Starglider wrote:The actual diamondoid analogue of reinforced concrete would probably be something like a single-walled nanotube mesh in a crystalline diamond matrix, possibly allowing you to exceed 30 MN/cm^2 compressive and 20 MN/cm^2 tensile at the same time. That's the kind of material the nanotech people I know like to talk about making. Obviously things like that are a pipe dream at the moment, but progress like this does raise the hope of making this kind of material much sooner than we would've otherwise (i.e. without needing nanoassembly technology first).
I understand there is a difference between compressive and tensile strength, and fracture toughness, which is why tanks are not made out of reinforced concrete; but the material described above sounds a lot better than any concrete. How would it rate as an armour? I ask because most science fiction tends to shy away from what the hardware is made out of; or else they invent crap like "tritanium" "adamantium" or "duranium".
Edit: From here. Next time read the dates dumbass.
B5B7 wrote:If DeBeers was capable of innovative thinking, then they would realize that a whole new industry is made possible by this - artistic design of new items of jewellery, and of course a whole stack of non-jewellery applications that can involve artistry.
That's what they need to get involved in to save their business.
But the problem is the DeBeers doesn't handle this side of the industry - the sightholders (buyers) do. So the buyer side might well come out doing very well if they can just shift their focus but DeBeers is the equivalent of OPEC facing new ubercheap energy X - the production side is screwed.
Jalinth72 wrote:
But the problem is the DeBeers doesn't handle this side of the industry - the sightholders (buyers) do. So the buyer side might well come out doing very well if they can just shift their focus but DeBeers is the equivalent of OPEC facing new ubercheap energy X - the production side is screwed.
Unless it diversifies into the new field by, say, building a manufacturing plant for artistic artificial diamonds?
Ultimately, when fighting progress the luddite always loses, no matter how much power he may wield.
JULY 20TH 1969 - The day the entire world was looking up
It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small. - NEIL ARMSTRONG, MISSION COMMANDER, APOLLO 11
Signature dedicated to the greatest achievement of mankind.
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I have no idea why my reply started a new thread. Perhaps I accidentally pressed "new topic" instead of "reply". With the two buttons side by side this is a fairly easy mistake to make. Although that doesn't explain where the thread title came from, as I didn't create it.
Somebody wrote:Edit: From here. Next time read the dates dumbass.
Sorry. I had read the forum rules regarding "thread necromancy", but I was unsure of what the cutoff point was for an "Old" thread. The one I responded two was just over a month old.
Nevertheless, if anyone is still willing to respond to my original question I am very much interested in hearing it.
Hmmm... There are now several companies making artificial diamond jewellery, apparently indistinguishable from mined diamonds - if anything the artificial ones have less flaws. These companies aren't really doing all that well; probably because part of the point of real jewels is that they are seriously expensive. If you are in a normal job, and so is your boyfriend, and your boyfriend proposes and offers you a 5-carat diamond - then you know it's factory made, and you won't be all that impressed.
I'm told that flawless rubies are now just about worthless; because they have been grown in industrial quantities for many years, and the size is unlimited. These days, a ruby has to have at least a slight flaw to be worth anything. The same applies to sapphires.
I bought my girlfriend a pair of lab grown ruby earrings recently and they're pretty amazing. They're easily the most impressive ruby jewelry I've ever seen and that's made even more impressive that I only spent a few hundred dollars on them.
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I'm told that flawless rubies are now just about worthless; because they have been grown in industrial quantities for many years, and the size is unlimited. These days, a ruby has to have at least a slight flaw to be worth anything. The same applies to sapphires.
You know what would be funny? If manufacturers figure out to replicate flaws.
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kinnison wrote:
I'm told that flawless rubies are now just about worthless; because they have been grown in industrial quantities for many years, and the size is unlimited. These days, a ruby has to have at least a slight flaw to be worth anything. The same applies to sapphires.
Ah, economics of luxury. Don't you just love them?
Luxury items often behave quite differently than usual, common things. When a luxury item becomes easily available, it loses all appeal: in other words, the same wine tastes better if the drinker believes it's a special kind of wine...
JULY 20TH 1969 - The day the entire world was looking up
It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small. - NEIL ARMSTRONG, MISSION COMMANDER, APOLLO 11
Signature dedicated to the greatest achievement of mankind.
MILDLY DERANGED PHYSICIST does not mind BREAKING the SOUND BARRIER, because it is INSURED. - Simon_Jester considering the problems of hypersonic flight for Team L.A.M.E.
Luxury items often behave quite differently than usual, common things. When a luxury item becomes easily available, it loses all appeal: in other words, the same wine tastes better if the drinker believes it's a special kind of wine...
You should see the Penn&Teller: Bullshit episode on bottled water. They are able to sell WATER at high prices.
But yeah, the wonderful world of pretence taste.
