# Key Points from IRC Discussion

• Participants discussed vacuum chamber construction for diamond-like carbon deposition on aluminum oxide, debating whether to fuse aluminum pieces or use a solid block, with plans to achieve 10^-4 torr vacuum using a two-pump system and methane plasma for chemical vapor deposition.

• A project involving laser sintering technology was mentioned, specifically using green fiber lasers (532nm wavelength) at 20-200W power, which offer better resolution and lower power requirements compared to infrared lasers.

• Molecular dynamics simulations in nanoengineer revealed stability issues where small diamond cubes would "explode" during simulations with random hydrogen atoms detaching, highlighting challenges in accurately modeling molecular behavior.

• The conversation addressed human genome sequencing costs ($3,000-10,000 depending on quality and coverage depth), with concerns that technology development has slowed due to corporate conflicts between Illumina and Life Technologies.

• Participants analyzed a cryptocurrency-based anonymous stock trading platform called TorBroker (accessible via Tor), discussing its security vulnerabilities and expressing skepticism about its claimed method of anonymizing trades by splitting orders across different legal entities.

• The discussion touched on programming education, distinguishing between learning programming languages (syntax) versus learning actual programming concepts (algorithms and implementation).