Lab creates petrified wood
{{Date|January 25, 2005}} 
A process that would normally take millions of years, scientists have mimicked within a couple of days.  Today, researchers at the [[Wikipedia:Pacific Northwest National Laboratory|Pacific Northwest National Laboratory]] have turned wood mineral by the process of soaking poplar and pine in a chemical mix and then cooking them. The team of scientists accomplishing this feat, led by Yongsoon Shin, bought pine and poplar boards and performed a series of steps. The first step leading to the petrifying of the wood is thinly cutting it, then soaking it in acids and a silica solution, after that, heating it, and lastly, cooling the product in argon. Silica takes up a bond with the carbon left in the wood's cellulose, creating silicon carbide, widely known as a ceramic.

== References ==
*{{source|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4206387.stm|pub=BBC|author=|title=Petrified wood created in the lab|date=25 January 2005}}
* http://www.pnl.gov

 
 {{archive}}
[[Category:Science and technology]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:published]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Biology]]
A process that would normally take millions of years, scientists have mimicked within a couple of days.  Today, researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have turned wood mineral by the process of soaking poplar and pine in a chemical mix and then cooking them. The team of scientists accomplishing this feat, led by Yongsoon Shin, bought pine and poplar boards and performed a series of steps. The first step leading to the petrifying of the wood is thinly cutting it, then soaking it in acids and a silica solution, after that, heating it, and lastly, cooling the product in argon. Silica takes up a bond with the carbon left in the wood's cellulose, creating silicon carbide, widely known as a ceramic.
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