WEBVTT - TechStuff Plays with Carbon Nanotubes 0:00:02.480 --> 0:00:05.760 Get in touch with technologies with tech Stuff from hof 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:15.120 dot com. Hey there, everyone, and welcome to tech stuff. 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:19.919 This is Jonathan Strickland, Host extraordinaire, and I'm Lauren Boom. 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:26.200 I am still here. Yeah, she's host ordinaire. Oh not true. 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:30.640 She's just younger than I am. That's all. We're already 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:33.400 breaking out the young old. I have discussions about this 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:36.000 all this week. Everyone was like, the best part about 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:39.239 your new co host is how she somehow works in 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:43.839 the element that you are in fact old. Yes, that 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:45.639 is the best thing about her, Thank you so much. 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:50.640 Moving on to something that's not old, it's relatively new. 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:53.519 Do you like that? Yeah? That was That was a 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:56.080 good good transition when you point them out there, terrible 0:00:56.400 --> 0:01:00.760 anyway a plus making it bad. Thank you, car and nanotubes. 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:03.920 That's what we wanted to talk about. Yeah, and for 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:05.280 at first we thought that we would talk a little 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:08.400 bit about why carbon is cool because um so so 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:14.400 it's it's an element of incredibly uh popular element here 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:17.160 on the planet Earth and is way up there it is. 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:20.480 It is in fact the fourth most abundant element in 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:24.039 the universe by mass um, after hydrogen, helium and oxygen 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:27.679 and the second most abundant element in the human body. Yeah. Yeah, 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:31.760 we are what is known as carbon based life forms. Yeah. Um. 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:34.200 And all of this is made possible because carbon atoms 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:37.360 are these niffy little hexagons made with six electrons um. 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:43.400 They they bond very easily with one another. Actually, if 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:47.160 they bond in a lattice structure, which is a hexagonal structure, 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:49.200 you have a sheet of that. So you've got a 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:51.960 whole bunch of carbon atoms that are molecularly bonded to 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:55.279 one another in this hexagon pattern. Here in the South. 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:59.920 I like to call it chicken wire. Anyone who anyone 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:02.080 who lives in any sort of rural environment who has 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:05.160 seen chicken wire, that's kind of what a sheet of 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:08.600 these carbon atoms in molecular structure look like. We call 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:13.239 that sheet graphing. So let's say you've got this sheet 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:18.040 of graphing, which is essentially two dimensional, right, because adams 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:20.880 don't really have a lot of thickness to them, so 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:23.960 they are you're you're talking about with and length, you're 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:25.920 not talking about depth, And I mean that's you know, 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.840 one atom thick that's thin enough to call it two dimensional. Absolutely, 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.799 So you've got the sheet of graphing. Let's say, then 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:36.840 you roll the graphing into a I don't know, burrito 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:40.720 like structure. It's not necessarily going to be filled with 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:45.400 cheesy beanie goodness. You know, I kind of want a 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:48.880 carbon nano to burrito. Now. I am craving burritos like 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:52.080 you wouldn't believe. But but no, No, that's what we 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:54.200 call a carbon nanotube. You take that sheet of graphing, 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:57.720 this this hexagonal molecular structure of carbon, and this is 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:00.680 just carbon you and you roll it up and that's 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:03.079 a carbon nanotube. But you know, carbon is kind of 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:06.639 an amazing thing anyway, because carbon can take on so 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:09.600 many different forms, right right, yeah, I mean it's what 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:13.000 diamonds and graphite are both made of, and it's totally 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.240 different a little little bit. I mean, you know that's 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:18.000 you've got. You've got the hardest substance, the hardst natural 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:21.840 substance known on Earth, right, and then you've got what 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:25.320 you put in pencils essentially, So yeah, something soft enough 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:31.880 that paper is paper, paper is its match? Right yeah? Yeah. 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:35.680 So so this is something that we call allotropes. Now, 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:38.240 an allotrope. You know, you're like, what the heck is that? Well, 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:41.240 if you if you've studied chemistry, you know. So I 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:43.600 apologize to all the chemists out there who are screaming 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:46.040 at me because I'm assuming they don't know what an allotroples. 