DailyDirt: Diamonds, With Lucy, In The Sky

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Carbon comes in several allotropes: graphene, diamond, nanotubes, buckyballs, nanofoam etc. Some forms are easier to manufacture than others, but someday we might have diamond-based semiconductors or diamond-based quantum computers. If you like shiny minerals, here are just a few interesting links on diamonds.

• The world's first all-diamond ring -- no setting needed, but it's kinda difficult to re-size -- weighs in at about 150 carats and $68 million. And if it gets stuck on your finger, it'll be really hard to cut off without taking your finger with it.... [url]
• The 45-carat Hope Diamond could provide some insights on the geology of the Earth, but it's not easy to conduct science on famous museum artifacts. Scientists are looking at how boron makes blue diamonds blue, and they're etching off a few atomic layers of the diamond to determine how much boron is in it. [url]
• Diamonds can store qubits at room temperature for at least a couple seconds -- a pretty long time in the world of quantum physics. This discovery might lead to more practical quantum computers -- but general quantum computing is still a long way from becoming as useful as traditional computing. [url]
• To discover more interesting science-related stuff, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: allotrope, carbon, chemistry, diamonds, quantum computing, qubit

DailyDirt: Diamonds Don't Just Look Pretty....

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Diamond is a fascinating material due to its extraordinary hardness (and other properties such refractive index, thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity and chemical inertness). Diamonds have also been historically difficult to synthesize in desired quantities. However, making artificial diamonds is becoming a practical process, so it's possible we'll see more and more products made from artificial diamond. Here are just a few interesting links on this awesome allotrope of carbon.

• Chemical impurities locked inside diamonds could help clarify some major geological processes. We don't know much about how the carbon cycle from the ocean floor mixed with the Earth's mantle, but superdeep diamonds could give us some clues. [url]
• About 4,000 contact lenses with embedded gold flakes and diamonds will be made available for sale in India. "Your optometrist must have been a thief because he stole some gold and diamonds and put them in your eyes..." [url]
• De Beers is investing in artificial diamond manufacturing for the semiconductor industry. In a few years, maybe marriage proposals will include microchips that are graded on their color, cut, clarity, etc... [url]
• To discover more interesting science-related stuff, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: allotrope, carbon, diamonds, semiconductor
Companies: de beers