaker 2: big coal forming period being more like three hundred million 154 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 2: years ago known as the Carboniferous period, which literally means 155 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:38,439 Speaker 2: like the coal forming period. Since land plants are the 156 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 2: source of the carbon in most coal deposits, it is 157 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 2: unlikely that diamonds would have formed one to three billion 158 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 2: years ago out of a chain of metamorphosis that has 159 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 2: to start with the type of organism that didn't exist yet. 160 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: Wow, why isn't this in the diamond commercials? 161 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:01,480 Speaker 2: You'd think that would be an interesting selling point. Yeah, Like, 162 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 2: if this is a diamond that came out of the 163 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 2: Earth and wasn't like made in a lab or something, 164 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 2: it probably is billions of years old. Is from a 165 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 2: time when the only life on Earth was like single 166 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 2: celled organisms. So that's one reason for thinking diamonds are 167 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 2: generally not formed from coal. Another reason is that coal 168 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:25,439 Speaker 2: seams and diamonds are found in completely different geological contexts. 169 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 2: Coal is found in a sedimentary rocks formed by the 170 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 2: deposition of layers of material on Earth's surface. These layers 171 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:37,720 Speaker 2: of material eventually get buried, they get horizontally compressed, and 172 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 2: they harden into rock strata with the coal in traps 173 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 2: there in the sedimentary rocks. Meanwhile, diamonds are usually found 174 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:51,199 Speaker 2: in vertical formations of igneous rocks. Igneous rocks are formed 175 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,200 Speaker 2: by fire. These are rocks that are created when magma 176 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 2: cools and hardens into a solid. So coal and diamonds, 177 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 2: you're gonna find them in totally different geological settings. King 178 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 2: goes on to list the four known natural sources of 179 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,680 Speaker 2: diamonds and he says that these are formation in the 180 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 2: Earth's mantle, formation in subduction zones, formation at impact sites, 181 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:20,200 Speaker 2: and formation in space. Now, we talked in the last 182 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,440 Speaker 2: episode about diamonds that are formed in space and occasionally 183 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 2: found in meteorites, and we also talked about diamonds that 184 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:32,080 Speaker 2: are created by the incredible heat and pressure of space impacts. So, 185 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,080 Speaker 2: for example, if you have like a ten kilometer asteroid 186 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 2: traveling at twenty kilometers per second, it enters Earth's atmosphere, 187 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 2: it hits or explodes, there's going to it does that 188 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 2: over an area with rocks bearing carbon, maybe rocks that 189 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:50,320 Speaker 2: have graphite in them, which is a form of carbon 190 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:54,119 Speaker 2: based mineral that's less dense than a diamond that impact, 191 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:57,160 Speaker 2: and that the heat and pressure there could turn the 192 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:00,960 Speaker 2: graphite in the rocks into diamonds. Now, King says, in 193 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:04,320 Speaker 2: this case, technically the carbon could also come from coal. 194 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 2: So like the asteroid, maybe hits an area with exposed 195 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 2: or near surface coal seams. But most diamonds are not 196 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 2: formed by space impact, so that could happen, But most 197 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 2: of the diamonds you come across are not going to 198 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:20,720 Speaker 2: be from this source. Instead, King says, basically, all the 199 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:23,640 Speaker 2: diamonds that are commercially mined on Earth are the kind 200 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 2: that are created deep down in the forge of the 201 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:31,840 Speaker 2: Earth's mantle. Now, we already mentioned a bit about diamond 202 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 2: formation in the mantle in a previous episode, but just 203 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 2: to refresh, Scientists generally believe that the conditions of heat 204 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:42,080 Speaker 2: and pressure that you need in order to create a 205 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 2: diamond only occur in certain areas, usually at a depth 206 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,040 Speaker 2: of about one hundred and fifty kilometers or greater from 207 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:52,440 Speaker 2: the surface, which is well below the crust deep into 208 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:57,000 Speaker 2: the mantle, and usually this would be around the interior 209 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 2: of continental plates. That is, of course way too deep 210 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 2: to mind. We do not have any minds that go 211 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 2: down one hundred and fifty kilometers underground, so we can 212 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 2: only mine diamonds that are brought closer to the surface somehow. 213 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 2: And as we mentioned in I think part two, maybe 214 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 2: we find these diamonds in and around these vertical pipes 215 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 2: of igneous rock known as kimber light or lamprote pipes. 