The hardest material in the universe

According to Australian researchers at Monash University, the hardest substance in the universe comes from a dwarf planet destroyed by collision with an asteroid. This substance is the extremely rare lonsdaleite, an incredibly resistant material found in a specific group of meteorites: ureilites. These are carbon-rich rocks in the form of graphite that are created in the core of dwarf planets and are thrown into deep space following an impact with a large asteroid. Precisely during the impact, graphite changes structure and becomes lonsdaleite, a kind of diamond with a hexagonal crystal structure, different from the gemstone we find on our planet. The particular arrangement of atoms within the crystal gives lonsdaleite a hardness up to 60 per cent higher than that of diamond. A truly indestructible gem.