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The future of diamonds is in recaptured CO2 pollution
The program resumed in 1951 and, by 1954, had succeeded in creating the first commercially viable lab-grown diamond. Gem-quality lab-grown diamonds wouldn’t arrive in jewelry displays until the 1980s.
IBM built a handheld counterfeit goods detector
Just a month after IBM announced it's leveraging the blockchain to guarantee the provenance of diamonds, the company has revealed new AI-based technology that aims to tackle the issue of counterfeiting -- a problem that costs $1.2 trillion globally. IBM Crypto Anchor Verifier brings together AI and optical imaging to help prove the identity and authenticity of frequently forged goods such as fine wine, diamonds and medicine, as well as analyze water quality and detect bacteria, such as E.coli. And the technology is small enough to use with a cell phone camera.
Recommended Reading: Japan's eSports struggle
The Crazy Laws Keeping Japanese Out of Video Game Competitions Yuji Nakamura and Takako Taniguchi, Bloomberg Japan is a popular locale for video games, but laws are keeping eager players from participating in the eSports revolution. Bloomberg has the details on how regulations aimed at gambling and organized crime make paid gaming competitions impossible.
First hydrogen metal created on Earth draws critical doubt
Scientists from Harvard University say they've ended an 80-year quest by compressing hydrogen into a potentially superconducting metal. Using a diamond-tipped anvil, the team squeezed a hydrogen gas sample to 71 million PSI, more than the pressure at the Earth's core. "It's the first-ever sample of metallic hydrogen on Earth, so ... you're looking at something that's never existed before," says research lead Isaac Silvera. However, other scientists have reservations, saying it's possible the solid material they created (pictured above) is actually aluminum oxide that came from the anvil's diamond tips.
The world's smallest radio works through tiny diamond flaws
Researchers at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have made the world's tiniest radio receiver through an assembly of atomic-level defects inside pink diamonds. The radio receiver can withstand harsh environments, high temperatures and could even be embedded in humans thanks to its biocompatibility. The team was still able to play music through the receiver at around 660 Fahrenheit, which be perfect for when the sun eventually eats the solar system.
ICYMI: Gameroulette, 3D-glass printing and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-356435{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-356435, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-356435{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-356435").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: An MIT group built a 3D printer that extrudes glass rather than plastic; they believe the technology could be used to make cheaper fiber optic cables. Chatroulette users were treated to a surprise live first-person shooter game that pitted them against creepy zombies. The rest of us totally missed out. A new tech-enabled bartending buddy would sync with its smartphone app and walk you through making the perfect cocktail: All for $39.
Samsung coats its new smartwatch in Swarovski crystal, so now you'll want it
LG's not the only electronics maker hoping a scattering of Swarovski will add... something to its products. Not far behind, Samsung now has the Gear S Strap, an accessory ready to pair to its just-announced (and again, just after LG) wearable. If you're a fan of Swarovski, you'll be glad to hear it uses the company's newest Crystal Fine Mesh which, according to Samsung, is apparently already being sprinkled upon "top brands in the fashion industry." And if you're not a fan, well, you're probably not remotely interested or even reading this. It'll be available in Samsung's flagship stores next month.
Researchers want to flood your body with disease-detecting diamonds
Forget the age-old cliché: diamonds might soon be a cancer researcher's best friend, too. One of the real rubs in cancer screening is trying to detect breakaway tumor cells before they spread too far, causing the cancer to metastasize throughout the body. There's where a young biotech company called Bikanta comes in: the team has started to use fluorescent nanodiamonds -- basically a dust of crushed, imperfect diamonds -- to help ferret out those tiny, troublesome proto-tumors before they get a chance to spread.