216 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 2: And these are vertical columns of rock that were formed 217 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 2: long ago by incredibly explosive volcanic eruptions from deep in 218 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:36,200 Speaker 2: the mantle. So magma from below flows up to the 219 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 2: surface rapidly, and sometimes it breaks off pieces of the mantle, 220 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:45,160 Speaker 2: and these flows bring diamonds up to the surface with them. 221 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 2: And one sort of cool and creepy thing that King 222 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 2: mentions offhand is that no one in human history, as 223 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 2: far as we know, has ever witnessed the kind of 224 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:58,160 Speaker 2: deep source volcanic eruption that brings diamonds to the surface. 225 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 2: These are known as kimber light eruptions. They are rare 226 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:06,080 Speaker 2: compared to normal volcanic eruptions. They're very energetic and explosive, 227 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 2: and most of the ones we know about took place 228 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 2: long ago, so there are no historical records, like since 229 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:15,560 Speaker 2: the dawn of writing, of anybody ever describing or seeing 230 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:17,840 Speaker 2: one of these. And it seems like most of the 231 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,319 Speaker 2: ones that have taken place took place long, long ago. 232 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 1: Again, why isn't this in the diamond commercials, Like doesn't 233 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,880 Speaker 1: your love deserve a diamond forged or not forged but 234 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 1: brought to the surface towards the surface in a volcanic 235 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:35,680 Speaker 1: eruption so terrifyingly powerful that we've never seen its like 236 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: in human history. 237 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:39,680 Speaker 2: You'd think that would be a selling point. You could 238 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:41,840 Speaker 2: combine them, actually, you could have that. You could have 239 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:44,079 Speaker 2: like the real science facts on one hand, and then 240 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:46,320 Speaker 2: like we said in the other episode that you know 241 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 2: the value of the gym's legends, so like you you know, 242 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,800 Speaker 2: you've got to show using the meat to retrieve the diamonds. 243 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, like dig into all that the content is there, 244 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 1: use it. 245 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:00,520 Speaker 2: So we know that most diamonds that come from are 246 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 2: formed deep in the mantle, So why should we not 247 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 2: think coal is the source of the carbon in these diamonds. 248 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 2: Based on I did some quick research on this, it 249 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 2: seems to me that coal deposits are mostly in the 250 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 2: top three kilometers of the Earth's crust. And remember, diamonds 251 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:21,000 Speaker 2: are formed one hundred and fifty or more kilometers down 252 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 2: within the mantle. So the coal would have to somehow 253 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:27,040 Speaker 2: get from these locations in the top layer of the 254 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 2: crust down to like fifty times their normal depth or 255 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:35,120 Speaker 2: more underneath a continental plate to supply the carbon to 256 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 2: make the diamonds, and that seems kind of unlikely, or 257 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 2: at least rare. King thinks a more likely origin for 258 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:45,880 Speaker 2: the carbon in diamonds is just carbon that has been 259 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 2: present in Earth rocks since early in the planet's formation, 260 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 2: and there are sources of carbon that you can find 261 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 2: within the rocks of the Earth. Like I was reading 262 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:59,200 Speaker 2: another article about these incredibly explosive Kimber light eruptions, and 263 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,680 Speaker 2: one thing that seems to happen when these eruptions kick 264 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 2: off is that there is like an expansion of CO 265 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 2: two gas deep down in the mantle. Like CO two, 266 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 2: there's an area where there's a lot of carbon in 267 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,640 Speaker 2: the mantle, and the CO two gas starts to come 268 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 2: out of solution, much like what happens when you pop 269 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 2: the top on a carbonated soda, it starts to come 270 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,400 Speaker 2: out of solution and turn into a gas and want 271 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 2: to rise quickly to the surface, and this of course 272 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 2: is extremely explosive and violent. However, to come back in 273 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 2: the other direction and talk about an analogy to coal 274 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:40,840 Speaker 2: being the source of diamond formation, an analogy that is 275 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 2: quite possible. King does acknowledge that very small diamonds are 276 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:50,280 Speaker 2: sometimes formed in what are called subduction zones, and this 277 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,880 Speaker 2: is where so you have different plates of the Earth's 278 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 2: crust meeting. You have maybe an oceanic plate that is 279 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 2: the part of the crust sitting underneath an ocean continental plate. 280 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:03,920 Speaker 2: That's where you would have a continent, and they meet 281 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 2: at a sort of joint, and where they meet, the 282 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 2: oceanic plate is pushed down underneath the continental plate at 283 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 2: this joint where they meet. So in the case of subduction, 284 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 2: sedimentary rocks formed on the ocean floor can indeed be 285 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 2: shoved down into the mantle. And it does seem that 286 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 2: the carbon in these rocks may sometimes form diamonds in 287 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 2: extreme heat and pressure in this subduction zone. But the 288 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:35,480 Speaker 2: rocks in question here would probably not be coal. But 289 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 2: King says instead other kinds of carbon bearing sediment based 290 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:43,320 Speaker 2: rocks that form mostly on the ocean floor, things like 291 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 2: limestone and dolomite. 