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:48.280 It's okay, I know. You know. Also, y'all can go 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:50.880 just get a soda for the next about So, an 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:55.080 allotrope is any of two or more physical forms in 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:58.360 which an element can exist. So you we have these 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:01.800 elements that can exist in different physical forms, and carbon 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:04.960 is a perfect example. Lauren was just pointing out diamond 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:08.760 versus versus a graph fite. So you've got these two 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:12.280 very different kinds of forms, but they're still the same 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:16.440 basic element. Uh well, carbon nanotubes are very similar in 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.239 that way. We'll talk a bit more about the different 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.440 properties that carbon nano tubes can have and why they 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:27.280 can have different properties, but we need to lead up 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:31.160 to that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well this entire carbon nanotube 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:36.600 business was discovered in by Sumio Ijima, I believe is 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:38.480 the way that you pronounce it. Um. Apologies to my 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:44.039 Japanese teacher. Um. Although research into into creating these sheets 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:47.600 of graphine stretches back into the nineteen fifties. Um. And 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:49.960 all of these are they're they're actually two processes for 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:53.040 making them. One of them I'm not extremely familiar with, 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:54.440 and it's written all the way down at the bottom 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:55.880 of my notes, So we're going to cover that one later. 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:59.920 That's a wet application. The general way of making card 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:03.359 nanotubes is a dry application, and you m thermally strip 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:10.440 carbon atoms off of carbon bearing compounds. Wow, that sounds complicated, 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:14.200 or at least violent and violent violent at an atomic level. 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:19.040 That is extremely violent. Yeah, and so this is well, 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:22.599 this is what produces these these extremely these atom thin 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:26.760 sheets UM that that you then roll into a tiny 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:29.200 tiny tube and by tiny tiny, I mean about a 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:32.880 nanimeter or two in diameter UM and just you know, 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:35.960 just to just to recover this nanimeter is one millionth 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:39.000 of a millimeter, so it's one billionth of a meter, 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:42.599 so it's small, right, And then you at least for 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:47.039 the longest time, uh, these these carbon nanotubes could be 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:51.280 at most about a millimeter long. Now that's changed recently, right, right, 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:54.040 But I mean even a millimeter long is pretty impressive 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:56.599 because that's that's a million times as long as it 0:05:56.680 --> 0:05:59.960 is why that's I mean, that aspect ratio is incredible. 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:01.840 I mean, it's one of the things that really made 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:06.200 carbon nanotubes a fascinating thing to look at, because you're thinking, 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:08.919 if you're looking at the dimensions, by one dimension, this 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:11.479 is incredibly tiny, and by the other, in comparison, it 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:15.200 is ginormous. I mean, think about the technical term. Think 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:18.640 if you saw a bus that was a million times 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:21.640 longer than it was wide or or or long cat. 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:24.000 If long CAT were so long that it were a 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:27.239 million times longer. Thank you, Thank you Lauren for bringing 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:32.080 it directly into analogy that is relatable to everybody. I 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.680 was going with the bus, What was I thinking? I 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:36.800 was mostly thinking I would not want to be behind 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:39.479 that bus. I bet they would make really wide right 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:42.200 terms like we're on we're on the internet. Okay, we 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.159 if we don't incorporate cats into the conversation, we're going 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:48.200 to be fired, right, We're lost. But anyway, Yes, this 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:52.359 is one of those amazing properties of of carbon nano tubes. 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.159 The other thing that I find really interesting is that 0:06:55.720 --> 0:07:00.679 carbon ano tubes will have very different proper these depending 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:05.200 upon how they are rolled, because it's mostly the direction 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:07.520 of the role. So it really is that how that 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:10.600 those hexagons I was talking about in the graphing, how 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:14.160 they are aligned in comparison to the actual role of 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:17.640 this sheet. Uh. And depending on how you do it, 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:21.360 it can behave like uh, like a metal, so a conductor, 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:24.520 so it will conduct electricity. But if you roll it 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:27.240 a different way, like at a slightly different angle. And 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:29.840 if you guys are having trouble visualizing this, just take 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:33.360 a sheet of paper and roll it along the short side, 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:35.600 or roll it along the long side, or roll it 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:38.400 along the