Flawed Diamonds perfect for Quantum Memory

Scientists have found a way for diamond crystals to store quantum information.

Atoms are manipulated inside the diamonds so that they hold information long enough for quantum memory, encoding information in states that are both 0 and 1 at the same time, not the strings of 0s and 1s calculated by conventional computers.



flickr.com/Jennifer Dickert


The perfect diamonds for these are not from Harry Winston, Tiffany & Co., or the type to sell to buyers like World Jeweler. Flawed diamonds work best.

David Awschalom of University of California, Santa Barbara reports, “Oddly enough, perfection may not be the way to go. We want to build in defects.”

Nitrogen stands as one of the most common defects in diamonds, turning the stone yellow. When a nitrogen atom is next to an empty spot in the carbon crystal, the atom gives off an extra electron that moves into that spot. Several  years ago, scientists have learned that using microwave energy can change the spin of those extra electrons, and have put them to work as quantum bits, or qubits.

Awschalom discovered how to connect the electron spin to the spin of the nearest nitrogen’s nucleus, providing a more stable way to store information. Triggered by magnetic fields, this transfer happens very fast at about 100 nanoseconds.

Diamond memory works at room temperature. The electron spins within the diamond can be manipulated and measured by shining a laser light into the diamond. This could provide high potential for scientists to use diamonds for developing nanophotonic systems to move and store information in packets of light.

Quantum memory isn’t forever, but it does last for quite some time by quantum standards. The nuclear spin stays coherent, or stable, for a little more than a millisecond, with potential to last up to seconds.”

Sebastian Loth, physicist at IBM’s Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California, clarifies, “You can only do your quantum magic as long as you have coherence. If you have a lifetime of milliseconds, that lets you do millions of operations.”

Source: Science News

A Hollywood Icon and her Diamonds

Widely known for her Hollywood legacy and her love affairs, Elizabeth Taylor admits that her greatest love affair was with her jewelry.

“You can’t cry on a diamond’s shoulder, and diamonds won’t keep you warm at night, but they sure are fun when the sun shines,” Taylor once said about her collection.

Some key statement pieces of her diamond and jewelry collection include the Krupp diamond, the 69-carat Taylor-Burton diamond, La Peregrina Pearl, and the Taj Mahal Diamond.

She even marketed her love of jewelry into a brand, imbued notably in her classic “White Diamonds” fragrance, whose ad campaigns often had her draped in gems and diamonds.

In 2002, the actressed published “My Love Affair with Jewelry,” an oversized volume chronicling her prolific jewelry collection.

Additionally, some of her most regarded jewelry pieces come from her tumultuous marriages to Richard Burton, with whom she met on the set of “Cleopatra.”

The Taylor-Burton Diamond

They acquired the Krupp diamond, the Grand Duchess Vladimir Suite, the La Preregrina Pearl, and the massive Taylor-Butron Diamond, a 69-carat pear-shaped diamond. For Taylor’s 40^th birthday, Burton gifted her with the heart-shaped Taj Mahal diamond.

Some of her most treasured pieces were gifts from her ex-husband Mike Todd, who would lavish her with jewelry “just because.” Showman Mike Todd gave her a suite of Cartier diamonds and rubies just for swimming laps in a pool.

Taylor would deliberately wear her jewels uniquely. During the time she worked with hairstylist Alexandre de Paris, he would find ways of adorning jewelry into her hair, such as fastening a broach or weaving a string of pearls into an updo.

Later in her years, Taylor would often lend her jewelry to museums for exhibitions. “I am only their guardians.  Just like a painting, you can’t own jewelry,” she said.

 Dame Elizabeth Taylor passed away March 23, 2011, at the age of 79.

Steve Forbes to be named Keynote Speaker for GIA Symposium 2011

The Gemological Institue of America (GIA) has announced that Steve Forbes will be the Keynote Speaker for Symposium 2011: Advancing the Science and Business of Gems. Forbes is known for the renowned business franchise of the same name, as chairman of Forbes Media and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine.

The GIA Symposium 2011 is an international conference where gem industry business leaders and researchers gather to share insights and reports that impact the world gem and jewelry industry. All experts represent a wide range of disciplines, with talks spanning across different topics, such as: trends in consumer behavior, design trends, social media, luxury marketing, advances in gem treatments and technology; and the social, political, and ethical controversies around the production and distribution of diamonds and gems.

