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Scientists say that there are diamond rainstorms on Uranus and Neptune, and new tests have confirmed the phenomenon: German researchers used two types of laser to drive shockwaves through a type of plastic composed of hydrogen and carbon, just like Uranus and Neptune's oceans, and diamonds did in fact form. They are thought to sink like rain through the ocean until they hit the planets’ solid core.
…no one could prove that this would really work - until now. In a study published this week in the journal Nature Astrophysics, researchers say they were able to produce this "diamond rain" using fancy plastic and high-powered lasers. "Previously, researchers could only assume that the diamonds had formed," lead author Dominik Kraus, a physicist at the Helmholtz Dresden-Rossendorf research center in Germany, told the magazine Cosmos. "When I saw the results of this latest experiment, it was one of the best moments of my scientific career."
…no one could prove that this would really work - until now. In a study published this week in the journal Nature Astrophysics, researchers say they were able to produce this "diamond rain" using fancy plastic and high-powered lasers. "Previously, researchers could only assume that the diamonds had formed," lead author Dominik Kraus, a physicist at the Helmholtz Dresden-Rossendorf research center in Germany, told the magazine Cosmos. "When I saw the results of this latest experiment, it was one of the best moments of my scientific career."