Here’s One More Reason for Proposal Procrastinators to Finally Put a Ring on It

Despite the best of intentions, many young suitors let the winter season slip away without proposing to the loves of their lives. They couldn't gather enough courage on Christmas Day (the single most popular time of the year to pop the question) and missed a wonderful opportunity on New Year's Eve. Then, Valentine's Day came along and, once again, the day passed with no glittering diamond and no pledge of eternal love.

For those needing a little more motivation, the calendar is about to deliver another fabulous reason for lovers to take a deep breath, get down on one knee and change their lives forever. Friday, March 20 is National Proposal Day.

Conceived by John Michael O’Loughlin decades ago as a perfect time for procrastinators to finally ask for their partners’ hand in marriage, National Proposal Day has slowly become an accepted part of our holiday lexicon.

O’Loughlin was motivated to push for this special day after watching his cousin wait years for a proposal that never came. He felt that a day earmarked for proposals would put a fire under some partners who have waited a bit too long to pop the question.

O’Loughlin scheduled National Proposal Day to fall on the first day of spring, which also represents the vernal equinox (the special time of the year when day and night are equal lengths across the globe). O’Loughlin reasoned that the vernal equinox symbolizes “the equal efforts of the two required to comprise the successful marriage.”

(The first day of spring generally falls on March 20, but due to 2020 being leap year, spring will arrive on March 19).

Of course, the autumnal equinox — another perfectly balanced day — carries the same symbolism as the spring version, so there is a second National Proposal Day set for the first day of fall, September 22.

National Proposal Day is promoted as a worldwide event, and O’Loughlin encourages romantic couples to meet up with like-minded friends via social media using #proposalday or #NationalProposalDay.

O’Loughlin clarified that March 20 doesn’t have to end with a proposal. Couples can use it, instead, to spark a conversation about their future together.

WeddingWire’s recently published “Newlywed Report” revealed that 8% of the year's marriage proposals occur during the month of March. We're guessing that a great portion of those will be slated for March 20.

Credit: Image by Bigstockphoto.com.

Stanford Scientists Transform Fossil Fuel Molecules Into Pure Diamond

A new study from Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory reveals how — with the right amount of pressure and a modest amount of heat — a substance found in crude oil and natural gas can be transformed into pure diamond. The findings were published February 21 in the journal Science Advances.

“Starting with these building blocks, you can make diamond more quickly and easily, and you can also learn about the process in a more complete, thoughtful way than if you just mimic the high pressure and high temperature found in the part of the Earth where diamond forms naturally,” said Wendy Mao, a Stanford mineral physicist who heads the lab where the study’s experiments were performed.

The research team began with three types of powder refined from petroleum. The odorless, slightly sticky powders resemble rock salt, but with atoms arranged in the same spatial pattern of those that make up diamond crystal. Unlike diamond, which is pure carbon, the powders (called diamondoids) also contain hydrogen.

The diamondoid samples were guided into a small pressure chamber called a diamond anvil cell, which pressed the powder between two polished diamonds. With a turn of a screw, the device mimicked the intense pressure found deep within the Earth. After squeezing the diamondoid samples and blasting them with a laser, a second, cooler laser beam was used to help shape the resulting diamond. Finally, results were examined through a battery of tests and computer models, which helped to explain how the transformation had unfolded.

“A fundamental question we tried to answer is whether the structure, or number of cages, affects how diamondoids transform into diamond,” said study senior author Yu Lin, a staff scientist in the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES) at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The three-cage diamondoid, called triamantane, was found to reorganize itself into diamond with little energy.

At 1160 degrees Fahrenheit (the temperature of red-hot lava) plus 20 gigapascals, a pressure hundreds of thousands of times greater than Earth’s atmosphere, triamantane’s carbon atoms snap into alignment and its hydrogen scatters, falling away. The transformation was both immediate and direct.

If you can make even small amounts of this pure diamond, then you can dope it in controlled ways for specific applications,” said Lin.

Throughout history, diamond has served as a powerful symbol of love, power, and beauty. Natural diamonds form hundreds of miles beneath the Earth's surface, under extreme heat and pressure that causes carbon to crystalize. Those seen above ground were likely propelled upwards through ancient volcanic eruptions.

