[thedoc (OP)]

Stunning sapphires, dazzling diamonds and red rubies abound in this week's sparkling edition of the Naked Scientists in which we find out how gemstones are formed, what makes them so beautiful and why they're so rare.  We also reveal the tricks used by experts to flush out fake stones, and discover how synthetic diamonds can make better lasers, more powerful electronics, sweeter tweeters and cutting-edge scalpels.  Plus, why a mongoose could be your best friend in a minefield, how a good breakfast leads to more male births and, in Kitchen Science, how to grow some beautiful crystals at home!
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[thedoc (OP)]

Posted on behalf of John Blinke.

Dr. Chris-
On your show about crystal growing, you invited listeners to send you the results of crystal growing experiments. Here are some I grew a long time ago.

The ones at the bottom of the picture are flat because they grew on the bottom of a petrie dish. The large ones at the top were suspended on fishing line, so they grew in their true, complex, octahedral form. All the clear crystals are alum (ammonium aluminum sulphate). The big dark one is really a very dark red color. The big, light yellow one is some other chemical that I found in a crystal growing book. I don't remember what chemicals the colored crystals were. The cloudy surfaces on the big ones are a result of plastic spray I applied to protect them.

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I love your Podcast. Please keep doing it.

John Blinke
Rochester hills, Michigan, USA

[Reephy]

Hey. What would be a great name for a gemstone based science fair project?

[Abhinavkr1]

A gemstone is a piece of mineral crystal which is cut and polished to form and used in making jewellery or other adornments. However, certain rocks or organic materials that are not minerals ( amber, jet) are also used for jewellery and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well.
The colour of any material is due to the nature of light itself. A ruby appears red because it absorbs all the other colours of white light (green and blue), while reflecting the red. Also,  ruby and sapphire have the same primary chemical composition but exhibit different colours because of impurities.
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[Colin2B]

MOD NOTE: FURTHER SPAM WILL RESULT IN A BAN

[syhprum]

I read that the laboratory production of diamond has reached a level where they cannot be distinguished from the mined variety , will this lead to the collapse of diamond mining or will snobbery prevail ?.

[Emilelix]

I Love all the costumes of this contest <3
Everybody has done great artwork
I´m very impressed and would love to mave a teaparty with all of you