DailyDirt: Useful Diamonds

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Diamonds are a fascinating and unique material. So far, though, manufacturing large diamonds on a large scale isn't very economical, but there actually are a few processes that do make small, commercial synthetic diamonds. If cheap diamonds could be made to arbitrary dimensions, then all sorts of "Diamond Age" technologies could make things more durable or significantly better. (eg. Diamonds could replace silicon as a semiconducting substrate in electronics, and diamond touchscreens would be pretty scratch resistant.) Here are a few uses of diamonds that could provide a bit more value than gemstones. If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
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Filed Under: biotech, diamond age, diamond anvil cell, diamonds, medical imaging, microscopy, nanocrystals, nanodiamonds, nanotechnology


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  • identicon
    zip, 29 Apr 2014 @ 6:55pm

    death of De Beers?

    Perhaps the most interesting thing about man-made diamonds is how the legacy mined-diamond industry --basically a one-company monopoly-- has reacted by doing what all legacy industries do when new technology renders them obsolete: start a propaganda and lobbying blitz.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Mason Wheeler (profile), 30 Apr 2014 @ 10:47am

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Lawrence D’Oliveiro, 30 Apr 2014 @ 4:30pm

      Re: And let's not forget diamond nanofilament body armor.

      And anybody trying to take a gun to somebody who was wearing this, and also armed, would be mincemeat.

      So much for the idea of guns as a deterrent to violence, eh?

      link to this | view in chronology ]


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