diagonal. These are all the different kinds of 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:40.560 ways you can roll sheets of graphing, and you get 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:43.080 different properties. So you roll it one way, it acts 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:46.960 metallic like a conductor, so it's conducting electricity. You roll 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:50.040 it another way it acts like a semiconductor, which means 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:53.200 that in some situations it does conduct electricity and in 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:56.280 other situations it acts as an insulator. This gives it 0:07:56.400 --> 0:08:00.080 an incredible flexibility as far as applications are concerned. You 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.840 can use it in all sorts of electronic applications, which 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:06.120 we will get to in a little bit when Yeah, 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:07.960 and it also depends on what kind of you can 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:11.640 roll them. Into all kinds of different interesting shapes using 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:15.600 using an atomic force microscopes also called scanning force microscopes, 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.720 which are which are things that have these these tiny 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:21.040 bitty little nanimeter probes on the end of them, and 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:24.440 you can use them to basically poke around a nanotube 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:27.760 until it's the right shape, the right shape for your process. 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:30.720 This is pretty amazing. I mean, we're talking about manipulating 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:35.160 things that are just slightly larger than the atomic scale. 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:39.199 I mean, it's something that's really difficult to to visualize. Now, 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:42.199 there there are some neat ways of kind of getting 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:44.720 an idea of how precise we can be these days. 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:46.880 My favorite we've talked about it on the Tech Stuff 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:52.000 podcast in the past. My favorite illustration is that ibm 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:56.600 UH several years ago used a similar type of microscope 0:08:56.840 --> 0:09:01.839 to manipulate individual atoms to all out I B M 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:05.240 on a silicon wafer. That is a delightful. Yeah, so 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:07.520 you're talking about being able to when when we're able 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:11.680 to manipulate individual atoms, then obviously this is we've got 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:14.640 this level of precision that to me is mind boggling. 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:17.160 I mean it's really exciting. But some of the other 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:20.079 properties of carbon nanotubes is again depending upon the way 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:23.439 you you you roll these tubes, it can be an 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:29.480 incredibly strong material, stronger and lighter than say, steal, hundreds 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:33.120 of times stronger than steel. Yeah, according to to to 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:37.200 some Well, you know, here's the thing. There's a theoretical 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:42.079 limit to the tensile strength of carbon nanotubes, and then 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:47.680 there's the limit that we've actually seen. Right, And as 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:51.480 we get better about creating nanotubes than those two numbers 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:56.240 get closer together. Right, But in general, in the experimental phase, 0:09:56.360 --> 0:09:59.840 you might not see as incredible a display of strength 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:02.320 as you would expect when you start running the numbers 0:10:02.400 --> 0:10:06.760 via you know math. But for an example, you could 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:10.240 take a a cable that if you were to cut 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:12.760 the cable and look at and measure the diameter you're 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:16.600 talking about like a one millimeter diameter of this cable, 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:22.520 like nanotube of that size could hold approximately six thousand, 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:27.199 four or fourteen thousand pounds. And that's and and and 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:29.280 a millimeter, I mean, that's that's what like like about 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:32.240 the width of a human hair. Well, a millimeter would 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:35.600 be one millionth of a nano million times the size 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:39.680 of a nanometer. That really brings it into perspective that 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:43.080 I ruined my own joke. To be fair, I'm not 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:44.920 working on very much sleep, right, I think I think 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:46.600 a millimeter is about it's about the size of a 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:49.760 head of a pin. Actually hair, human hair is like 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:54.400 a few hundred thousand nanometers depending upon the person's hair, 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:59.520 because human hair comes in a but but yes, I mean, 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:02.640 the point being that you're talking about an incredibly thin 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:07.079 cable that could hold an amazing amount of weight considering 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:11.480 the dimensions of the cable. Now granted again, this is theoretical, 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:14.440 you know, when we talk about real carbon nanotubes and 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:17.360 the real experiences we've had, it's a little bit different 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:21.280 from that. But the potential there is to build certain 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:25.480 types of materials, certain types of products using this stuff 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:29.800 that can have fantastic properties. And uh that just to 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:33.320 be clear, we're saying stronger than steel. That's really mostly 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:38.199 tension strength when you're talking about um other types of impact. 