If you still think our Earth’s weather is bad, think again. With the ice giants Neptune and Uranus, for example, incredible pressures and super cool temperatures cause cascading rain of … diamonds. Now scientists have recreated these effects in lab conditions as well.
Using high-power optical lasers to heat super-fast polystyrene, scientists have been able to recreate the rain of diamonds. This result can help us understand much more about the conditions of other planets, such as the ice giants.
On both planets, the harsh conditions make hydrogen and carbon join together in diamonds, all at 8050 km below the surface. There is no polystyrene on the planets, but it turns out to be a suitable chemical laboratory substitute that comes from methane. And on both planets Uranus and Neptune there is an abundance of methane.
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