292 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: Now, as we get into the final stretch here, I 293 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: want to get back into this area of diamonds and 294 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:06,040 Speaker 1: the human body coming together again. We discussed various past 295 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: beliefs about the dangers of ingesting diamonds, and this inspired 296 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: me to look a little closer at diamonds and the flesh, 297 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,359 Speaker 1: and I wanted to start with one of the more 298 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:23,920 Speaker 1: recent and by some perspectives, more extreme examples of diamond 299 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:27,200 Speaker 1: at flesh unity. That is, of course, the forehead diamond 300 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 1: implant of American hip hop performer lil uzi Vert born 301 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety five. Joe, are you familiar with the lil Uzivert. 302 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:38,560 Speaker 2: Only a little bit? I think maybe the main thing 303 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 2: I know is from articles about the diamond implant. 304 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 1: Yeah, this definitely made a splash. I think there are 305 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: plenty of people who have not heard lil Uzivert's music, 306 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,640 Speaker 1: but they are familiar with the story of the diamond implant. 307 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:57,680 Speaker 1: I have not heard any of their music. My knowledge 308 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: of mainstream hip hop is like fifteen to twenty years behind. 309 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 1: I know some indie stuff here and there, but I 310 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:07,720 Speaker 1: don't know most of the current trends and acts, but 311 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:12,040 Speaker 1: it's hard to ignore this particular story. This all went 312 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:15,359 Speaker 1: down in twenty twenty one. It got a lot of 313 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: media coverage. You might have heard something on late night 314 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:23,160 Speaker 1: comedy shows about this. In the way that it was described, 315 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,440 Speaker 1: I think the way I initially picked up on it too, 316 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:27,879 Speaker 1: it sounded red. I kind of got the impression that 317 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 1: was something impulsive, you know, like here's a hip hop 318 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,199 Speaker 1: artist and maybe on the spur of the moment, they're like, 319 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,200 Speaker 1: I like that diamond, I want it in my forehead, 320 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:38,400 Speaker 1: and then they did it, you know, kind of like 321 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: anybody else in the world might say, you know, get 322 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:43,520 Speaker 1: a drunken tattoo or something like that. 323 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 2: But no, you're gonna say this is a more thought 324 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:49,840 Speaker 2: out diamond implant than that would suggest. 325 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:53,119 Speaker 1: Yeah, I had no idea, but I was reading about 326 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:56,160 Speaker 1: it on Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone has a really nice 327 00:18:56,240 --> 00:19:01,560 Speaker 1: ride up on it. This is by jeffs and it 328 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 1: gets into not only the case with Littl Luzivert, but 329 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:09,320 Speaker 1: other hip hop stars who have had implants similar. But 330 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:12,920 Speaker 1: the way it's described in this article, this all began 331 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:17,160 Speaker 1: like in twenty seventeen, they had to purchase the reported 332 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:19,920 Speaker 1: twenty four million dollar diamond, had to pay that off. 333 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:23,719 Speaker 1: Then the implantation was handled by professional jewelers, and I 334 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 1: think they're referring to a consult by an expert piercer 335 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:31,320 Speaker 1: or an expert in body modification. So it sounds like 336 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:34,920 Speaker 1: it was rather an ordeal to get to the point 337 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: where the diamond was actually put in the forehead, but 338 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 1: it was successfully implanted, and now reportedly lil Uzivert didn't 339 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 1: keep the diamond implant. It came out during some crowdsurfing 340 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: at a concert, but then they put it back in 341 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:55,000 Speaker 1: for a later concert, but then ultimately replaced it with 342 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:58,720 Speaker 1: a piercing. They still have the diamond though, so the 343 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:01,240 Speaker 1: way it was reported, a lot of late night shows 344 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:03,440 Speaker 1: had some fun with this idea too, that the diamond 345 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,200 Speaker 1: came out or was quote ripped out during a concert. 346 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:08,600 Speaker 1: That maybe made it sound like it was stolen, but 347 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,640 Speaker 1: that doesn't seem to be the case. I was also 348 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,239 Speaker 1: impressed that and again this is just based on some 349 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:16,840 Speaker 1: articles of looking up, but they said that that Vert 350 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,480 Speaker 1: is a huge fan of the animated series Stephen Universe, 351 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:22,960 Speaker 1: and this was an influence on the choice in getting 352 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: a pink forehead diamond. So I am familiar with Steven Universe. 