Elements - Carbon (C) - diamonds

Diamonds are not forever. They can be burned, and these days they can be mass-produced in a factory. So can your jeweller tell the difference between a natural and chemically identical "fake"? And can the new breed of cheap, pure, manmade rocks be put to novel, hi-tech uses, beyond drilling rocks and adorning the wealthy?
(Picture: Synthetic diamond lens; Credit: Element Six)

Published on Sunday, 20th July 2014.

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