Here’s an out-of-this-world story with a bluegrass angle…
Research into the melting points of diamonds has suggested that remote planets may indeed sport what Jimmy Martin sang about in the 1950s – an Ocean Of Diamonds. It seems that a mass of molten diamonds would form a solid crust (like ice) atop the liquid, and this could explain some of the behaviors found in faraway planets.
According to piece in last Friday’s (1/22) edition of the UK Telegraph…
Dr Jon Eggert, of the Laser Shock Equation of State (EOS) group in the Department of Physical and Life Sciences Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, said: “The idea of significant quantities of pure carbon existing in giant planets such as Uranus and Neptune has gained both experimental and theoretical support.
“It is now accepted that the high-pressure, high-temperature behaviour of carbon is essential to predicting the evolution and structure of such planets.
An ocean of diamond could help explain the orientation of Uranus’ and Neptune’s magnetic field.”
You can read the full article online, with more information at Discovery.com
Maybe Jimmy Martin – and songwriter Carnahan Clifford – were on to something with that song? Here’s a video of Gabe Witcher singing it with Punch Brothers in 2008.
