Today in material science news we have a report from [German Science Guy] about a new supermaterial which is as strong as steel and as light as Styrofoam! A supermaterial is a type of material that…
I remember an Arthur Clarke novel where a space ship needs water from the planet below. The easiest thing is to lower cables from space and then lift some ice bergs.
I get hints of a joke from your comment but I’m not certain, so I’ll mention that space elevators are currently impossible because the weight of the material to build it wouldn’t be able to support itself.
Carbon really is the closest thing to magic sci fi materials. It’s just so cool how strong it is and how versatile it could be. And to top it off it’s fucking everywhere so if we can figure out how to make things like this more effectively it wouldn’t even be that expensive.
There are actually multiple industrial applications of graphene now. Hell if you have a couple hundred dollars to burn you can buy it in a 3d printing filimant.
TLDR; its carbon based and same like other carbon based super materials its difficult to produce on large scale. at least for now
So, no space elevator in the next few months?
Not for us plebians
the real problem is we keep trying from the ground up
it’s going to win when we can lower it
I remember an Arthur Clarke novel where a space ship needs water from the planet below. The easiest thing is to lower cables from space and then lift some ice bergs.
I get hints of a joke from your comment but I’m not certain, so I’ll mention that space elevators are currently impossible because the weight of the material to build it wouldn’t be able to support itself.
Carbon really is the closest thing to magic sci fi materials. It’s just so cool how strong it is and how versatile it could be. And to top it off it’s fucking everywhere so if we can figure out how to make things like this more effectively it wouldn’t even be that expensive.
Graphene is the most amazing material, it can do anything you can imagine - except leave the lab.
Lol thanks
There are actually multiple industrial applications of graphene now. Hell if you have a couple hundred dollars to burn you can buy it in a 3d printing filimant.