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:44.040 Because carbon nanotubes are hollow, they can buckle. So let's 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:47.240 say that you have just somehow you have managed to 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:51.520 make one carbon nanotube that's you know, Lauren height, and 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:55.880 then you have a force impacting that along the side 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:58.600 of the carbon nanotube, so it's not pulling on the nanotube, 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:01.439 it's pushing against the side, right into the chewy center. 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:04.480 Right that chewy center might just buckle and the carbon 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:08.199 nanotube bends, and you think, well, that was But but 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:09.760 it's the same sort of thing, like saying the strength 0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:11.960 of a rope. The strength of the rope is how 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:16.120 much weight it can pull, not pushing against the rope, 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:17.480 but the middle of the middle of the rope, it 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:19.920 doesn't make any sense and it let's been pulled taut, 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:22.000 And that's a whole different version of physics that we 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:25.120 would need to get into right, right exactly. But but 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:27.280 that's one of the other things to keep in mind 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:30.560 is that even though it is an incredibly strong material 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:34.680 and theoretically one of the strongest materials we've encountered, uh, 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:38.839 that's only in specific use cases. It's not like you 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:41.840 would build a carbon nanotube wall and it would be 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:45.959 immune to everything else known to man, right, although I'm 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:48.360 sure there are ways you could do that, like maybe 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:50.480 with some sort of woven fabric made out of the 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:54.640 carbon nanotubes, but an individual carbonanitude, it's not the case 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:58.680 let's take a moment to thank our sponsor, and now 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:03.719 we'll return to our regular at least scheduled tech stuff podcasts. Alright, so, um, 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:06.400 so there are there are many many applications that these 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:09.400 nanotubes can be used for. Like, like we mentioned before, 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:13.560 their engineers are looking at incorporating them into building materials, 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:16.200 perhaps for vehicles. I mean, imagine if you had a 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:19.440 vehicle that was six times lighter than than the cars 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.000 that are running around today, right that and that. If 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:24.040 you're wondering why you would want a light car, one 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:26.240 reason is that it means that you don't have to 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:29.719 use as much fuel to push that car around. A 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:32.160 lighter car means less work for the engine to do. 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:34.520 If if the engine has to do less work, it 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:39.240 theoretically needs less fuel. So we could end up with 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:43.760 cars that are still gas powered but end up requiring 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:48.120 far less fuel have greater efficiency. Or we could of 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.680 course use it in other like hybrid cars and you 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:55.280 know you're again you're placing or even electric vehicles. Something 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:58.640 like this airplane or yeah, yeah, there's some great airplanes 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:01.520 would be fantastic because, as anyone has pointed out, if 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:04.920 you're talking about someone who's who's green conscious and they're 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:07.480 trying very hard to live a green friendly life. So 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:10.720 they basically need to avoid airplanes entirely. One flight on 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:13.079 a plane and you have just like you know, you're 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:17.320 essentially erasing any good you're doing your entire you know, 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:19.920 green life at home. And that's that's just a hard 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:25.360 reality of what it takes to move. Yeah, so that's 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:27.800 a great example. You actually pointed out something else. A 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:31.040 future use of this technology could be something that we 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:34.280 did an episode of tech Stuff about a few years ago. 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:38.160 Space elevators. Space elevators. Yeah, these are these are really 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:40.840 nifty things. If you guys have not heard of this, um, 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:43.200 you you should have by now, you're a bad tech 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:46.800 stuff listener. But that's okay, because you can fix that. 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:51.760 I still love you, Yes, yes, no, No, I just 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:55.360 I had to. I had to moderate a Facebook thread 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:57.680 the other day. I am being the social media here. 