"We are extremely pleased to have Mr. Forbes serve as our keynote speaker," said Kathryn Kimmel, co-chair of the Symposium and GIA vice president and chief marketing officer. "He is a significant touch point in the global business landscape, which ideally positions him to address some of the most important business issues facing our industry today."

“Attendees will be challenged to think strategically and expand both the scope and geography of their business, which is necessary in today’s economic environment,” Kimmel added. “Forbes’ commitment to leadership and success, along with his global economic insight, are sure to leave a lasting impression.”

The GIA Symposium 2011 will be held at the Institute's world headquarters in Carlsbad on May 29 and May 30. This year will commemorate the 80th anniversary of GIA.

Source: GIA

Tiny Diamonds could be a new weapon against Cancer



Swamiblu / flickr.com

US researchers have reported that they can fight late-stage breast and liver cancer tumors by using tiny carbon particles known as nanodiamonds. These nanodiamonds work with potent chemotherapy drugs to shrink normally chemo-resistant tumors.

This is not the type of diamond adorned on jewelry and accessories. Without the nanodiamonds, the drug would be ineffective on the tumor or even be rejected by the body; or higher doses of it would be too powerful for the patient to survive.

"This is the first work to demonstrate the significance and translational potential of nanodiamonds in the treatment of chemotherapy-resistant cancers," explained the results of the study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Chemotherapy drug resistance results in treatment to fail in 90% of cancers that have spread inside the body, or metastatic cancer. The new research development shows promise to be used by humans in the future.

The lead author Dean Ho of Northwestern University reports that "What is most interesting from this study is when we took an even higher dose of the drug, the dose was so toxic that the animals all died. They didn't even last long enough to finish the study."

"But when we took the same higher dose and bound it to the nanodiamond, not only did all the animals survive the study, the tumor sizes were the smallest we saw in the study."

Nanodiamonds are usually formed in explosions, such as in coal mining or oil refinery operations, and may also have formed from meteorite landings.

"What is neat about it is it is almost like a waste material, it is going to be produced anyway," said Ho.

"So instead of throwing it out, taking this by product and simply processing it with things like acid washing, milling, sonification, it can yield very uniform particles of between two and eight nanometers in diameter."

Ho estimated that it would likely be a few more years before the therapy would go on the market; researchers would first have to look at how the technique works in larger animals before human clinical trials can start.

The Rare and Elegant Yellow Diamond of the Argyle Mines

Often white or clear diamonds are known to be more valuable but there has been a misconception about colored diamonds. To many people these diamonds are more valuable than the white diamonds because of the intense color. The Kimberly Octahedron, which is 616 carats, is considered one of the largest and most valuable colored diamonds in the world.

Kimberley Octahedron

Since these colored diamonds are very rare, many jewelers may never see one at all. In most cases yellow diamonds have been treated. Among 100 of the largest diamonds taken from a sample, thirty will be yellow, one will be a fancy yellow, and one will be treated.  

Among the largest and most rare colored diamonds, are those that originate from the Argyle Mine in Australia.

http://www.yellowdiamonds.co.uk/

Pink Diamond could be worth $15 million at auction

A purple-pink 10 carat diamond could fetch up to $15 million when it goes up for Magnificent Jewels auction in April 12.
The 10.09 Fancy Vivid cushion-cut is expected to be the highlight of the auction being held next month in New York.

Renowned fine art auctioneers Christie's have reported that prices for large pink diamonds have soared recently, with four pink diamonds going for over $1 million per carat since late 2009.

Increasing demand and rarity have driven prices,  making pink diamonds the most expensive colored diamonds currently on the market.

"Collector demand for large coloured diamonds have never been stronger, especially where pink diamonds of this size and quality are concerned," affirmed Rahul Kadakia, head of jewelry at Christie's in New York.

Christie's set a per-carat record in December 2009 for any diamond at auction when the Vivid Pink 5-carat cushion cut diaond sold for over $2.1 million per carat in Hong Kong.

The auction house disclosed that less than 10% of all pink diamonds mined weigh over .20 carats, and even fewer exhibited the deep purple-pink saturation and brilliance as the Fancy Vivid to be auctioned.

The 10.09 carat Fancy Vivid had an richer, deeper hue than a 6.89 carat Fancy Vivid purple-pink diamond that sold for $6.9 million in December. "I have never seen such vivid color in a stone of this size," said Kadakia.

There are only a few mines in the world that produce rough pink diamonds. According to Christie's, out of those stones that are cut an polished, only 1 in about 10 million diamonds have color pure enough to be graded Fancy Vivid.