Ever wonder if you are in the wrong job?

[Rick Law]

Ok, guys, want to make money?  Put down your solder iron and pick up a shuffle shovel!  Quick!

Sound waves reveal diamond cache deep in Earth’s interior, about a quadrillion (10E16) tons of diamond 90 to 150 miles under our feet.


MIT News, July 16, 2018: "Sound waves reveal diamond cache deep in Earth’s interior"
^{http://news.mit.edu/2018/sound-waves-reveal-diamond-cache-deep-earths-interior-0716}

EDIT-typo corrected

[DerekG]

Ok, guys, want to make money?  Put down your solder iron and pick up a shuffle!  Quick!

shuffle = shovel ??

[Rick Law]

Ok, guys, want to make money?  Put down your solder iron and pick up a shuffle!  Quick!

shuffle = shovel ??

DerekG,

Yeah, you are right...  I suffer from a rare illness called "finger faster than brain".

Truth is, I was giving you guys a bump steer so home depot wouldn't be out of shovels...

[edited original post to correct the error...]

[ataradov]

If you mine them all, they will be worthless.

[Brumby]

Yes.  You would be better off cornering the market in shovels.  Make a mint, you would.

[EEVblog]

If you mine them all, they will be worthless.

Diamonds are already worthless, try go actually sell one...

[Rick Law]

While I was reading the article, my mind was back to 2001 Space Odyssey.

On the follow on book (2010: Odyssey Two), Arthur C. Clarke had Jupiter ignited and became a star.   On the third (2061: Odyssey Three), the diamond mountain that was in Jupiter was ejected during the explosion and orbiting Jupiter (renamed Lucifer since ignition)...  with such huge amount of low cost diamond, it was used as material for the space elevators and other things that would have been unfeasible had diamond stayed expensive.  If I recalled corrected (been decades since I last closed that book), that diamond mountain was earth size.

I enjoyed reading 2001, 2010, and 2061 some time back.  I didn't know there is a fourth one - 3001: The Final Odyssey.  It was this recent article that made me do some looking.  3001 is now on my to-read list.  I understand the space elevators made possible by cheap diamond is part of the main theme of 3001, along with genetically engineered dinosaur servants.  I am looking forward to reading that book.

[coppice]

If you mine them all, they will be worthless.

Diamonds are already worthless, try go actually sell one...

Hey, diamonds are at the cutting edge of a lot of engineering.

[BillB]

If you mine them all, they will be worthless.

Diamonds are already worthless, try go actually sell one...

I wish I could convince my wife of that.   

[james_s]

If you mine them all, they will be worthless.

Diamonds are already worthless, try go actually sell one...

They have some value. Diamonds are great for cutting stuff, and they work really well for playing vinyl records.