Step One: Imagine Going to The Stars

Everyone who has every seen the original star trek show realizes that much of what was Science Fiction in the 1960's, has become Science Fact today. ST's communicators are today's cell phones, computer networks are everywhere and, of course, we can voice activate our computers if we want to (some improvement is still needed.)

If hu-beings are going to go To The Stars (AND WE ARE) then a necessary first step is to imagine doing so. Many science fiction stories, books and movies have depicted our voyages to the stars, educating each generation and getting us prepared to do the actual work. I came across the following video which reviews John Scalzi's new epic space adventure, The Last Colony.
This book chronicles the return of hero John Perry and explodes with all the combat and drama fans expect from John Scalzi. A previous work of John Scalzi's is the award-winning breakout book, Old Man's War.
It is this kind of fictional work that is helping to lead hu-beingkind into space.

Diamonds Are Forever In Space

Talk about your diamonds in the sky, it appears that outer space is filled with diamonds. But before De Beers and the other diamond merchants freak out, it should be noted that these diamonds (most of them) are very tiny, being no larger than a billionth of a meter.

It will take a lot of these nanodiamonds to make a decent diamond ring, but even as I write this my wife is encouraging me to check out the requirements for joining the space program.

These diamonds were found by the infrared eyes of NASA'S Spitzer Space Telescope.

NANODIAMONDS IN SPACE

The Spitzer Space Telescope consists of a 0.85-meter diameter telescope and three cryogenically-cooled science instruments which perform imaging and spectroscopy in the 3 - 180 micron wavelength range. Since infrared is primarily heat radiation, detectors are most sensitive to infrared light when they are kept extremely cold. Using the latest in large-format detector arrays, Spitzer is able to make observations that are more sensitive than any previous mission. While Spitzer's mission lifetime requirement remains 2.5 years, recent developments have brought a 5-year mission within reach. Spitzer launched on 25 August 2003.

It turns out that when starlight hits these space diamonds, the diamonds in turn radiate infrared energy that is in the range that the Spitzer Telescope picks up.

Could this be the mysterious "black matter" astrophysicists worry about? Now to be renamed sparkling, black matter... Probably not, but it is fascinating to discover what can be found in space. And to ponder the commercial possibilities that may exist out there.

For more details about these space diamonds, check out the following news story... And if you are looking for diamonds here on Earth, check out sparklingdiamonds.net.