Would you dress in diamond nanothreads? It's not as far-fetched as you might think. And you'll have a Brisbane-based carbon chemist and engineer to thank for it.
QUT's [Queensland University of Technology. ] Dr Haifei Zhan is leading a global effort to work out how many ways humanity can use a newly-invented material with enormous potential -- diamond nanothread (DNT).
First created by Pennsylvania State University last year, one-dimensional DNT is similar to carbon nanotubes, hollow cylindrical tubes 10,000 times smaller than human hair, stronger than steel -- but brittle.
"DNT, by comparison, is even thinner, incorporating kinks of hydrogen in the carbon's hollow structure, called Stone-Wale (SW) transformation defects, which I've discovered reduces brittleness and adds flexibility," said Dr Zhan, from QUT's School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering.
"That structure makes DNT a great candidate for a range of uses. It's possible DNT may become as ubiquitous a[s] plastic in the future, used in everything from clothing to cars.
(Score: 2, Touché) by angst_ridden_hipster on Thursday November 10 2016, @12:17AM
Yeah, because just doing things without bothering to think about possible consequences is the preferred approach.
Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
www.fogbound.net
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 10 2016, @06:33PM
Yeah. "with great power comes great responsibility". Especially multiplied by 7 billion of us.
More people including scientists should consider the long term consequences of their choices and actions. Rather than just doing things just because they can be done. For example scientists might research producing cheaper and easier ways for creating deadly infectious viruses. But perhaps they should consider whether the benefits in practice would outweigh the risks and impact.
Say somehow scientists came up with a cheap, portable and efficient mass to energy converter, each person might be able to destroy a significant part of the world. Just bypass the controls and convert a kilo of mass into energy. Most people wouldn't do that, but as the impact becomes greater you need fewer and fewer people to be willing to do such things.
Many things just don't need to be done yet or done at all. And given that time and resources are limited on this planet it's better that we waste less of that time and resources on obviously counter-productive stuff.