Diamond is without doubt one of the hardest supplies recognized to man, however consultants assume it may be squashed into one thing even more durable.The valuable stone is a naturally occurring substance made from carbon crystals. It’s discovered within the Earth, with analysis even suggesting ‘fountains of diamonds’ might be despatched taking pictures as much as the floor as a part of a significant geological occasion.Whereas it was beforehand regarded as one of many hardest supplies due to its tetrahedral lattice, which is an extremely rugged particle construction, consultants have discovered a approach to rework it into one thing even more durable.Physicists from the US and Sweden have give you a simulation that’s believed to be 30 per cent extra immune to compression than diamonds.The consultants ran quantum-accurate molecular-dynamics simulations on a supercomputer, to be able to take a look at how diamond behaves beneath excessive strain and temperatures which ought to theoretically make it unstable.Is there a manner of constructing diamonds more durable?iStockTheir outcomes revealed how particulars in regards to the situations beneath which carbon atoms in diamonds will be pushed to create the bizarre construction.The configuration is called the eight-atom body-centred cubic (BC8) section and has solely been noticed on Earth in two different supplies – silicon and germanium.On Earth, the BC8 section of carbon doesn’t naturally exist, however it’s thought that in outer area within the highly-pressurised environments inside exoplanets, it could do.Physicist Jon Eggert, from the Lawrence Livermore Nationwide Laboratory, defined: “The BC8 construction maintains this excellent tetrahedral nearest-neighbor form, however with out the cleavage planes discovered within the diamond construction.”Whereas the speculation is sound, makes an attempt to synthesise it, in actuality, have as but been unsuccessful. It’s because there’s a very small area of temperature and strain beneath which the BC8 section can happen and people ranges are unknown.Physicist Ivan Olyenik from the College of South Florida, defined: “We predicted that the post-diamond BC8 section could be experimentally accessible solely inside a slender high-pressure, high-temperature area of the carbon section diagram.”Join our free indy100 weekly newsletterHow to affix the indy100’s free WhatsApp channelHave your say in our information democracy. Click on the upvote icon on the high of the web page to assist elevate this text by the indy100 rating