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posted by on Wednesday February 22 2017, @05:21AM   Printer-friendly
from the like-a-really-complicated-spider dept.

The "missing link" in Australia's carbon fibre capability, a wet spinning line (below), has been launched today in a ceremony at Waurn Ponds just outside Geelong. Carbon fibre combines high rigidity, tensile strength and chemical resistance with low weight and is used in aerospace, civil engineering, the military, cars, and also in competitive sports.

Only a handful of companies around the world can create carbon fibre, each using their own secret recipe. To join this elite club CSIRO and Deakin researchers had to crack the code. In doing so, using patented CSIRO technology, they've created what could be the next generation of carbon fibre that is stronger and of a higher quality.

[...] The wet spinning line machinery takes a sticky mix of precursor chemicals and turns it into five hundred individual strands of fibre, each thinner than a human hair. They're then wound onto a spool to create a tape and taken next door to the massive carbonisation ovens to create the finished carbon fibre. The CSIRO/ Deakin wet spinning line was custom built by an Italian company with input from the organisations' own researchers. The company liked the design so much it made another for its own factory and the the CSIRO/ Deakin machine has been described as "the Ferrari of wet spinning lines".


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @06:06AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @06:06AM (#470022)

    As far as I can tell, this is just a press release from the company in question quoted without edit. Its an ad. If you want to know how carbon fiber is made, check out wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fibers#Synthesis [wikipedia.org]

    • (Score: 2, Offtopic) by c0lo on Wednesday February 22 2017, @06:44AM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 22 2017, @06:44AM (#470032) Journal

      As far as I can tell, this is just a press release from the company....

      I see you can't tell far enough. CSIRO stands for Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and is "the federal government agency for scientific research in Australia." The very same that brought the WiFI technology [wikipedia.org] to you

      (Off topic: I know, I know, we Aussies are a bit of rednecks and have socialistic (or social-democratic) tendencies when measured with USian metre - you are metric, aren't you? No? [wikipedia.org] Well, that's quite... umm... progressive.
      Things like MediCare, a government science agency, a state owned public broadcasting corporation paid from taxes [wikipedia.org]. Also it is the Australian govt that owns the corporation tasked to build the National Broadband Network [wikipedia.org]. Weird things like that but, in our own backward way, we like them)

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @08:47AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @08:47AM (#470064)

        We are as metric as you, with your 240 mL "metric" cup. For example, the inch is defined in terms of the meter. It's exactly 0.0254 meters, just as a centimeter is exactly 0.01 meters. The significant figures are infinite.

        We have MediCare. We also have Medicaid and the VA. Unsurprisingly, most of us prefer the non-government options.

        We don't just have a government science agency. We have lots of them! We have NASA, the National Cancer Institute, the National Science Foundation... and so many more.

        The same goes for a state owned public broadcasting corporation paid from taxes. We have NPR, PBS, and Voice of America. Just the same as yours, they are all liberal propaganda nonsense, but at least we have commercial alternatives like Fox.

        We had something like the National Broadband Network, run by the National Science Foundation. This is how we created the Internet. We outgrew it.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @08:54AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @08:54AM (#470068)

          We are as metric as you, with your 240 mL "metric" cup.

          The cup I'm using is 0.768ml. No, when cooking, I'm not measuring the ingredients exactly, I go by the ear.

        • (Score: 2, Interesting) by MostCynical on Wednesday February 22 2017, @08:56AM

          by MostCynical (2589) on Wednesday February 22 2017, @08:56AM (#470070) Journal

          doesn't mean all public-funded organisations in all countries do, nor does it mean private is better, it just means , in some cases, yours suck. Unfortunately, many take this to mean ALL government funding is bad. Finland, Sweden, etc etc have excellent government funded education and health systems, so good that no one really bothers with private alternatives.
          Australia has let both health and education (and, alas, also scientific research) get worse (yay for "right win", economically 'conservative' ruling political parties), but they aren't at American levels.

          --
          "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
          • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday February 22 2017, @09:35AM

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 22 2017, @09:35AM (#470080) Journal

            but they aren't at American levels.

            Fortunately, the aren't.
            Unfortunately, they aren't yet but heading there (or worse... eg the usians allow home-schooling)

            --
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @11:27PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @11:27PM (#470512)

              What do you do about the middle of Australia then? There is lots of vast nothingness. Getting a full classroom of kids could mean commuting hundreds of miles.

              Do you not have any bad neighborhoods? Seriously, I don't believe that. Forcing a well-behaved smart kid to go to a bad school is child abuse.

              Homeschooling isn't all anti-science stuff. Here we have the ability to take tests to qualify for college credit. I had my 10-year-old do AP Chemistry last year. This year (age 11) she's doing AP Biology, and next year she's starting AP Physics and AP Calculus. This would not be available in a public school at that age; there is no way they would let her skip ahead by 4 years.

              You could gripe that homeschooling allows for more indoctrination by the parents, but the alternative is indoctrination by teachers. I suppose I may offend you: there are not 47 different genders, the teacher's union does not favor students, my kids should not write the statement of Islamic conversion/faith in Arabic, illegal aliens are inherently criminal and are usually not "undocumented" because they do identity theft... yeah maybe you agree with the SJW values being taught and you want that jammed down my kids throats, but I have every reason to oppose that. It sure would be nice if school would stick to the 3 Rs plus real science.

              • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday February 23 2017, @01:32AM

                by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 23 2017, @01:32AM (#470550) Journal

                What do you do about the middle of Australia then? There is lots of vast nothingness. Getting a full classroom of kids could mean commuting hundreds of miles.

                School of the Air [wikipedia.org] (you can Google the term for more details) then boarding schools at higher levels.

                --
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
              • (Score: 2) by lentilla on Thursday February 23 2017, @01:59AM

                by lentilla (1770) on Thursday February 23 2017, @01:59AM (#470559)

                What do you do about the middle of Australia then?

                Learn to the approved curriculum via correspondence, often via School of the Air [wikipedia.org].

                Forcing a well-behaved smart kid to go to a bad school [...]

                There are good schools, and not-quite-so-good schools, but I understand "bad" schools are a rarity. Since parents can't go school "shopping", if the school is crap, people have to make do with what they've got... which means they fix the issues and everyone benefits.

                Australian schools are ultimately answerable to a Department of Education which has outlined the framework for education of school-age children. This homogeneity means that all Australian children receive a similar educational experience. It also means that issues can't get stuck at an individual school level - parents always have recourse to a higher authority when issues aren't being resolved.

                (Of course, there are two other options if you really don't like the local school: move house into a different school catchment area, or send your children to a private school. If you run a cattle station in the middle of Australia and you have sufficient wealth, you can always pack them off to boarding school in the metropolis.)

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday February 22 2017, @09:09AM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 22 2017, @09:09AM (#470073) Journal

          Voice of America. Just the same as yours, they are all liberal propaganda nonsense

          Heh, what we call "liberal" [wikipedia.org] downunder is on the right spectrum of the politics. Centre-right but right alright. Since they can't govern by themselves, they are in a sorta perpetual alliance with the "national party" [wikipedia.org], which are righter then the liberals. So sometimes, govts of this extraction can take excursions a bit far from centre.

          On the left - labor party and the greens (which are lefter than the labor).

          In any case, the USian "liberal" views would be seen on the right of the political spectrum in Australia.
          The state-owned ABC has a show called "Planet America" - what happens there really has a whiff of outlandish for aussies, especially after you elected the orange one.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 3, Insightful) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Wednesday February 22 2017, @09:28AM

            by fido_dogstoyevsky (131) <axehandleNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Wednesday February 22 2017, @09:28AM (#470079)

            In any case, the USian "liberal" views would be seen on the right of the political spectrum in Australia.

            An American I know once said that one downside of visiting Oz is that at home he's a (small "l") liberal, whereas on this side of the pond he's a conservative.

            --
            It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
          • (Score: 2) by SunTzuWarmaster on Wednesday February 22 2017, @02:21PM

            by SunTzuWarmaster (3971) on Wednesday February 22 2017, @02:21PM (#470162)

            I shared a room at a conference with a Aus student for a week. He wrote a paper on AI for StarCraft, so he was pretty okay ;).

            During the week we debated politics and political structure significantly (30+ minute car ride each day). It really highlighted the different philosophies of the different cultures to me. A debate might go something like:
            "We in Aus believe that everyone should have access to the internet, regardless of economic conditions, geographic location, etc."
            "We in US believe that nothing is given to you, but that you should be free to buy the internet without discrimination in the marketplace."
            "But that would leave some people without the internet."
            "They will choose how to spend their money."
            "But what if they cannot afford it?"
            "They will probably choose to spend money on other things."
            "Everyone should have access to the internet."
            "What if they don't want it?"
            "Huh?"
            "There are people that do not want internet access."
            "Like who?"
            "Like the Amish, homesteaders, retirees, the technologically ignorant, those without computers, my parents."
            "Your parents?"
            "They worked long/hard and retired to a quiet mountain cabin. They hunt a good amount of their own food, split their own firewood, and draw water electrically from a well. Their leisure activities revolve around community, hiking, and the outdoors. They do not want internet in their home."
            "But all people should have internet. They need to be connected!"
            "They are connected with the post office, and can drive to town to get internet. More importantly...
            WHO ARE YOU TO SAY what the citizens should want? Should non-optionally pay for? Would you force people to buy a product they don't want, at the point of a gun? Would you additionally force them to subsidize others?"
            "But that's crazy! The Government can realize economies of scale in order to drive down cost and make it cheaper for everyone. Private businesses require profit, which is an inherent inefficiency in the system."
            "I agree. However, America is about CHOICE. The internet system evolved organically, with regulatory oversight. It is not perfect. However, it was funded 100% by people that wanted it and were willing to pay for it. That means that some people, such as early adopters, paid LOTS, while others, such as late adopters, paid LITTLE. This is inherently UNFAIR. However, every one of those people made a CHOICE, and personal freedom, if not efficiency or fairness or equality, was maximized. In America, we have decided to maximize personal freedom instead of efficiency in the services available to citizens."

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @02:43PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @02:43PM (#470178)

              Nice piece of fiction, you show promise.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @02:45PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @02:45PM (#470181)

              Nice dialog, but it's far from complete/correct. How come every car for sale in the USA now has a backup camera? My choice is to not have one (because I know how to look around before backing up) and I don't have that choice anymore.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @03:07PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @03:07PM (#470202)

              Seems like an authentic American, bringing guns into the discussion for no reason.

            • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday February 22 2017, @06:42PM

              by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday February 22 2017, @06:42PM (#470335)

              > we have decided to maximize personal freedom instead of efficiency in the services available to citizens

              Name one community which has always been on the wrong end of those lofty goals...