10 Facts About Diamond You Should Know
1. The Earliest Use of Diamonds: Polishing Axes
If you ask a hundred people what they think of first when they hear the word "diamond," I bet you get 99 who say a diamond engagement ring.
Truth is, the majority of diamonds mined today are used for industrial purposes - and that may also be the very first use of diamonds by humans.
Harvard physicist Peter Lu and colleagues found that ancient Chinese used diamonds to polish ceremonial burial axes in the late stone age or over 4,500 years ago.
The axes, which are made from corundum (or ruby in its red form and sapphire in other colors), were polished to a mirror finish. Corundum is the second hardest naturally occurring substance on Earth and close examination of these axes revealed that they could've been made only with diamond abrasives.
2. Diamonds Are Not The Hardest Substance on Earth
Not no more, anyway....
This is so cool! Because (1) It looks cool. (2) It's for napping!
Snoring not allowed: The Power Nap Capsule
Drawing on extensive physiotherapeutic research, the mattress’s undulated shape places your head and legs slightly above the lumbar region to relieve pressure on the back, encourage proper spinal alignment, improve circulation, and facilitate optimal relaxation. Made from supple calfskin leather and filled with 6"-thick cold foam, the mattress contours to the shape of your body and provides a soft yet supportive surface free of pressure points. The sleep surface is 12" longer than a king size mattress, ensuring ample room for outstretched limbs.
Someone else post something, quick!
ION, cute baby bat: [link]
(Other posts at this blog might be NSFW.)
Something you don't see every day: A giant wind power generator on fire: [link]
I probably should toss the rest of my lasagna from thursday, shouldn't I?
If it doesn't smell, look, or taste funny I'd say "go for it".
Matilda woke JZ up this morning with requests for cold water and general chattiness and wakefulness. I lingered in bed waiting for the alarm, which went off at 6:30, the radio playing "This is not your beautiful house. This is not your beautiful wife."
"That's just not fair," I muttered as I hit the snooze button. Seriously, could there be a more cruelly apt song to wake to on the day you return to work after a long, holiday weekend? Maybe "Take this Job and Shove It" or Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?"
Two minutes later Jacqueline came in to deliver the kicker: "We're out of coffee."
Well played, Monday. Well played.
Cream of wheat buttermilk pancakes it will be.
xpost from Bitches: I just clicked a bunch of friend-ing links over at Facebook, so if you see a request you can't quite place from someone with the initials EE, that's probably me.
I have skipped, so Happy Belated Thanksgiving, everyone. We were in LA just long enough to get knocked off East Coast time, and we have been unable to explain it to the dog, who is obviously confused.
Cream of wheat buttermilk pancakes it will be.
I had fresh banana bread and an orange but this sounds really good.
I also have coffee in my Buffy travel mug. Sorry, Hec.
My children are being lunatics this morning. I need to get them out of the house where they can run off some of this energy before it kills me.
The cafeteria had cornmeal porridge this morning. Om nom nom.
