If a JVM could be used it will enable the use of many Java libraries, plus Scala, Clojure, and a bunch of other languages.
Clojure is my own preference, but it seems to me that in a sense the JVM may offer us 3 for the price of one.
The Scala community had some good experience with 'domain specific' optimization of code. They wrote code specifically for physics simulations using Scala, which ended up as fast as code written in C and sometimes even faster.
Ok, ok... I know most people think C is the upper limit for speed

May d 4s b wiz u
Michael