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:00.360 It has to work, So I'm if people are are 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:02.560 being jerks on Facebook, they I'm the one who has 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:05.880 to clean it up. So don't be jerks on Facebook, y'all. Um, 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:10.960 it's a very special episode of tech Stuff. But no 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:15.320 space elevator. No, well, I mean Okay, the point of 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:18.800 my story here, I've started to stutter. Excellent. Um, the 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:22.040 point of my of my story was that you shouldn't 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:24.520 be a jerk on Facebook. Now, No, I had a point. 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:26.240 My point, Well, let me let me let me at 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:29.000 least explain what space elevator is. How about that? Because 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:31.440 I'm dying, you're here, I can, I can at least 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:34.960 give it a shot. So let's say, let's let's say 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:39.320 you put an object into orbit, stationary orbit around the Earth. Okay, 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:42.480 so it has to be uh, it's the object is 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:45.640 sort of a counterweight, essentially, So you've got a counterweight 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.720 orbiting the Earth, and the thing connecting the counterweight to 0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:53.680 Earth is a very strong cable, and you use this 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:57.480 elevator which is essentially attached to the cable, to transport 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:01.360 in anything. Really, it could be people, although cargo would 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:03.240 be a lot easier than people, because with people you 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:05.440 gotta worry about, I don't know, keeping them alive and 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:09.800 stuff moving them. Yeah, I guess if we're moving dead people, 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.600 it's okay. So if we want to have a space 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:16.200 cemetery out there, I wouldn't mind that, except that I 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:19.480 actually plan on donating my body to science fiction. Uh 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:22.480 so the uh, the yeah, you have an elevator that 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:26.600 has this counterweight. Other, Okay, you're just that now I'm 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.400 with you. I'm with you, and keep going so the 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:32.160 elevator can travel up the cable. The the nice thing 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:34.440 about this is the based on this design, you might 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:38.280 be using things like lasers to actually power this elevator. Uh. 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:41.080 The elevator wouldn't have things on it like thrusters, like 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:43.800 rocket thrusters, the way we would with a a traditional 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:46.440 rocket ship to get stuff into space. It would mean 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:51.480 that it would take uh less energy in theory to 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:54.240 deliver payloads to utter space. And you wouldn't have to 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:59.680 worry about problems like uh, catastrophic failure when you're talking 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:04.200 about propellants that can be incredibly dangerous under the wrong conditions. 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:06.639 So and and also, I mean, just like we were saying, 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:09.399 if you if you take one airline flight, you're basically 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:11.440 erasing the entire good that you've done on your carbon 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:14.040 foot print all year. You know, the cost of launch 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:18.439 in terms of fuel and and just people and manpower 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:23.120 is is ten thousand dollars per pound. That's per kilogram. 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.879 That's a bunch. So you've got you've got this need 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:28.879 to find a cheaper way to get stuff into outer 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:31.479 space if in fact we want to do that thing 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:34.280 that which we do, I mean I do, yeah, because 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:38.720 there's lots of fascinating stuff out there. So space elevators 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:40.200 are a good way of doing that. But one of 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:42.320 the problems is that how do you create a cable 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:45.639 that's going to be strong enough and small enough to 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:49.280 make this a reality? And carbonana tubes might very well 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:52.560 be the way that we solve that problem. Now, for 0:17:52.600 --> 0:17:56.240 a long time everyone said, okay, well here's the barrier, 0:17:56.320 --> 0:18:00.960 the barriers that we've got this on obtainium. We've got this. Yeah, yeah, 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:03.400 we can make carbonano tubes, but there are a millimeter 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:05.920 long at most, and so we don't have to make 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:08.560 a whole bunch of them and tie the ends together 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:11.840 teeny little bows in order to make a big, long 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:16.000 one for the cable, but relatively ineffective. Yea. So we'll 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:19.480 get into some some new forms of manufacturer that have 0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:23.120 made that less of a problem. But even now we're 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:25.840 still talking about this is science fiction as far as 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:30.359 we're concerned. It's it's feasible, but not possible given our 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:34.000 technology right now, right now. But there are other applications 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:38.119 that we could use carbonanotubes and including things like, uh 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:42.680 like conductive plastics, So we can make electronics out of 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:47.240 plastic materials and run carbon ano tubes through the plastic, 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:51.760 creating them a conductive layer, so