Carbon Mesh Perfected!

[Ωbright]

Graphene – the perfect atomic lattice

A thin flake of ordinary carbon, just one atom thick, lies behind this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov have shown that carbon in such a flat form has exceptional properties that originate from the remarkable world of quantum physics.

Graphene is a form of carbon. As a material it is completely new – not only the thinnest ever but also the strongest. As a conductor of electricity it performs as well as copper. As a conductor of heat it outperforms all other known materials. It is almost completely transparent, yet so dense that not even helium, the smallest gas atom, can pass through it. Carbon, the basis of all known life on earth, has surprised us once again.

Space elevator, ho!

[The_Real_Crunk]

Re: Carbon Mesh Perfected!

Ill take one wolverine skeleton and/or an exoskeleton please. Thanks.

[Ωbright]

Re: Carbon Mesh Perfected!

I'll take one Wonder Woman jet.

[Ryner]

Re: Carbon Mesh Perfected!

I would just like a really warm set of clothes.

[Ωbright]

Re: Carbon Mesh Perfected!

Quantum condoms.

[Denmo]

Re: Carbon Mesh Perfected!

I would just like a really warm set of clothes.

[orius]

Re: Carbon Mesh Perfected!

Quantum condoms.

Amusingly the same thing came to my mind as well. The hell?

[Sejon]

Re: Carbon Mesh Perfected!

Oh man, if this means that space elevators are now even just a remote possibility...

Also I wonder if they'd play elevator music for the entire trip? Would drive every astronaut insane.

[Wavelength]

Re: Carbon Mesh Perfected!

And there's Obright with another awesome science find!

Oh man, if this means that space elevators are now even just a remote possibility...

The mere possibility thrills me as well. But I don't know... is the thickness of the fibres that important for a project like this? (Maybe it is; I don't know my particle physics that well ) Would it increase the tensile strength beyond that of, say, kevlar? Or are we looking more at nanotechnology applications here?

EDIT: We'd also finally be able to create those 2D bad guys from Eat Lead. And if that doesn't make everything worth it, I don't know what does.

Also I wonder if they'd play elevator music for the entire trip? Would drive every astronaut insane.

Muzak... IN SPAAAAAAACE! Hopefully they wouldn't ruin the trip up with MOR music! It'd be even worse than hours of the sweeping, ambient music they always play on those theme park attractions that try to masquerade as space-age!

[Ωbright]

Re: Carbon Mesh Perfected!

If I'm not mistaken, what they needed was a carbon nanotube, which is basically a seamless tube made of graphene. That fiber makes the basis of a thick cable made of hundreds of such fibers. The problem before was making the sheet. Now that that's been done, how much harder would it be to join a narrow strip to itself to form a tube?