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Chat with me on Skype if you want to talk about writing, ideas or if you want a test-reader! PM for address.
kinnison wrote:
I'm told that flawless rubies are now just about worthless; because they have been grown in industrial quantities for many years, and the size is unlimited. These days, a ruby has to have at least a slight flaw to be worth anything. The same applies to sapphires.
Ah, economics of luxury. Don't you just love them?
Luxury items often behave quite differently than usual, common things. When a luxury item becomes easily available, it loses all appeal: in other words, the same wine tastes better if the drinker believes it's a special kind of wine...
Most luxury items are Giffen goods, yes. It doesn't taste better, you're buying them for the prestige value that being able to buy them gives you. I hear anecdotes in China of watchmakers selling watches for tens of thousands of bucks but getting less purchases then when they triple or quadruple the price.
kinnison wrote:Hmmm... There are now several companies making artificial diamond jewellery, apparently indistinguishable from mined diamonds - if anything the artificial ones have less flaws. These companies aren't really doing all that well; probably because part of the point of real jewels is that they are seriously expensive. If you are in a normal job, and so is your boyfriend, and your boyfriend proposes and offers you a 5-carat diamond - then you know it's factory made, and you won't be all that impressed.
I'm told that flawless rubies are now just about worthless; because they have been grown in industrial quantities for many years, and the size is unlimited. These days, a ruby has to have at least a slight flaw to be worth anything. The same applies to sapphires.
Do you have a source for these companies not doing well?
Because last I heard, the problem for artificial diamonds have been what you stated, clever marketing and tight supply control by the diamond cartel. However, there's plenty of counter-marketing tactics... nothing like knowing your expensive diamond goes to funding African warlords and their armies, right?
I recall in the late 1980s the game Shadowrun suggesting a carbon plasma could be applied to hand-held items, giving them a Diamond plating. A dy-kote blade could cut through steel with ease. (Helped if it was mono-edge)
Thus, I really wasn't surprised when the first Artifical Diamonds were created and sold. Nor was I surprised when DeBeers started pissing its' boots over them, and trying to make them seem 'unreal'. Diamond's a diamond to me, I'll take the created over dug-up any day. Why pay $$$$ for a diamond, when you can get a larger one for half price?
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Me: Nope, that's why I have you around to tell me.
Nitram: You -are- beautiful. Anyone tries to tell you otherwise kill them.
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You weren't surprised when they made artificial diamonds because Shadowrun had some ridiculous fluff text behind +1 swords? For me it was the whole pressure + carbon thing.
Stark wrote:You weren't surprised when they made artificial diamonds because Shadowrun had some ridiculous fluff text behind +1 swords?
It isn't ridiculous. The process is actually getting quite common now for parts that need a very high surface hardness, though it's still too expensive for most mass-produced products. Though yeah, it isn't normally a good idea to base your ideas about the future on RPG fluff.
Stark wrote:You weren't surprised when they made artificial diamonds because Shadowrun had some ridiculous fluff text behind +1 swords? For me it was the whole pressure + carbon thing.
You're never read how much of ShadowRun's 'fluff' is now ModernDay Reality in less than 20yrs, have you.
Nitram, slightly high on cough syrup: Do you know you're beautiful?
Me: Nope, that's why I have you around to tell me.
Nitram: You -are- beautiful. Anyone tries to tell you otherwise kill them.
"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" -- Leonard Nimoy, last Tweet
Synthetic diamonds were first produced in the 1950s. They were small and useful only for industrial purposes, but they were there and could be mass produced and it only required a little imagination after that to think of making bigger, sparklier diamonds or adding them to anything.
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Modax wrote:
I understand there is a difference between compressive and tensile strength, and fracture toughness, which is why tanks are not made out of reinforced concrete; but the material described above sounds a lot better than any concrete. How would it rate as an armour? I ask because most science fiction tends to shy away from what the hardware is made out of; or else they invent crap like "tritanium" "adamantium" or "duranium".
All and all reinforced concrete is shitty protection, it’s only used because its much cheaper then building structures completely out of steel (though many military bunkers are in fact based around steel tubes) and its more practical then enormous thicknesses of earth or sand. So it doesn’t really make sense to try to design a high tech armor as a facsimile of said reinforced concrete.
I really don’t know how such a material would work out, but its unlikely any armor based around diamonds would be able to stand up to high caliber gunfire without simply being shattered. It might have utility as part of a sandwich of other materials.
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Quick question: is there any gem out there that potentially could not be synthesized?
Gems that are made from living or formerly materials, maybe. You could make some plastic that would look like amber (or other fossil materials) or coral, but they would be made of different stuff. Making gemstones, which have a set chemical makeup and crystalline structure, is a lot easier than growing tortoiseshell in a protein vat.
DPDarkPrimus is my boyfriend!
SDNW4 Nation: The Refuge And, on Nova Terra, Al-Stan the Totally and Completely Honest and Legitimate Weapons Dealer and Used Starship Salesman slept on a bed made of money, with a blaster under his pillow and his sombrero pulled over his face. This is to say, he slept very well indeed.
For me it was the whole pressure + carbon thing.
