An elevator to space

[Jerome Scuggs]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...or_3&printer=1

werd.

[Rion.]

Interesting.

[wadi]

As the article says, this isn't exactly a new concept.

Nanotech is my field of research, so let me emphasize a few problems that have cropped up with building an elevator.

1.) carbon nanotubes can be grown in inches at the most right now. Inorder to create such a "nanotube rope" as the one described here you'd need to grow tubes in multi-meter or better yet multi-mile lengths, and my last scan of the journals would suggest that this is not yet possible.

2.) although very very strong as far as lengthwise pull strenght goes, carbon nanotubes aren't nearly as strong in corss sectional sheer strength. A high wind spread over as much surface area as the elevator would have could concievably bring the entire elevator crashing down as part of the middle twists and sheers off.

I have quite a bit of confidence that either good engineering, or better materials will make this project possible. Is it doable right now? No. might it be doable in 10 years? Maybe. 25 years? probably. It all depends on how much support people throw behind nanotech research.

[Jeansi]

I can perfectly imagine Osama's Boeing 747 flying right into the fucker.