353 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,600 Speaker 1: Great show, so I would I got to say, great choice. 354 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:33,080 Speaker 2: I know nothing about that show except I know it 355 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:37,040 Speaker 2: has big fans. So is there a character with a 356 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:39,199 Speaker 2: diamond in their forehead on the show? 357 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:41,919 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, there there are some like there's some gemstone 358 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 1: powers going on in that show. It's it's good. It's 359 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,080 Speaker 1: a it's a it's a family you know. Slash Kids 360 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:51,160 Speaker 1: animated series on cartoon has some great, you know, feel 361 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,920 Speaker 1: good energy to it. Highly recommend it nice. Now. While 362 00:20:55,000 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: Lilo's Evert probably got the most attention for their diamond implant, 363 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: they were not the first. The Rolling Stone article points 364 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 1: out that rapper Young Thug had a diamond tear drop 365 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:10,800 Speaker 1: implanted on his face in twenty sixteen. I couldn't find 366 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,679 Speaker 1: out much else about that one. Also, there is a 367 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 1: rapper by the name of Sauce Walka who had a 368 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:21,240 Speaker 1: diamond facial implant, and another rapper, Little Pump, also had 369 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: or has a diamond facial implant. So this seems to 370 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:27,679 Speaker 1: be a This is not a trend that's isolated to 371 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:31,879 Speaker 1: a single individual. We have multiple individuals out there in 372 00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:36,120 Speaker 1: the world who have or have had this procedure. Now, 373 00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: that Rolling Stone article includes some comments from Simon Bobev 374 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:45,000 Speaker 1: speaking on behalf of the New York based jewelers Eleante 375 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 1: and Company that were involved with this particular forehead diamond, 376 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:55,560 Speaker 1: the pink diamond of Liloozi Vert, and he says the 377 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:59,000 Speaker 1: following quote. In the body modification world, they usually do 378 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:01,840 Speaker 1: everything in stainless steel or surgical grade steel, but in 379 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:05,199 Speaker 1: our case, we did everything with precious metals. We engineered 380 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,560 Speaker 1: a specific mounting that clips and locks in place. There's 381 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:11,600 Speaker 1: a whole mechanism involved. It's not a standard piercing, a 382 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:15,960 Speaker 1: specific piece and part. We're both engineered with millimeter precision 383 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:20,960 Speaker 1: to get this put on little loosey vert. So again, 384 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:23,160 Speaker 1: I think an important takeaway from this is the diamond 385 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,560 Speaker 1: is not set directly in the forehead. It's not certainly 386 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:28,760 Speaker 1: not set in the skull or anything like that. When 387 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,400 Speaker 1: it came out, a lot of people made jokes referring 388 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:35,239 Speaker 1: to a scene in one of the Avengers films in 389 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:41,560 Speaker 1: which like an Android character's jim stone is ripped out 390 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:43,879 Speaker 1: of their forehead, and you know, it's not quite the same, 391 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:48,920 Speaker 1: And then so it's ultimately mounted in metal, and then 392 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:52,879 Speaker 1: that metal is implanted in the flesh, much like a 393 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,680 Speaker 1: diamond is mounted in a ring, and like a diamond 394 00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 1: is mounted in an ear ring, which of course is 395 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:02,679 Speaker 1: then mounted in the flesh. Okay, so you know, obviously, 396 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:05,399 Speaker 1: given the price tag on some of these diamonds, this 397 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: is all extravagant, though in the end, perhaps not all 398 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: that weirder than any other form of body modification, including 399 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,680 Speaker 1: more mainstream forms that we take for granted and don't 400 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 1: even necessarily think of as body modification, like a standard 401 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:22,560 Speaker 1: ear piercing is so mainstream that you don't necessarily think 402 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:26,159 Speaker 1: of it as body modification. But again, coming back to 403 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:30,200 Speaker 1: the idea of a diamond earring, in comparison, a diamond 404 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 1: mounted in a piece of metal jewelry that is then 405 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:36,840 Speaker 1: secured to the human ear by one of several traditional methods, 406 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,960 Speaker 1: but most often via a hole punched in the ear lobe. 407 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:43,640 Speaker 2: Right, I mean that absolutely is body modification. I guess 408 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 2: for some reason, this phrase evokes associations of less common 409 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 2: body modifications. 410 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:52,119 Speaker 1: Yeah, and of course a lot of that just has 411 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 1: to do with like what culture one is in. You know, 412 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:59,199 Speaker 1: there's so many forms of piercing and body modification that 413 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,199 Speaker 1: are thought of as new and counterculture today, and they 414 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:05,480 Speaker 1: may very you know, they are generally perhaps counter to 415 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,679 Speaker 1: the mainstream culture, at least at least in Western nations, 416 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 1: but they are often based on older traditions in other cultures, 417 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 1: you know, traditions that were more standard and would not 418 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:18,640 Speaker 1: have been thought of his counterculture in those specific cultures. 