It seems that everything began in 1995 when the physicist and researcher Fernando Alba Andrade discovered that synthetic diamonds can be obtained from gases such as methane.
Then, in 2008, a group of physicists met in the laboratory to show that it was also possible to obtain these stones from liquids.
To do this, the scientists Víctor Manuel Castaño Meneses, who at that time was director of the Center for Applied Physics and Advanced Technology (CFATA) at UNAM, Luis Miguel Apátiga Castro and Javier Morales, developed the process on the Juriquilla campus, in Querétaro.
Consequently, with a mixture of 40 percent ethanol and 60 percent water, they obtained positive results. Interestingly, this ratio is basically the same with which tequila is made.
Then, moved by curiosity, Luis Miguel Apátiga Castro one day bought a common brand white tequila, used it as if it were ethanol and water under the same experimental conditions and obtained the synthetic gemstones.
Diamonds capable of competing with those of natural origin?
Of course, the synthetic diamonds obtained in the laboratory are not optimal for mounting in jewelry because they are very small. However, their existence opens up a wide range of possibilities, as they could be used as substitutes for silicon, which is used today in electronic devices and computer chips.
And not only that, they could also detect radiation, coat cutting tools or function as materials capable of withstanding high temperatures.
Beyond the interestingness of the project, the challenge faced by the researchers was to transcend the curious finding to make it not only useful in the industry but also profitable; Well, if the same results are obtained with ethanol, what would tequila be used for?
A recognition from irreverence
Finally, the experiment won in 2009 the I.G. Nobel Prize in the Chemistry category. This award, which could be defined as an American parody of the Swedish Nobel Prize, is awarded each year to ten groups of scientists by the scientific humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research (Annals of Improbable Investigation) at Harvard University; and its purpose is to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative and stimulate everyone’s interest in science, medicine and technology.