Ep 33 - Diamonds aren’t just forever… they’re now elastic, plastic, and self-healing

We’ve all heard “diamonds are forever” — but new research shows they can do far more than just sparkle. Scientists have discovered diamonds that heal themselves like living tissue, bend like rubber, and resist breaking like metals. In this episode, we explore the strange new world of diamond engineering: from self-healing ‘osteoblasts’ that mend cracks at room temperature, to nanoscale diamond needles that stretch further than ever thought possible. This is the story of how we’re rewriting the rules of the hardest material on Earth.

Feature paper:

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02168-z