419 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: So humans have engaged in ear piercing since very ancient times, 420 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:25,879 Speaker 1: I mean the origins of the practice are ultimately lost 421 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:29,960 Speaker 1: to the mists of prehistory. Let's see the Iceman, for instance, 422 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,760 Speaker 1: lived who live between thirty three fifty and thirty one 423 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:37,359 Speaker 1: oh five BCE. This is what we've talked about before, 424 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 1: with his well preserved body and articles on his body 425 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,120 Speaker 1: that have provided a great deal of evidence about what 426 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,439 Speaker 1: life was like or may have been like for individuals 427 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,320 Speaker 1: during this time period. There is also evidence that he 428 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:54,440 Speaker 1: had a pierced ear and an ear ring. We also 429 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:58,320 Speaker 1: have Sumerian graves from Earth that give us evidence of 430 00:24:58,359 --> 00:25:02,480 Speaker 1: pierced ears from around twenty five hundred BCE. We have 431 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:06,880 Speaker 1: Egyptian ear piercings. This pushes the evidence in this case 432 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 1: back to sixteen hundred BCE. We have Chinese examples that 433 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 1: go back to one thousand BCE. South American examples date 434 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:16,800 Speaker 1: back to between eighteen hundred BC and three thousand BCE. 435 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:19,760 Speaker 1: Plus just a lot of the literature of the ancient 436 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:23,640 Speaker 1: world makes at least passing mention of the ear rings 437 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,960 Speaker 1: of the air piercings. So there's a rich and varied 438 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:31,639 Speaker 1: history here of poking a hole through part of the 439 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,160 Speaker 1: ear lobe or parts of the ear lobe and inserting 440 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,119 Speaker 1: things for decorative purposes. But of course we're not just 441 00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:40,640 Speaker 1: talking about piercings and earrings in general. Here, we're talking 442 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:43,959 Speaker 1: about diamonds. We're talking about ultimately mounting a diamond in 443 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,240 Speaker 1: your flesh. And when we get back into diamonds, you 444 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:49,919 Speaker 1: can probably guess where some of the oldest evidence of 445 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,119 Speaker 1: diamond ear rings is going to take us. It's of 446 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:53,560 Speaker 1: course going to take us to India. 447 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 2: Right. So, as we discussed in previous episodes in the series, 448 00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:59,560 Speaker 2: it seems that in the ancient world, India was a 449 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,240 Speaker 2: real high spot of diamond mining and diamond use in culture. 450 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,359 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and definitely a place where, yeah, they had 451 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:10,440 Speaker 1: diamonds the longest and a place where diamonds were upgraded 452 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:13,920 Speaker 1: to gym status earlier than you know than other places. 453 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:17,199 Speaker 1: So yeah, and again to drive home, like for the 454 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 1: for the longest, like diamonds in the world came from India. Yeah, 455 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:24,240 Speaker 1: so Jack Ogden in Diamonds in Early History of the 456 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:27,440 Speaker 1: King of Gems, which we referenced in the earlier episodes 457 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: as well, he points out a couple of examples of 458 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:37,639 Speaker 1: of of these old diamond ear rings. He includes in 459 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: his book an ear decoration from the tenth to eleventh 460 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:44,960 Speaker 1: century CE. This is diamond and pink sapphire to be specific, 461 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: set in gold, and Ogden adds that it's probably an 462 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:53,840 Speaker 1: ear ring, but similar artifacts from Java were actually vervals. 463 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,960 Speaker 1: These are decorative rings that went on a hawk or 464 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:02,679 Speaker 1: a pet bird's leg. Whoa so interesting ambiguity regarding some 465 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,200 Speaker 1: of these things. But he also includes an example of 466 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,639 Speaker 1: a golden ear ring from the first century BCE from 467 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:13,320 Speaker 1: India classified as an early earring fragment. So suffice to 468 00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:16,640 Speaker 1: say that we've been combining diamonds with our anatomy for 469 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,399 Speaker 1: more than two thousand years, But how long have we 470 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:22,359 Speaker 1: been using them for our teeth? Because you know, I've 471 00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 1: already mentioned musical performers, but also you have athletes, you 472 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:31,200 Speaker 1: have other celebrities who sometimes show up with diamond implants 473 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,200 Speaker 1: on their teeth, some sort of diamond dental work going 474 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: on grills and so forth. I was looking into this 475 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:41,040 Speaker 1: a little bit. We talked about, like, you know, some 476 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:42,800 Speaker 1: of these older ideas about, you know, don't put a 477 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,399 Speaker 1: diamond in your mouth because like the venom of the 478 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,199 Speaker 1: snakes from the Valley of Gems will will kill you, 479 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 1: and other ideas. Health Wise, the main concerns and there 480 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:55,320 Speaker 1: don't seem to be a lot of like overt health 481 00:27:55,359 --> 00:28:00,440 Speaker 1: concerns with grills, for example, most of the health concerns 482 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,920 Speaker 1: at all seem to relate to things like prolonged usage, 483 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:06,639 Speaker 1: like these are not things that are seemingly designed to 484 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:09,199 Speaker 1: just be worn day in day out. These are for 485 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:11,400 Speaker 1: special occasions, These are for concerts, these are for media 486 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,960 Speaker 1: appearances or what have you. And on top of that, 487 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:20,280 Speaker 1: potential allergic reactions to base metals and if they're actually 488 00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:23,639 Speaker 1: used and said grill, and also just the responsibility of 489 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:27,440 Speaker 1: keeping something that goes into your mouth clean and so forth. 