X-Message-Number: 26319
References: <>
From: Kennita Watson <>
Subject: Re: Other alternatives to burial (Off topic)
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 02:49:11 -0700

Olaf Henny <> wrote:
> ...
> http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,359567,00.html :
>
> Forget a Coffin -- Wear Grandma on Your Finger:
>
> Excerpt: "Basically, it works like this: First, the carbon inside  
> human ashes is captured. Then, it is heated to temperatures so high it  
> transforms into graphite. The graphite is then pressed into a  
> diamond."
>
> The question I have is: could there possibly be enough carbon matter  
> left after the intense heat of cremation to shape a diamond?

Good catch.  It turns out there's a trick to it.

 From http://tinyurl.com/7ar4k
(AKA  
<http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:0nBm2_uwzxUJ:minerals.usgs.gov/ 
minerals/pubs/commodity/boron/ 
boromyb02.pdf+composition+ash+cremation+carbon+phosphorus&hl=en>)
(HTML version of a PDF file,  
minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/boron/boromyb02.pdf):

"A Chicago company named Life Gem has been offering blue
diamonds made from the carbon extracted from the ash derived
from cremation of the beloved. The diamonds are blue because
of trace amounts of boron contained in the bone. The process
takes about 16 weeks, and diamonds can be produced from
animal and human remains. Typically carbon in the body is
incinerated and turned into gas during the process of cremation.
LifeGem captures the carbon before becoming gas. The carbon
is purified and turned into graphite by heating at 6,000  F. The
graphite is sent to a laboratory in Russia where about 5 grams of
graphite yields a one-quarter-carat diamond (Copeland, 2002)."
(You'd think I had nothing better to do with my time than look
up fascinating factoids like this...)

> Also in the other scheme:
>
> Excerpt: "There is also his latest brainchild: memorial fireworks that  
> contain the ashes of a beloved relative in the rocket tip. The idea is  
> that the bereaved could bid farewell to the departed in a stunning  
> explosion of color. The technology, however, has proven dicey. The  
> trick is to make sure all the human ashes disintegrate in the sparkle  
> rather than getting dusted over rooftops or onto the faces of those  
> mourning."
>
> Ashes are by definition non-combustible residue from fire. How can you  
> possibly disintegrate them in a rocket, so that they would not hit the  
> ground.

How about you send up the fireworks over water?  I often hear
of people wanting their ashes scattered over water -- this
would *really* scatter them!

Cheers,
Kennita

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