Diamonds from Tequila

http://www.physorg.com/news145255770.html

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Well, this is very interesting, and it looks like it's true, not some weird rumor. And it has some financial implications and business applications, so I guess it's legit to blog about it here.

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I've searched and done some detective work, and here's roughly what happened, the insider story, so to speak:

Javier Morales, Luis Miguel Apátiga, and Víctor Manuel Castaño were doing labwork at National Autonomous University of Mexico, experimenting with creating diamonds from organic solutions such as acetone, ethanol (aka drinkable alchohol), and methanol. As some of you postgrads and researchers might know, most research projects are tedious, boring, and yield very few interesting results. So the researchers find ways to occupy their time while bored. Eating, drinking, playing games...

So, anyhow, one day, Luis Miguel Apátiga buys a bottle of tequila from the campus shop. (he admitted this part to the press)
The part he didn't admit, IMHO, is that he and his buddies bought it for drinking purposes, not research. :)

Anyhow, a few shots of tequila later, or maybe a LOT of shots later, you have a bunch of slightly tipsy mexican researchers, experimenting with creating diamonds industrial alchohol, and a bottle of tequila next to them. And eventually, one guy there says "why not?"
Well other than the fact that you've got some liquid with who knows what impurities in it (it's not just tequila, it's CHEAP tequila), and that's some expensive lab equipment... well I guess it's easy to clean equipment and hard to damage considering it's usage, so it's safe, but... actually, if I was there I would probably say "why not?" too. If I was drunk. And if my supervisors/ boss/ etc weren't within earshot...

Anyhow... it worked.

Well, they admit now that they had doubts it would work since tequila contains a LOT of things other than ethanol and H20 in it. Then again, I would like to point out that most chemical reactions require some catalysts in some form or another...

But seriously, my theory is that they did it because they were drunk at the time.

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Can I get these guys to buy some shared lottery tickets with me? hahaha.


Wait. Does this mean that these new diamonds and diamond film, possibly having applications in cutting tools, high-power semiconductors, radiation detectors and optical-electronic devices, are HARAM, since they are derived from Tequila?
Sort of like how some people were calling muslims to stop using products containing pig lard?
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Interesting. Not my position to judge. Will wait to see how International Islamic Council votes.