490 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:30,399 Speaker 1: But I didn't run across any concerns related specifically to 491 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:43,880 Speaker 1: the presence of diamonds themselves. Now, it's worth noting that 492 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:47,480 Speaker 1: while a lot of current of the current popularity of 493 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 1: elaborate grills has its roots seemingly in like nineteen eighties 494 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:52,120 Speaker 1: hip hop culture, I think a lot of it coming 495 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:54,080 Speaker 1: out of like New York. And there's of course a 496 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:56,960 Speaker 1: strong connection here to dental procedures that replace teeth or 497 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,280 Speaker 1: portions of teeth with precious metals and or jewelry. But 498 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,320 Speaker 1: the use of gold dental appliances goes back centuries and 499 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:07,760 Speaker 1: one of the most fascinating examples are the dental appliances 500 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,960 Speaker 1: of the etruscans. These go back as far as six 501 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 1: thirty BCE. There's a really good article this was published 502 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,880 Speaker 1: on Vice back in twenty fourteen, called the title The 503 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:23,760 Speaker 1: Ancient History of Grills by Lauren Schwarzburg. I highly recommend 504 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:25,800 Speaker 1: given this a read. It goes into a lot more 505 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 1: depth than I'm going to cover here, but just to 506 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:30,760 Speaker 1: hit on some of the main points that the author 507 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,000 Speaker 1: brings out that relate to what we're talking about. First 508 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 1: of all, there's a pervasive idea that grills originated in 509 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:39,960 Speaker 1: ancient Egypt, and I think this is something you can 510 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,080 Speaker 1: probably find like repeated on certain websites, Like we were saying, 511 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:46,440 Speaker 1: but this was apparently due to an early twentieth century 512 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:50,440 Speaker 1: archaeological find that consisted of two teeth, two human teeth, 513 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,880 Speaker 1: actual teeth woven together with a gold wire and this 514 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,960 Speaker 1: was dated to twenty five hundred BCE, and this was 515 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: in Giza. Early interprettions of this artifact were that this 516 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,840 Speaker 1: wire work was done while the individual was still alive, 517 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:07,720 Speaker 1: that this was some sort of a dental procedure. But 518 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,280 Speaker 1: the more popular interpretation, the more recent interpretation, is that 519 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:15,040 Speaker 1: these teeth probably came out, you know, fell out or 520 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: had to be pulled out, and were kept as a pendant, 521 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:21,360 Speaker 1: you know, worn around the neck or something, and then 522 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:24,560 Speaker 1: the individual was buried with them. So, as schwartz Bird 523 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:27,040 Speaker 1: points out, there does not seem to be strong evidence 524 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: for ancient Egyptian gold or metal teeth. 525 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 2: Okay, So this would just be that the gold wire 526 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:34,800 Speaker 2: is used to hold together the teeth that the person 527 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:38,320 Speaker 2: is perhaps keeping after they've they've come out of their 528 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:40,920 Speaker 2: mouth for whatever reason magical or otherwise. 529 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 1: Right. But indeed, as Schwartzburg points out, the etruscans of 530 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:48,240 Speaker 1: ancient Italy from around eight hundred BCE to two hundred 531 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:54,240 Speaker 1: BCE did have gold dental appliances teeth woven with delicate 532 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: golden wire, and apparently this would have been the domain 533 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:02,239 Speaker 1: of high status women that apparently would actually have some 534 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:06,600 Speaker 1: front teeth removed in order to make room for like 535 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:10,680 Speaker 1: this gold band appliance that would be inserted with either 536 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:14,280 Speaker 1: replacement or reused teeth. So to be clear, though, this 537 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:16,400 Speaker 1: was not functional, This is not something that you could 538 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:20,560 Speaker 1: they could have apparently eaten with, but it was decorative 539 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: and it was a status symbol. 540 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:24,760 Speaker 2: So you would be am I understanding this right then 541 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:27,160 Speaker 2: this would mean you're sort of giving up some of 542 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:32,280 Speaker 2: your mouth's eating power in order to have this decorative item. 543 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:38,960 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, So the author here cites Jeene McIntosh Turfa, 544 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:41,840 Speaker 1: who wrote a book called The Golden Smile, The Etruscans 545 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:45,800 Speaker 1: and the History of Dentistry cited in this article, and yeah, 546 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:48,479 Speaker 1: apparently this it was a mark of freedom and power. 