For more than 60 years, scientists have been turning various substances into synthetic diamonds through methods involving massive amounts of energy and time. The Stanford researchers sought to find a simpler method.

“We wanted to see just a clean system, in which a single substance transforms into pure diamond — without a catalyst,” said the study’s lead author, Sulgiye Park, a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford Earth.

According to the study, the mechanisms for this transformation will be important for scientific and industrial applications. This is because diamond’s physical properties of extreme hardness, optical transparency, chemical stability, and high thermal conductivity make it particularly valuable for medicine, industry, technology and biological sensing.

“What’s exciting about this paper is it shows a way of cheating the thermodynamics of what’s typically required for diamond formation,” said Stanford geologist Rodney Ewing, a co-author on the paper.

The minute sample size inside a diamond anvil cell makes this approach impractical for synthesizing much more than the specks of diamond that the Stanford team produced in the lab, Mao added.

“But now we know a little bit more about the keys to making pure diamonds,” she said.

Credit: Image by Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0 / CC BY-SA.

Short Film Details How Diamond Revenues Empower the People of Botswana

In 1967, diamonds were discovered in the newly independent Republic of Botswana. At the time, the land-locked country in Southern Africa was the third-poorest on the continent, but the wealth and opportunity generated by its gleaming natural resource has propelled it into one of Africa's most successful economies.

The key to that success is that for every $1 of diamonds sold, about 80 cents goes back to the government of Botswana. The revenues generated by minerals are put into a central pool and used for the betterment of the country and its people.

Botswana's success story is documented in a short film titled “Fashionscapes: The Diamonds of Botswana." In the film, Livia Firth, co-founder and creative director of Eco-Age, learns first-hand about the impact of diamond mining in a country that has unearthed some of the world's most precious stones, including two diamonds larger than 1,000 carats.

The viewer learns that every person in Botswana is literally a product of the diamond industry.

Mokgweetsi Masisi, President of the Republic of Botswana, described how the people of Botswana are critical stakeholders in the business relationship between the mining company and the government. Masisi also acknowledged that diamonds are a finite resource, so building infrastructure and diversifying is a key to future success.

"You only realize excellence through a lot of hard work and that is why we are so keen to diversify," he said. "That's why we are so keen to improve the value chain. And that's why we are so keen to ensure that we unlock more value domestically for our people. So ethics are critical, environmental stewardship is critical. Human rights and workers' rights are critical."

He noted that the distribution of diamond wealth in his country is a "blueprint of excellence."

"What you actually do with the proceeds is telling of who you are and the values you hold," he continued. "Look around. We do have challenges, but we admit them and we want to face them head on."

As the first-ever female managing director of the Korowe mine in Botswana, Naseem Lahri knows firsthand how diamonds have enriched the lives of her people.

"I was born in Botswana, I was schooled in Botswana, I've gone to university in Botswana and it's all because of the diamonds that have actually created the schools and the employment," she said.

As Firth tours the country, she encounters an agricultural site that provides nutritious fresh food for poorer communities, a public school with enthusiastic students and teachers and an environmentalist who manages a wildlife preserve. All of these entities credit their success to the proceeds generated by the diamond industry.

“Fashionscapes: The Diamonds of Botswana” was produced with the support of the government of Botswana and key players in the country’s diamond industry, including the De Beers Group and mining company Lucara Botswana.

Check out the short film here...

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com.

Class Ring Lost in Maine 47 Years Ago Is Unearthed in Finland — 4,000 Miles Away

Forty-seven years ago, Debra McKenna lost her boyfriend's high school ring in the bathroom of a Portland, Maine, department store. Shawn's ring was adorned with an oval blue faceted stone and embellished with the tall mast symbol for Morse High School's athletic nickname — the Shipbuilders.

Ironically, the ring was discovered in early February by shipbuilder Marko Saarinen in a densely wooded area near the small town of Kaarina, Finland. The avid metal detectorist located the keepsake under eight inches of soil — about 4,000 miles from where it was originally misplaced.

The markings on the ring provided just enough clues for Saarinen to find the rightful owner. He had the name of the high school, the year of the graduating class and engraved initials inside the band — "S.M." The Finnish Good Samaritan posted a photo of the ring on the Facebook page of Morse High School's Class of 1973.