that you can actually 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:55.919 make products even smaller than they are today. So instead 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:59.560 of having a casing that is covering up the electronics, 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:01.560 the case would be part of the electronics. You could 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:05.359 have you know, a credit card, thin smartphone. Yeah, yeah, 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:07.600 that would that would turn More's law right on its 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:10.159 point he had. Yep, yep, there's some pretty neat stuff 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:13.040 that could potentially happen. We also could have things like 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:17.240 smart fabrics, so clothing that could have carbon nanotubes in 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:21.280 it that might do things like monitor conditions like it 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:24.520 could it could end up powering various sensors. This would 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:28.359 obviously be very important in uniforms like space suits or 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:32.239 first responders outfits for things like firefighters, things like that, 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:35.840 you know, things that that could benefit from this. But 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:39.400 even from a more consumer standpoint, we could even have 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:42.280 I don't know, like clothing that tells you how active 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:44.480 you are and whether or not you're getting enough exercise. 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:47.280 Don't even have to put on a speedometer a little 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:50.840 Nike fit wristband, right you, you'd be fine. You just 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:53.000 you know, you put on your clothing and that tells 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:56.440 you or it may say things like, for Heaven's sake, 0:19:56.560 --> 0:20:01.000 wash me. You know that that goes out to everyone 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:05.560 I went to college with. There other clothing applications. I mean, 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:08.520 maybe not so much for daily use, but but carbonanotubes 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:10.760 could be used to create some really terrific body armor. 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:13.879 Oh yeah, sure, yeah. Again, we're talking about the incredible strength, 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:16.800 and if it's woven the right way, you're talking about 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:21.440 something that could have a great applications for anyone who 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:24.760 might be in military or law enforcement to provide a 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:27.720 level of protection that is really, you know, unheard of 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:30.199 at this point. I mean, we've got some great technology 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:32.600 out there to keep people protected, but this would be 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:35.720 a step of a huge step above that, assuming that 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:37.760 we were able to, uh to find the right way 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:39.760 of weaving it. You know, part of the problem here 0:20:39.840 --> 0:20:43.320 is that we're talking about a material that's still a 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:47.640 little challenging to manufacture, especially in mass quantities. But there 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:54.159 have been improvements in carbon nano to manufacturing processes very recently. Yeah. Actually, um, 0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:56.479 we were, we were, and you know we're recording this 0:20:56.600 --> 0:21:00.280 in early January, UM two thousand thirteen. And act really 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:03.160 just today the Internet told me that, um that Rice 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:08.040 University has announced a macroscopic hundreds of meters long mass 0:21:08.119 --> 0:21:12.760 producible carnin carbon nanotube thread. Yeah. This is this is 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:16.560 incredible news because again, before we were talking about nanotubes 0:21:16.560 --> 0:21:19.080 that were a millimeter long, and that was considered huge. 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:24.360 Now we're talking hundreds of meters. That is such an 0:21:24.440 --> 0:21:27.560 enormous leap that it it boggles my mind. And it's 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:31.199 all through this this wet method that they used to 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:35.240 manufacture carbon nanotubes. Yeah, wet spinning method in which, um, 0:21:35.280 --> 0:21:37.199 and I'm sorry, I'm going to read this directly from 0:21:37.200 --> 0:21:39.239 my notes, which is probably a terrible thing to do, 0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:42.240 but in which clumps of nanotubes are dissolved in a 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:45.960 bath of some acid stuff squirted through small holes to 0:21:46.000 --> 0:21:49.400 create long strands, and then the strands are wound into 0:21:49.400 --> 0:21:52.639 a big spool until they dry out. That's pretty incredible. 0:21:52.640 --> 0:21:55.560 So really, the way I understand that is that we 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:59.240 have dissolved the carbon nanotubes until they're essentially a liquid. 0:21:59.680 --> 0:22:03.840 You put them into what is essentially a nozzle, you 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:07.200 squirted out in what is essentially like a giant icing 0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:10.440 thing where your favorite kind of cake, and you get 0:22:10.480 --> 0:22:14.360 this long string of carbon nanotube. That's exactly the way 0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:17.119 you want it to be until you get that you 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:18.879 spoil it up and there you got you got a 0:22:18.960 --> 0:22:22.200 hundreds hundreds of meters long carbon nanotube. Yeah, it's it's 0:22:22.200 --> 0:22:24.680 the thickness of a human hair. Um uh. And and 0:22:24.760 --> 0:22:27.080 not like I was saying earlier that you know, that's 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:30.960 that's big. That's a bunch of a bunch of space 0:22:31.440 --> 0:22:36.880 things measurements of stuff. Yeah, it's much much larger than say, 0:22:37.040 --> 0:22:39.359 you know, on a single carbon nanotube would normally be 0:22:39.560 --> 0:22:42.320 you know, I get one billionth of a of a 0:22:42.600 --> 0:22:46.359 meter in diameter. It's larger than that. Yes, And there 0:22:46.440 --> 0:22:48.600