Seems to me that one could select a construction site with relatively common seismic activity. The building's foundation is prepared, with coal lain down. The pressure associated with the weight of the building, combined with the friction associated with earthquakes may result in the building's carbon base being converted to beautiful diamonds after a few years. Mining those diamonds from under a skyscraper, however, may be a challenge.
-- effervescent, Apr 20 2003

Diamond burning http://www.youtube....watch?v=0tcP9SLKEG4
An expensive form of heating (liquid oxygen is not cheap) [8th of 7, Oct 06 2010]

The Diamond as Big as the Ritz
-- bristolz, Apr 20 2003


<...pluterday, in the sub-basement of the Chrysler building with a handful of graphite, briskly rubs her hands together...> Doesn’t work, eff.
-- pluterday, Apr 20 2003


converted into diamonds after a few hundred thousand years
-- colaaddict, Apr 20 2003


Not if you use (j(a(c(k(ham)m)e)r)s)
-- thumbwax, Apr 20 2003


What if you were to house an enormous gyroscope, which pivots on a very large ball socket at the top of the building and then balanced the whole thing on an extremely small base? [link]
Sorry, couldn’t stop myself.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 21 2003


Foiled again. Those darn scientists.
-- effervescent, Apr 21 2003


"Batman is a scientist!"
--Homer Simpson
-- krelnik, Apr 21 2003


>The consensus seems to be that temperatures >exceeding 1500K are required, along with pressures >in excess of 50,000 atm. That's 705,000 psi.

If thats true, how the heck did any get made naturally??? In a volcano? Diamond is flammable btw.

Regards, Claws.
-- Claws, May 05 2003


//In a volcano?// Why do you think they are "always" mined from volcano shafts? (yes)
-- my-nep, Feb 04 2004


how the hot fudge sunday are diamonds flammable? they're carbon. carbon's what you get left over after all the flammable stuff has burned up
-- politiquefiction, May 12 2004


//how the hot fudge sunday are diamonds flammable? they're carbon. carbon's what you get left over after all the flammable stuff has burned up//

No. Carbon Dioxide is what you get after all the flammable carbon has burned up.

Diamonds are quite hard to light, though.
-- Loris, Oct 06 2010


Diamonds will burn spectacularly well if heated to incandescence with an oxy-acetylene torch, then dropped into liquid oxygen.
-- 8th of 7, Oct 06 2010


They form in Volcanoes under high pressure, high temperature, and anerobic coniditions. No oxygen=no combustion.
-- MechE, Oct 06 2010



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