A Collection of Thoughts & Discoveries


Technology, Business, Giving, Etc.

  • “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” Ernest Hemmingway
  • “Judge each day not by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.” Robert Louis Stevenson
  • “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” Gandhi
  • “Noble deeds that are concealed are most esteemed.” Blaise Pascal
  • “A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” Ayn Rand
  • “If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.” John D. Rockefeller
  • “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” Thomas Jefferson
  • “Sense shines with a double luster when it is set in humility. An able yet humble man is a jewel worth a kingdom.” William Penn
  • “There is a great satisfaction in building good tools for other people to use.” Freeman Dyson
  • “You don't know what you can learn until you try to learn.” Ronald Coase
  • “Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.” Mark Twain
  • “Create more value than you capture.” Tim O'Reilly

Turn Number 2 Pencils into Diamonds?

Diamonds are nearly pure carbon, as is graphite. The two substances form in different crystal structure groups – diamonds in the cubic group, and graphite in the hexagonal group. Scientists have long dreamed of converting common graphite into diamond since the materials are so similar elementally as well as with regard to free energy and other factors. But alas, without the use of extreme heat and pressure (very costly and technically challenging), so far the task has proven unattainable.

This article in the M.I.T. Technology Review briefly explains some new research and why the task has been so difficult to achieve. It will likely be a while before you should forage through your drawers for all of your Dixon Ticonderogas and your new-found fortune.end of article icon

Posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 in Technology •

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