547 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: Like so this wasn't something I mean, you can get 548 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:56,400 Speaker 1: into probably complex analysis of societal pressure for various beauty 549 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 1: trends and so forth, but for the most part, it 550 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,520 Speaker 1: sounds like this was something that that the women in 551 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:05,400 Speaker 1: question did because it established their status and it said, hey, 552 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 1: I don't need functional front teeth like I have. I 553 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:11,160 Speaker 1: have cooks that will cook food for me that I 554 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:15,200 Speaker 1: that I can eat regardless of what my the functionality 555 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:18,880 Speaker 1: of my teeth. This is about, you know, showing that 556 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:22,000 Speaker 1: that I have this heightened status. You know, I have wealth, 557 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:24,240 Speaker 1: I have power, and I do not have to live 558 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:25,240 Speaker 1: like common people. 559 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 2: Wow. 560 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:31,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, now we've We've mentioned Etruscans before because a lot 561 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:33,800 Speaker 1: of there are a number of ideas that the Romans 562 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:36,280 Speaker 1: ran with that they got from the Etruscans. I mean 563 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:39,160 Speaker 1: the Romans, as we've discussed many times, they they were 564 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:42,680 Speaker 1: not shy about taking technologies as well as beliefs and 565 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:46,520 Speaker 1: fads from the cultures that they conquered and absorbed. But 566 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:49,040 Speaker 1: the grills did not transfer and then they and they 567 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:53,400 Speaker 1: did not remain a popular aspect of Etruscan culture under 568 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:55,480 Speaker 1: the Romans, or they were and they were also not 569 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:59,760 Speaker 1: absorbed into Roman culture either. Now in terms of putting 570 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 1: gin and teeth, and we see this today again with 571 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:06,200 Speaker 1: diamond dental implants. I'm not going to run through all 572 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:08,480 Speaker 1: the very you can find lists online of all the 573 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:14,040 Speaker 1: various musical artists and celebrities who have diamonds and other 574 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:17,719 Speaker 1: gems in their mouth of one designer another. But Schwarzberg 575 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:21,000 Speaker 1: does point out that we have an example from Mayan 576 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:26,040 Speaker 1: civilization during the Classic period three hundred and nine hundred CE. 577 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:32,080 Speaker 1: Mayan royalty would often have these small holes drilled into 578 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:35,520 Speaker 1: their upper teeth, and then they would have round pieces 579 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:39,920 Speaker 1: of jade implanted into those teeth, again as a status symbol. 580 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:45,480 Speaker 1: The article goes into again more depth, more ancient history, 581 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:48,320 Speaker 1: but also a lot more recent history of dental augmentations 582 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 1: like this. The author does point out that in the 583 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:54,760 Speaker 1: Philippines there were also traditions that go back I think 584 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,680 Speaker 1: around the thirteen hundred CE, in which you would have 585 00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:02,280 Speaker 1: gold wrappings and gold pegs in teeth as another form 586 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:09,359 Speaker 1: of dental augmentation, again to announce one's status more than 587 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:12,960 Speaker 1: anything else. All Right, I have one final area to 588 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:15,240 Speaker 1: touch on here on the fusion of the human body 589 00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:20,000 Speaker 1: with diamond and that concerns the proposition of diamond hip replacements. 590 00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:23,600 Speaker 1: So I ran across this. I was looking at articles 591 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:25,719 Speaker 1: about this that date back to at least the late 592 00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:29,359 Speaker 1: nineteen nineties, and then a more recent paper published in 593 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:32,880 Speaker 1: a twenty twenty two issue of ACS Applied Materials and 594 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:37,120 Speaker 1: Interfaces that continues to discuss the possibility. 595 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:40,200 Speaker 2: Of diamond hip replacements. So what would be the advantage 596 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:43,160 Speaker 2: of using diamond in an artificial hip. 597 00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:47,000 Speaker 1: Well, traditional hip replacements tend to be made out of titanium. 598 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,600 Speaker 1: And yes, titanium's great. It almost has that status of 599 00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:56,520 Speaker 1: fictional adamantium, at least in casual usage. Right. But the 600 00:34:56,560 --> 00:35:00,719 Speaker 1: idea here is that there are still limitations to titanium. 