Word: diamonded
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...dominance of this year's Grammy Album category is unprecedented. So is the fact that other than platinum sales, his nominated discs--one country, one rock and one pop/soul--have absolutely nothing in common. Factor in his other big releases of the past two years--albums by Weezer, Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash--and it's clear his aesthetic range is essentially limitless...
Apollo and its competitors are close to perfecting the manufacturing process, but it's unlikely that man-made diamond will replace silicon entirely. Diamond manufacturing remains expensive, even after several spikes in silicon-wafer prices over the past year. But semiconductor researchers remain optimistic about diamond's future role; at the very least, a combination of silicon and diamond could produce more powerful devices that run at cooler temperatures. Says Mike Mayberry, director of components research at Intel: "We're still interested enough to keep...
Also tracking the progress of diamondmaking are biologists, who covet the gem's inertness--it doesn't react with other substances--and its ability to retain its structural integrity despite being bathed in natural acids and other organic compounds. One possible application: diamond-based electrodes, implanted under the skin, that could be designed to react chemically in the presence of certain proteins. Already, researchers at Case Western Reserve University have developed such a prototype for detecting levels of a protein critical to nerve-cell activity...
Since it may be another decade before such medical applications of diamond become a reality, for now Apollo is using the same CVD process to produce gem-quality stones for the retail market. Just last year the company started selling rough-cut gems to a Boston jewelry retailer. It may prove to be a smart strategy until the industrial market matures; thanks to booming economies in China and India, retail sales of diamond jewelry have been surging for a decade. Analysts expect up to 20% annual growth in the diamond market in China alone. With current mine capacities, that translates...
...Israel from the moment of its beginning in 1948 was an act of collective will and courage, a valor that arose in part out of desperation. A flourishing culture. Universities, clinics, industries, social welfare, housing, an agricultural system watered by a complex national irrigation grid, the world's largest diamond-polishing industry, defense industries. A going concern. One of the best armies in the world. Miraculous. But also the result of an infusion of about $43 billion in American Government aid over the years, and millions more contributed privately by Jews in America and elsewhere. ''The Israelis have produced...