Astronomers discover Earth-sized 'diamond' 900 light years away
The world's largest diamond, the Cullinan, is a tad over 3,100 carats uncut. Its estimated value is some $2 billion, and it only weighs about 1.37 pounds. That stone, while enormous relative to others like it, is but an invisible speck when up against the Earth-sized diamond discovered 900 light years from our planet. PSR J2222-0137, a pulsating companion to a white dwarf star located near the constellation Aquarius, has an incredibly low temperature of about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It's the coldest such object that astronomers have ever detected -- so cool, in fact, that it's likely composed of crystallized carbon, much like the diamonds we treasure so greatly. Ultimately, while an exciting development, it would take 10 lifetimes traveling at the speed of light to reach this interstellar discovery, so don't expect an influx of those coveted clear jewels anytime soon. [Image credit: B. Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF]
Physicists use diamonds to reach quantum teleportation breakthrough
Quantum teleportation promises a leap into the next great era of computing -- but first we've got to get it working consistently. Scientists at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft say they've managed to reliably teleport quantum info stored in one bit of diamond to another sitting three meters away (roughly 10 feet). Now, they want to go much farther.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: human diamonds, floating farm and a 13-year-old nuclear fusioneer
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Ever wish you could take a bite out of Kanye West? A new (possibly satirical) startup is taking meat alternatives to an absurd new level, with plans to make salami from animal meat and human tissue from celebrities. No word yet on what Kanye thinks of the venture. In other weird science news, a Swiss company says it is creating diamonds from cremated human remains. The company claims that its so-called memorial diamonds are almost indistinguishable from a typical diamond.
Rise and Shiny: Runes of Magic
I first played Runes of Magic a long time ago, as in years. In fact, I played it a bit during beta and right after release. I have a fond memory of being on a voice program with our very own Shawn Schuster and a few other podcasters and bloggers as we ran around playing. I named my character something to do with Slayer, or perhaps that was Shawn, and we had a pretty good time. It was, at the time, one of the higher-quality free-to-play titles out there. Since then the game has undergone many, many changes -- too many changes to recap here. If you really want a summary of the game over the past few years, check out our own Jeremy Stratton's former column, Lost Pages of Taborea. I had Jeremy join me for my last night of gameplay before writing this piece to help clear up some confusion I had about the game. And for some powerelveling. Oh yes, powerleveling.
The Soapbox: The hidden perils of Guild Wars 2's microtransactions
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. The ArenaNet post about microtransactions in Guild Wars 2 reveals that the "gems" currency will be bought with real money and be available for purchase with in-game gold in GW2. But people seem to have forgetten that Runes of Magic's cash shop operated this way three years ago. I've been playing RoM since closed beta, and the cash shop is one of the reasons RoM is so different from other F2P MMOs of its era. Frogster eventually removed the ability to buy diamonds with gold because of fraud, so I'm curious to see how ArenaNet handles that issue. My time in RoM has shown me that there are other issues involved here, issues of security, players gaming the system, botting, and pay-to-win debates. In other words, there's more at stake here than whether cash shops sell gear or items toward gaining power.
iPad 2 gets an $8 million Cretaceous makeover with dino bones, diamonds and gold
In case you weren't aware, Apple's sold a whole lot of iPad 2s, so aside from the couple of bezel color choices or adding a Smart Cover, there's not much you can do to make your tablet stand out from the crowd. Well, now there's another option for the well-heeled gadget lover. Stuart Hughes is back with another custom gadget for the economic elites called the iPad 2 Gold History Edition. It's got a solid gold backside, an Apple logo and home button crafted from a total of 65 flawless diamonds, plus a bezel crafted from Ammolite rock and slivers of thigh bone from a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Between all that ice and prehistoric bling, there won't be a problem picking this iPad out of a lineup. What is a problem (for most of us, anyway) is the price: eight million dollars. We dig the dino look and all, but that's an awfully hefty entrance fee -- we'd rather buy a stock slate and take a few dozen trips to the final frontier instead.
Vertu Constellation packs gaudy brilliance, and we don't mean the AMOLED
Vertu's first foray into the heady modern world of touchscreen phones has arrived, and it still looks KIRF-ably premium. But what's surprising is that the Constellation's feature ensemble is actually half-decent -- at least relative to its predecessors. Wearing an exclusive 3.5-inch AMOLED screen coated entirely in sapphire crystal, the Constellation completes the look with a "ceramic pillow" (we'd call it an 'earpiece') and a black alligator skin back cover. Last seen skulking around Bluetooth product listings, it's now back in the public spotlight with a confirmed eight megapixel camera, flanked by a twin LED flash and HSPA+ connections. There's no word on what OS this starlet is working with, though it's likely to be Symbian -- appropriate for all those oil barons, F1 drivers and other anachronistic rich types who can (send staff to) pick up their new Vertu from stores now.
