Scientists discover nearby ‘diamond planet’

It ends with a speculation that mining other planets doesn't sound so crazy any more.<p>Idiots. Diamond is not intrinsically valuable; carbon is not rare, and industrial diamond is fairly cheap. Humans (and in particular one cartel) set a high value on gemstone diamonds.<p>It's going to be cheaper to turn waste carbon into diamond here on Earth than it is to boost any sort of mining platform out to another planet or our own asteroid belt, and this will continue to be true for many many years.

The interesting thing about a 'diamond' planet is that it would be a waste of time. Diamond's value is superficial - it can't actually be used for anything (except cutting), so mining this planet would essentially cause diamonds to become worthless.<p>Whats more interesting is a planet made up of rare metals - that would still cause the prices to drop (this assumes the mining can easily generate lots of metal easily, transport costs aside), but can immediately be turned around into something useful.

A planet made out of diamond and graphite. Why do I feel like this would be a terrible place to visit as a human, even with a breathing suit. If the crystal caves are any indication of what this planet would be like, it would be incredibly inhospitable --- though possibly quite pretty.

How can they possibly know what the planet is made of? Does anyone know?

Something like this (except, not diamonds maybe, but some rare metal-rich planet) and girls/casino/blackjack will drive space exploration :)

I think the true word that should be in quotes is 'nearby'.

9x10^28 carats. That's a pretty big ring.

How does extremetech.com keep on getting to the front page of HN?<p>(this is an honest question, while I am trying to make a point, I would actually like to hear other peoples opinions)<p>Something always seems off about the quality of their articles compared to the other (above average) content that usually makes its way to the front page.