601 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:04,440 Speaker 1: But you could enhance the titanium or some other traditional 602 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,600 Speaker 1: metal by covering it with a kind of diamond coating 603 00:35:08,239 --> 00:35:10,640 Speaker 1: that would even better. Be even better. This would provide 604 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:16,400 Speaker 1: lower friction, higher wear and corrosion resistance, as well as 605 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:20,480 Speaker 1: an improved bonding surface to the bone, So you know, 606 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:24,279 Speaker 1: in not only making it more durable, but also just 607 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:30,040 Speaker 1: like letting it interface with bone a little easier. Hmm okay, yeah, So, 608 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:33,279 Speaker 1: according to zellcas at All in the twenty twenty two 609 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:40,680 Speaker 1: ACS paper, quote, despite the excellent biocompatibility and superior mechanical properties, 610 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:44,480 Speaker 1: the major challenge of using diamond for implants such as 611 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:50,000 Speaker 1: those used in hip arthroplasty is the limitation of microwave 612 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:55,880 Speaker 1: plasma chemical vapor deposition or CVD techniques to synthesize diamond 613 00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:00,760 Speaker 1: on complex shaped objects. So what they're talking about this process, 614 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:03,760 Speaker 1: this is a process that involves depositing a solid material 615 00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:07,080 Speaker 1: from a gaseous phase, and they go in to present 616 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:11,080 Speaker 1: a new CBD technique to apply diamond coating. I'm not 617 00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:12,920 Speaker 1: going to get in at all the technical details of this, 618 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:15,960 Speaker 1: some of it kind of washed over me, to be honest, 619 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:19,279 Speaker 1: But like the general idea is that there seem to 620 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:21,799 Speaker 1: be a lot of experts out there who think like 621 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:24,759 Speaker 1: this could be the way that we enhance and improve 622 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:31,479 Speaker 1: the functionality of hip replacements, these hip implants. But we're 623 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:34,440 Speaker 1: just not quite there, it seems, when it comes to 624 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:37,879 Speaker 1: figuring out the best way to apply said diamonds. HM. 625 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:41,600 Speaker 1: And again, it don't if you're imagining like a sort 626 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:45,799 Speaker 1: of blinged out human hip ry hip replacement, I don't 627 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:47,879 Speaker 1: think that's quite what it would look like. We're again 628 00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:50,800 Speaker 1: talking more in the world of like you know, micro 629 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:54,440 Speaker 1: and nanodiamonds that are suspended and so forth. It's like 630 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:58,760 Speaker 1: a coating. But I think it's interesting how these ideas 631 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:00,480 Speaker 1: kind of come back to some of the the ideas 632 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,560 Speaker 1: we were discussing earlier. You know, diamonds implanted in the body, 633 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:06,080 Speaker 1: but not as mere decoration in this case, but as 634 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:09,680 Speaker 1: a functional coating for a metal implant. And it also 635 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:12,880 Speaker 1: gets us close, maybe a little bit to that fictional 636 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:17,400 Speaker 1: idea of Wolverine and his adamantium coated bones or diamond 637 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:21,680 Speaker 1: patch and his presumably diamond based skeleton. 638 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:25,239 Speaker 2: If only ben Venudo Cellini could know that, we'd have 639 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:29,360 Speaker 2: medical science talking about diamond based coatings for implants in 640 00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:34,680 Speaker 2: the human body. Yeah, after his soliloquy on how they 641 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:36,000 Speaker 2: cut your guts apart? 642 00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:40,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, And in this case, diamonds essentially put inside 643 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:44,120 Speaker 1: the human body as a way to improve the functionality 644 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:46,160 Speaker 1: of a medical implants. 645 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:49,880 Speaker 2: It's pretty amazing, all right. Should we cap our exploration 646 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:50,880 Speaker 2: of diamonds there? 647 00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:54,040 Speaker 1: I believe. So, you know, it's possible some other stuff's 648 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:56,680 Speaker 1: going to come up in listener mail, and in which case, 649 00:37:56,760 --> 00:37:59,359 Speaker 1: you know, write in tell us about it. We'd love 650 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:01,760 Speaker 1: to hear from you. A lot of you have certainly 651 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:04,920 Speaker 1: a more experience with diamonds than we do. You might 652 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:09,200 Speaker 1: be aware of some other nuggets from diamond culture around 653 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:13,640 Speaker 1: the world, from diamond mythologies around the world. We're always 654 00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:16,279 Speaker 1: game to learn more. As we close out here, just 655 00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:18,320 Speaker 1: a reminder that Stuff to Blow Your Mind is primarily 656 00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:21,440 Speaker 1: a science podcast, with core episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 657 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:23,840 Speaker 1: On Mondays we do listener mail, On Wednesdays we do 658 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:25,799 Speaker 1: a short form episode, and on Fridays we set us 659 00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:28,040 Speaker 1: out most serious concerns to just talk about a weird 660 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:29,960 Speaker 1: film on Weird House Cinema. 661 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:34,160 Speaker 2: Huge thanks as always to our excellent audio producer JJ Posway. 662 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:35,920 Speaker 2: If you would like to get in touch with us 663 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:38,520 Speaker 2: with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest 664 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:40,640 Speaker 2: a topic for the future, or just to say hello, 665 00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:43,800 Speaker 2: you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow 666 00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:52,959 Speaker 2: your Mind dot com. 667 00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:56,040 Speaker 3: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 668 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:58,920 Speaker 3: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 669 00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:16,040 Speaker 3: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening to your favorite shows.