EVE Evolved: EVE isn't the only game with PLEX
The past several years have seen a complete revolution in the online gaming market, and with it the MMO industry as we know it. An industry once dominated by monthly subscriptions is now rapidly giving way to games with free-to-play, freemium and hybrid payment models. EVE Online developer CCP Games has repeatedly expressed concern that EVE could go the way of the dinosaurs if it doesn't adapt its business model to this new market. While I'm forced to agree with the general sentiment behind that statement, I don't think the developers at CCP recognise just how far ahead of the curve they've been with their own business model since the introduction of the 30-day Pilot's License EXtension (PLEX). PLEX essentially allow players to pay for an EVE subscription with in-game ISK, and it provides a legitimate way for players to buy ISK in a way that doesn't harm the in-game economy. It's a clever system that undercuts illicit RMT business, generates additional revenue for the company, and has even been used for charity drives, but EVE isn't the only game to use the system. The success of PLEX in EVE has spurred several other MMOs to follow suit over the years, both in the subscription-based and free-to-play arenas. Runes of Magic, TERA, Star Trek Online and even World of Warcraft have borrowed a page from CCP's book in one way or another, and it's paying off for them big time. In this week's EVE Evolved, I put the PLEX system under the microscope to find out exactly what makes it tick, and I look at other MMOs implementing similar systems.
Star Trek Online dev blog clarifies free-to-play currency trades
Ever since Cryptic announced that Star Trek Online is going free to play, developers have published regular "Path to F2P" dev blogs discussing upcoming changes designed to restructure the game for its new payment scheme. In the latest dev blog in the series, STO Executive Producer Stephen D'Angelo looks at the in-game economy and how going free-to-play will affect the various currencies in use. Energy credits will be used for practically everything encountered in normal gameplay, functioning like gold in most fantasy MMOs. Players can expect to use energy credits every time they play, and receive them as rewards. Dilithium will be used by hardcore players to get high-end gear, but the average casual player will never need it in significant quantities. Cryptic points will be reserved for cash shop items like new ships, but Cryptic aims to let players trade their cryptic points to other players for dilithium. When the system goes live, players will be able to grind for dilithium in order to buy cash shop items without paying cash. At the same time, hardcore players will be able to short-cut the dilithium grind and quickly obtain high-end equipment with an injection of cryptic points. This system mirrors the diamond trade in Runes of Magic and the PLEX trade in EVE Online, both systems that have proven highly effective at allowing cash-rich players to shortcut grind and letting time-rich players play their way to everything the game has to offer.
Iced out 24-carat gold MacBook Pro proves diamonds are an Apple's best friend
Computer Choppers' latest luxury overhaul is about as Cribs-worthy a laptop as we've ever laid our hard-working eyes on. Just like this 24-carat stunner before it, the shiny setup gives something a little extra to that Apple logo, by way of Marilyn's favorite gems, but sets itself apart with the addition of a rather unexciting paisley pattern. If you're the type who flushes hundos, though, you can ditch the paisleys for your very own custom design. As is often the case with these things, the price isn't listed, but frankly, we'd hold out until they replace those black plastic chiclets with something fit for the Diamond Princess.%Gallery-136095%
Luxury Vertu Constellation T smartphone now packs post-feudal technology
Rich people in poor countries have had to make some terrible sacrifices when choosing a gem-encrusted handset. They've generally shopped at Vertu, the Nokia-owned go-to company for such ostentatious purchases, but its range of models has lacked even the most basic smartphone functionality. Now though, a Vertu Constellation T has cropped up at the Bluetooth SIG with distinctly forward-looking specs: a 3.5-inch 640 x 360 AMOLED touchscreen, eight megapixel shooter with twin LED flash, 32GB of onboard storage and an HSPA+ modem. You'll find some low-res pics after the break, but we fear they might not look expensive enough -- bear in mind that Vertu devices fetch an average of $7,000, rising to $27,000 for the ultimate provocation of the masses.
Lost Pages of Taborea: State of the economy
For months now, it's been no secret that Runes of Magic's economy has been out of whack. I've been sitting on this article, watching and waiting to see what would happen next. The assumption, of course, is that I think something will happen. I keep thinking that Runewaker, Frogster and RoM will align like stars to zap the economy back to its previous state, or that RoM's economy will act like a large, slowly deflating balloon, but nothing's happened for months. That's not to say the something that could happen will never happen. This period of severe inflation is a drop in the bucket compared to the life of the game. But what if the economy stays the way it is? I've stopped asking questions that pointed and started asking how this new economy makes sense. I don't think anything is more wrong with the economy now than it was before. Prices are higher, much higher, on everything. For some, that's enough of a problem, but is it a problem for the operation of RoM? In this week's Lost Pages of Taborea, follow me down the rabbit hole to see how the weird might actually be normal.
