[geeks] Carbon nanotube buckytape

[Phil Stracchino]

Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> Fri, 19 Aug 2005 @ 21:15 -0400, Phil Stracchino said:
>>Dave Fischer wrote:
>>>Stronger than steel by weight. So how strong is 30kg of steel
>>>stretched out to cover a sq. kilometer?
>>
>>I don't know ...  the article doesn't say how *much* stronger by weight.
> 
> There are two issues to consider in terms of strength:
> 
>     - carbon cables require less material

Because the're stronger, weight-for-weight...

>     - carbon cables reduce total strength needed as a result of #1

...Exactly.  So it's a double gain.

> Same basic problems for rockets: the rockets greatly outweigh what
> they lift because their propulsion is so inefficient.  That's another
> fascinating area of research.  What we need is not a rocket, but a
> space-propeller, we just don't know what to push against.

Actually ..... it's funny you should mention that right now....

> The most current research is on quantum vacuum and how it might be used.
> You still must provide the energy of course, but you no longer have to
> provide the reactive mass of a rocket.  

Yup, that's what I was about to mention.  The latest theories seem to
indicate that both inertial and gravitational mass are side-effects of
the quantum vacuum.  If this is correct, then if we can learn to
manipulate the quantum vacuum, it ought to be possible to produce a
reactionless -- and possibly, effectively inertialess as well -- drive.
 Something akin to the "KK Drive" of Alan Dean Foster's novels, except
that instead of creating an artificial gravity well in front of a ship
and falling into it, we could create an artificial peak in the quantum
vacuum behind the ship and fall away from it.


-- 
 Phil Stracchino       phil.stracchino at speakeasy.net
    Renaissance Man, Unix generalist, Perl hacker
 Mobile: 603-216-7037         Landline: 603-886-3518