While lonsdaleite is rare – unlike diamond, which can be mined or lab-grown, until now lonsdaleite has only been discovered in craters – the possibility of lab-made lonsdaleite launches ...

Lonsdaleite is also made of carbon, but it has an unusual hexagonal structure instead, he added. Researchers have come up with models for the structure of lonsdaleite before, and ...

They predict that the lonsdaleite was somewhat replaced by diamonds as its environment cooled and pressure decreased, scientists said. And they didn't just find the source of the mysterious crystal.

Lonsdaleite is of scientific interest because the material could theoretically be even harder than regular diamond, suggesting it could have all sorts of industrial applications.

First identified in 1967, lonsdaleite is the hardest naturally-occuring mineral ever discovered—yes, it’s even harder than diamonds. Lonsdaleite, however, has only been found in meteorites ...

Lonsdaleite has also been found in the meteorite fragments left over from the Meteor Crater impact event, which occurred about 50,000 years ago.

Instead, this mineral, called lonsdaleite, is believed to be around 58 percent stronger than diamonds, according to NPR. Much like the diamonds we know and love, lonsdaleite is also made of carbon.

Lonsdaleite was first discovered in the Canyon Diablo meteorite in 1967 and was named after British crystallographer Dame Kathleen Lonsdale.The new research predicts that the hexagonal shape of ...

Lonsdaleite is also made of carbon, but it has an unusual hexagonal structure instead, he added. Researchers have come up with models for the structure of lonsdaleite before, and ...