The Body Trivia Home Page e-mail Trivia Categorical Trivia Collection Trivia About Minerals and Science A lump of pure gold the size of a matchbox can be flattened into a sheet the size of a tennis court. Absolutely pure gold is so soft that it can be molded with the hands. An ounce of gold can be stretched into a wire 50 miles long. Diamond is the hardest naturally occurring substance, and is also one of the most valuable natural substances.
Diamonds are crystals formed almost entirely of carbon.
Because of its hardness, the diamond is the most enduring of all gemstones. They are among the most costly jewels in the world, partly because they are rare, Only four important diamond fields have been found - in Africa, South America, India, and the Soviet Union. In 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went on line. In 1982, in the first operation of its kind, doctors at the University of Utah Medical Center implanted a permanent artificial heart in the chest of retired dentist Dr. Barney Clark, who lived 112 days with the device. Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature.