A group of geologists has recently achieved a breakthrough in identifying potential sites for the formation of diamonds. Diamonds, the hardest naturally occurring material we have found, originate under the extreme conditions of immense pressure and high temperatures deep within the Earth's interior. These precious gems are occasionally pushed to the surface in molten rock formations known as kimberlite. However, there are currently two competing theories regarding what is responsible for this rush of kimberlite which brings diamonds to the surface. In a recent study, these theories were closely examined by a research team. In a piece for The Conversation study author and Associate Professor in Earth Science at the University of Southampton, Thomas Gernon explained: “one proposes that kimberlite magmas exploit the ‘wounds’ created when the Earth’s crust is stretched or when the slabs of solid rock covering the Earth - known as tectonic plates - split up.” “The other theory involves mantle plumes, colossal upwellings of molten rock from the core-mantle boundary, located about 2,900km [1,802] beneath the Earth’s surface.” However, neither of these theories adequately explains how magma manages to find its way through the Earth's crust, or the specific composition of the resulting kimberlite. By employing statistical analysis and machine learning, the team analysed the breakup of continents and its correlation with kimberlite formation. Their findings indicated that the majority of kimberlite volcanoes erupt 20 to 30 million years after tectonic breakup. “It also added a major clue,” Gernon explained. “Kimberlite eruptions tend to gradually migrate from the continental edges to the interiors over time at a rate that is uniform across the continents.” Delving deeper into their investigation through computer-generated models, the team ultimately concluded that diamond eruptions stem from a "domino effect." As continents gradually drift apart from each other, they generate rifts of thinned crust. As this happens, regions of thick, cold rock descend into the hot magma beneath, inducing an upsurge of the mantle, which in turn triggers a similar flow in nearby continents. Gernon elaborated on the team's findings, saying, "Various other results from our computer models then advance to show that this process can bring together the necessary ingredients in the right amounts to trigger just enough melting to generate gas-rich kimberlites,” Gernon explained. “Once formed, and with great buoyancy provided by carbon dioxide and water, the magma can rise rapidly to the surface carrying its precious cargo.” Moreover, the same methodology could potentially be employed to locate diamonds and other rare elements. “The processes triggering the eruptions that bring diamonds to the surface appear to be highly systematic,” Gernon siad. “They start on the edges of continents and migrate towards the interior at a relatively uniform rate.” The study is published in the journal Nature. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Netflix has got rid of its ‘Basic’ plan, the cheapest option to watch without ads. Until recently, Netflix had the option to pay £6.99 or $6.99 for its cheapest normal tier, which came with some restrictions including watching only in HD and on one device at a time. The company had already axed a similar offering in Canada. And now it has removed the option to join that plan in the US and UK. Instead, users will have to choose between watching with ads – which costs $6.99 in the US, or £4.99 in the UK – or paying the much higher price of $15.49 or £10.99 for the “standard” plan. People who already subscribed to the basic plan will be allowed to stay on it, so long as they make no changes to their subscription. But the offering will no longer be available to new users. Netflix had already hidden the option behind a button on its website, and had seemed to discourage people from taking it up. In an earnings call this week, in which Netflix also announcing surging subscription growth that suggests its crackdown on password sharing is working, the company’s co-CEO Greg Peters said that it was looking to “optimise” its plan structure. He said that the company wants “to give consumers access across a wide range”, and pointed to the lower “entry prices” on offer to customers. Those customers must watch ads if they wish to opt for the lower prices, however. Read More Netflix’s password sharing crackdown is going much better than people expected Stolen ChatGPT accounts for sale on the dark web Geothermal breakthrough uses oil drilling tech to tap renewable energy

Amazon is testing whether humanoid robots that walk around with glowing eyes could help staff its warehouses. The company has in recent years added a host of new technologies as part of its Amazon Robotics arm, primarily using it in its warehouses, including arms and small carts that are able to help pack orders. It now has 750,000 robots working alongside employees, it said. This week it unveiled more of hose robots, including a system named Sequoia that helps pack its itinerary at those warehouses. But the most dramatic new robot was a system named Digit that is now being tested for Amazon’s operations. Amazon calls Digit a “mobile manipulator solution”, and pointed to the fact that they are able to move around and grasp items in ways that other robots aren’t. It does so in an uncannily human form, with glowing eyes in the front of its head and arms and legs that allow it to walk around. The system was built by Agility Robotics, which has a partnership with Amazon. It is 175cm tall, can work for 16 hours out of a day and has the ability to perceive people and crouch and squat, for instance. “Its size and shape are well suited for buildings that are designed for humans, and we believe that there is a big opportunity to scale a mobile manipulator solution, such as Digit, which can work collaboratively with employees,” Amazon said in an announcement. “Our initial use for this technology will be to help employees with tote recycling, a highly repetitive process of picking up and moving empty totes once inventory has been completely picked out of them.” Tye Brady, chief technologist at Amazon Robotics, said that he was more interested in how the humanoid form could allow for new kinds of mobility, such as using legs to walk over varied terrain, rather than having it mimic the look of humans. He also suggested that if the robot’s shape came to be a barrier to adoption then Amazon “can change that”. The robot is still in testing for now, in an attempt to understand how it might be used, and is not deployed in any of Amazon's normal operations. It may never actually be used, it suggested, if the project finds that such robots are not helpful. Amazon also committed to ensure “robotics are collaborative and support employees”. In an apparent attempt to allay concerns about the robots taking jobs and leaving its staff redundant, it pointed to the growth in new jobs that has come even as its investment in robotics has increased, and said that there were 700 new job categories that didn’t exist before that expansion. “From the hardware to the artificial intelligence embedded in our robotics, we are passionate about technology that makes the work experience of our employees safer, easier, and less repetitive,” Amazon committed. It said that the extra time saved with robots would allow employees to “take a step back” and evaluate how orders were being fulfilled, for instance. Amazon is just one of a range of companies looking at humanoid robots for logistical work. Tesla, for instance, has a system called “Optimus” which Elon Musk has suggested could eventually become its biggest business, but which is yet to actually be rolled out. Read More Amazon to start dropping packages into people’s gardens using drones in the UK Tesla’s profits dip as Musk goes on rant about staff working from home Facebook has stopped working

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