"Hello from Finland!" his message read. "I was metal detecting in the deep forest and found this high school ring."

Alert followers of the Class of 1973 Facebook page were able to determine that the S.M. initials belonged to Shawn McKenna. The graduating class of barely 200 students included only one male with those initials.

The classmates alerted Debra, who cried when the ring arrived just before Valentine's Day.

Debra and Shawn had met during his senior year and tied the knot in 1977. They were married for 40 years and had three children. In 2017, Shawn passed away after losing a six-year battle with cancer.

Debra said she was shocked by the unbelievable discovery and believes it might be a sign that her husband is still looking after her.

"I was feeling a little lost for a bit, and now I feel like, okay," she told CNN. "He's letting me know that things are good, that the decisions I'm making are right and he's behind me on it. Like he has been through my whole life."

When interviewed by Portland's CBS affiliate WGME-TV, McKenna recounted the day she lost the ring in the bathroom of a local department store. She had set it on the side of the sink while she washed her hands and then forgot to put it back on. Later, when she went back to retrieve it, it was gone.

How and why the ring found its way to a Finnish forest is a mystery that may never be solved.

"I wish it could talk," the 63-year-old McKenna said of the class ring. "I would love to hear the story of how it got from here to there, and if anyone ever knows what it is, I would love to hear what it is. No judgment, just interest."

“It’s very touching in this world of negativity to have decent people step forward and make an effort,” McKenna told the Bangor Daily News. “There are good people in the world, and we need more of them.”

Saarinen, who spends about two hours each week as a metal detector hobbyist, told CNN that he never considered keeping the ring for himself. He was thrilled to mail it back to McKenna.

"This has been an amazing discovery. Best yet," he said.

Credits: Screen captures via WGME-TV.

Couples Spent an Average of $5,900 on Engagement Rings in 2019, Reports The Knot

Couples spent an average of $5,900 on their engagement rings in 2019, according to The Knot's 13th Annual Real Weddings Study. That amount reflected a budget increase of about 4% compared to 2018. The engagement ring continues to be the second-highest-priced item on the list of all wedding expenses (the venue is #1).

Overall, the average cost to host a wedding ceremony/reception in 2019 remained steady at $28,000, although expenditures varied widely by region. Couples in midwestern locales, such as Columbus ($23,500) and St. Louis ($24,000) reported wedding day costs below the $25,000 threshold, while their counterparts in large northeastern cities, such as Boston ($38,600), Washington, DC ($34,700) and Philadelphia ($34,300) reported day-of wedding costs that were significantly higher. The most expensive place in the U.S. to host a wedding in 2019 was Manhattan, where the average outlay was $83,000.

More than half (51%) of survey respondents said they married someone with a different background (race, religion, ethnicity or geographic location). Many of these couples embraced that diversity by asking their wedding planners, DJs or other wedding professionals to find interesting ways to fuse their respective traditions into the celebration.

From Guatemalan coffee to Chinese-crafted candy boxes, many couples selected wedding favors that reflected something unique about them (Nearly 6 in 10 said they distributed party favors).

While couples continued to embrace long-standing wedding traditions, such as the first dance (90%) and cutting the cake (82%), they also continued to break new ground. The concept of couples writing their own vows is now embraced by 44%.

Exactly 72% of those surveyed said their top priority was ensuring their guests were taken care of and had a good time. Besides the expected food, drink and music, nearly half of all couples provided fun entertainment and activities, such as photo booths, cigar-rolling stations and craft margarita bars, to name a few.

Here are some other highlights from The Knot's 2019 Real Wedding Study...

• Average length of an engagement: 15 months (up from 13.6 months in 2018)
• Average marrying age: 32 years (up from bride, 29.1, and groom, 30.5, in 2018)
• Most popular color: dark blue (this color was second to ivory/champagne in 2018)
• Average guest count: 131 (down from 136 in 2018)
• Percentage that have a destination wedding: 21% (down from 23% in 2018)

The Knot's 13th Annual Real Weddings Study reflects the experiences of nearly 27,000 couples married in 2019.

Credit: Image by Bigstockphoto.com.