Good Morning! 🌞 

Here’s a crazy fact: Carrots were originally purple, with some white, yellow, and red varieties. In the 17th century, Dutch farmers bred yellow and white carrots to create orange ones as a tribute to the Dutch Royal Family, the House of Orange-Nassau. These sweeter, more appealing orange carrots quickly became popular and spread worldwide.

They’re healthier as well, since the orange color comes from beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A, essential for vision and immune health.

Innovation

Scientists Grow Micro-Diamonds in 15 Minutes

In South Korea, chemists have recently developed a method to grow artificial micro-diamonds in minutes instead of days.

Remarkably, this technique does not require high temperatures or intense pressure and creates diamonds "from scratch." This breakthrough has the potential to revolutionize the diamond industry by providing an unlimited supply of micro-diamonds for polishing and cutting applications.

Typically, gemstones form under intense heat, pressure, natural catalysts, or a combination of these factors. Artificially manufacturing diamonds has traditionally required significant amounts of heat and pressure. However, Rodney Ruoff, a physical chemist at the Institute for Basic Science in South Korea, has found a way to eliminate these requirements.

Ruoff and his colleagues used only graphene, silicon, gallium, iron, and nickel—foregoing the need for gigapascals of pressure and temperatures as high as 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit (1,500 degrees Celsius).

Ruoff's method began with gallium, which had previously been shown to catalyze the formation of graphene. Graphene is pure carbon, similar to a diamond, but with a straight and flat chemical structure, unlike diamond's tetrahedral formation.

The most expensive component of the experiment was a home-built chamber designed by co-author Won Kyung Seong. This chamber housed the gallium-nickel-iron mixture in a graphene crucible and withstood the introduction of hot methane gas. When all these elements combined, along with a pinch of silicon, diamonds formed within 15 minutes at sea-level pressures inside the chamber.

The precise chemical details of the experiment's success are still not fully understood, and it will likely be a few years before scientists can confirm whether Ruoff’s process can produce diamonds suitable for jewelry. The diamonds described in their study were thousands of times smaller than lab-grown diamonds typically used for jewelry.

However, the film of micro-diamonds could replace larger diamonds for purposes such as being crushed into powder. Diamond is used for many different cutting and grinding tools and is used from construction to cutting and polishing diamonds themselves.

Environment

How Butterfly Wings Get Their Colors

Researchers used high-resolution microscopy to track the development of butterfly scales from caterpillar to butterfly, uncovering the role of actin, a protein, in forming their vivid colors.

The study, conducted at the University of Sheffield and the Central Laser Facility, found that colorful butterfly scales have denser actin bundles, leading to more reflective ridges than dull-colored scales. Observations showed that actin shifts during scale growth and color formation, demonstrating its crucial role in creating butterfly colors. If actin structures were disrupted, the colors faded.

“Actin is like a dressmaker, arranging structures to shape the vibrant colors,” said Dr. Andrew Parnell, lead author. “Once its work is done, it leaves the cell like pins being removed in dressmaking.”

Dr. Parnell also noted that butterfly scale nanostructures create long-lasting colors resistant to ultraviolet rays, evidenced by preserved specimens in museums.

Understanding butterfly wing coloration mechanisms may offer insights into cell structure formation with potential applications in sensing and diagnostics, relevant for technologies including medicine. The study suggests nature-inspired methods for creating bright colors on a larger scale, such as sustainable paints and coatings.

Structural color-based technologies, mimicking butterfly scales, show promise for sensors and medical diagnostics, providing rapid and responsive solutions beyond traditional laboratory methods.

The study was published in Nature Communications.

US News

100 ‘Extraordinary Days’ in a Year

According to a new survey, a third of your month is bound to be ‘extraordinary.’

The survey of 2,000 Americans revealed that the average person experiences 10 extraordinary days each month, totaling 120 remarkable days every year. Those residing in Hawaii, Idaho, or South Dakota enjoy even more, with an average of 13 extraordinary days per month.

The concept of a joyful lifestyle is subjective, but there are some common themes. Majorities agreed that the following factors contribute to a joyful life:

What Defines a Joyful Life?

• Feeling happy (77%)

• Being healthy (71%)

• Having positive personal and family relationships (69%)

• Feeling comfortable (69%)

The survey, commissioned by Santa Margherita and conducted by Talker Research, aimed to determine how frequently Americans treat themselves and what occasions warrant indulgence.

The findings showed that half of the respondents believe “any day is a good day” to treat themselves. They enjoy spending their most joyful days with family and friends (62%), and 76% prefer sharing their joyful feelings with others whenever possible.

People like to treat themselves during their birthday (66%), while on vacation (59%), and when having a good day (48%).

Sixty-one percent consider a nice meal to be the perfect treat for an extraordinary day, especially when accompanied by a nice beverage.

Moreover, 71% believe that indulgences are best shared with others, particularly their significant others (75%), family members (72%), and close friends (65%).

Over three-quarters (78%) enjoy hosting family and friends for dinners at home, and 80% believe that pairing food and wine enhances the dining experience, making the meal feel more special.

Mind Stretchers

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My thunder comes before the lightning. My lightning comes before the clouds. My rain dries all the land it touches.
What am I?

Yesterday’s Answer:
5 - The sequence is +1, +2, +3, +4. Each time, you are adding the new amount to the sum of the previous domino.

Chris Hostetler got the correct answer first!

Be the first to send us the correct answer for today’s mind stretcher for a shout-out with the answer tomorrow. Just send us the answer and your name to [email protected]

If you have any uplifting stories and experience you might want to share, send those over to [email protected] for the chance to be featured.