Gemesis: 200 GHz Diamond CPU

[Floid]

You've got it backwards; see the article everyone presumably got this from:  http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html

The vapor-dep guys produce a flawless crystal, while the Russian-originated technique leaves some sort of detectable seed (but got running first, and ironically produces a 'rarer' rock -- since the process is presumably less efficient if the vapor dep scales as it's said to)...

Further amusingly, I just read a quote from Intel somewhere (removed from this context, and the vapor-dep group's tale of being shot down when pitching to same) to the effect of 'we've always been using silicon, semiconductors will always be based on silicon in the foreseeable future.'  I'll see if I can track that down.

[Floid]

Yep.  Ignore that 'just,' though, since I can't seem to track it down.  I could swear it popped up on one of Ars, TheReg, or TheInq within the past 6 months.