12. A candle flame is full of diamonds – Within a candle’s flickering flame, hydrocarbon molecules are converted into carbon dioxide. During this process, the carbon briefly takes the form of diamond nanoparticles. A whopping 1.5 million of these minuscule gems are created every second, but are burnt up almost instantly. Although harvesting these diamonds would be impossible, this recent discovery could lead to new methods for producing cheap jewels. Alongside diamonds, researchers were surprised to find the three other forms of carbon (fullerenic particles, graphitic and amorphous carbon) in the flame.
