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Graphene-Fed Silkworms Produce a Super-Strong Silk That Conducts Electricity

futurism.com

21–30 of 45 posts

Re: Graphene-Fed Silkworms Produce a Super-Strong Silk That Conducts Electricity

#21
post #8

Did you know that rubber conducts electricity ? Ok it's conductivity is 10^-14 s-m, but if faced with a kragagooogle volt of potential, it will conduct. Carbon fibre conducts rather better... which can be a worry if you are in a sail boat in a thunderstorm.. but to be a useful conductor we are looking for 10^6 s-m or better, better than, or close to copper. What does this stuff do? The article does not relate.

What is a kragagooogle ?

Re: Graphene-Fed Silkworms Produce a Super-Strong Silk That Conducts Electricity

#22
post #8

Did you know that rubber conducts electricity ? Ok it's conductivity is 10^-14 s-m, but if faced with a kragagooogle volt of potential, it will conduct. Carbon fibre conducts rather better... which can be a worry if you are in a sail boat in a thunderstorm.. but to be a useful conductor we are looking for 10^6 s-m or better, better than, or close to copper. What does this stuff do? The article does not relate.

What is a kragagooogle ?

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Re: Graphene-Fed Silkworms Produce a Super-Strong Silk That Conducts Electricity

#23
post #8

Did you know that rubber conducts electricity ? Ok it's conductivity is 10^-14 s-m, but if faced with a kragagooogle volt of potential, it will conduct. Carbon fibre conducts rather better... which can be a worry if you are in a sail boat in a thunderstorm.. but to be a useful conductor we are looking for 10^6 s-m or better, better than, or close to copper. What does this stuff do? The article does not relate.

What is a kragagooogle ?

[deleted]

Re: Graphene-Fed Silkworms Produce a Super-Strong Silk That Conducts Electricity

#24
post #8

Did you know that rubber conducts electricity ? Ok it's conductivity is 10^-14 s-m, but if faced with a kragagooogle volt of potential, it will conduct. Carbon fibre conducts rather better... which can be a worry if you are in a sail boat in a thunderstorm.. but to be a useful conductor we are looking for 10^6 s-m or better, better than, or close to copper. What does this stuff do? The article does not relate.

Also, there are various forms of conductive rubber available. Typically this is done by mixing carbon powder into the rubber.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conductive_elastomer

Re: Graphene-Fed Silkworms Produce a Super-Strong Silk That Conducts Electricity

#25
post #16
post #2

Use for a skyhook ? A skyhook is what? Dirt cheap way to mass into earth orbit. How? Put a weight on a string, attach the string at, maybe, the equator of earth, put the weight into orbit, and let the centrifugal force of the weight keep it in orbit and keep the string tight. Then to put mass into orbit, let it crawl up the string from electric power conducted from earth in the string. Main problem: Getting a suffici…

Main problem is more that there is no advantage to a skyhook if you're just putting things into orbit. Every kilo you lift with a skyhook pulls it down and it has to be used to de-orbit that mass, or lifted up by rockets or thrusters etc. Unlike an actual space elevator, or orbital ring, or launch loop, it doesn't hold itself at altitude. Also, there's really no need for the tether to be conducting. For one, you coul…

If there was a big counterweight out at the far end of the cable, and it was sufficiently long enough, wouldn't the centrifugal force acting on the weight counteract the kilos lifted?

Re: Graphene-Fed Silkworms Produce a Super-Strong Silk That Conducts Electricity

#26
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A skyhook is generally a space elevator that doesn't go all the way to the ground, and so doesn't have to be quite as precise about orbital velocity and the like.

I thought a skyhook was one of those things you send the apprentice kid to the stores for, like tartan pain, spirit level bubbles, long stands and a weight with no point? Maybe even a left handed screwdriver...

At scout camp we'd send the new kids down to the waterfront for 50 feet of shoreline.

Re: Graphene-Fed Silkworms Produce a Super-Strong Silk That Conducts Electricity

#27
post #8

Did you know that rubber conducts electricity ? Ok it's conductivity is 10^-14 s-m, but if faced with a kragagooogle volt of potential, it will conduct. Carbon fibre conducts rather better... which can be a worry if you are in a sail boat in a thunderstorm.. but to be a useful conductor we are looking for 10^6 s-m or better, better than, or close to copper. What does this stuff do? The article does not relate.

What is a kragagooogle ?

The only google results come back here, so I'm guessing it's a place holder word for "a lot", like a bajillion.

Re: Graphene-Fed Silkworms Produce a Super-Strong Silk That Conducts Electricity

#28
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Main problem is more that there is no advantage to a skyhook if you're just putting things into orbit. Every kilo you lift with a skyhook pulls it down and it has to be used to de-orbit that mass, or lifted up by rockets or thrusters etc. Unlike an actual space elevator, or orbital ring, or launch loop, it doesn't hold itself at altitude. Also, there's really no need for the tether to be conducting. For one, you coul…

If there was a big counterweight out at the far end of the cable, and it was sufficiently long enough, wouldn't the centrifugal force acting on the weight counteract the kilos lifted?

No, that doesn't work for anything less than a space elevator or the other devices I mentioned. A space elevator is tied down to the earth, and constantly trying to fly off into space. A skyhook is basically nothing more than a LEO satellite with a very, very long rope hanging off it. If you pull on the rope, you pull the satellite down since there is no centrifugal force besides the inertia keeping it in orbit.

If you make a very heavy counterweight, it just delays the inevitable pulling down, and its that much harder to get into orbit. There's no point.

Re: Graphene-Fed Silkworms Produce a Super-Strong Silk That Conducts Electricity

#29
post #8

Did you know that rubber conducts electricity ? Ok it's conductivity is 10^-14 s-m, but if faced with a kragagooogle volt of potential, it will conduct. Carbon fibre conducts rather better... which can be a worry if you are in a sail boat in a thunderstorm.. but to be a useful conductor we are looking for 10^6 s-m or better, better than, or close to copper. What does this stuff do? The article does not relate.

What is a kragagooogle ?

"kraga" appears to be a swedish word meaning "flange", so hopefully that clears things up.

Re: Graphene-Fed Silkworms Produce a Super-Strong Silk That Conducts Electricity

#30
post #16
post #2

Use for a skyhook ? A skyhook is what? Dirt cheap way to mass into earth orbit. How? Put a weight on a string, attach the string at, maybe, the equator of earth, put the weight into orbit, and let the centrifugal force of the weight keep it in orbit and keep the string tight. Then to put mass into orbit, let it crawl up the string from electric power conducted from earth in the string. Main problem: Getting a suffici…

Main problem is more that there is no advantage to a skyhook if you're just putting things into orbit. Every kilo you lift with a skyhook pulls it down and it has to be used to de-orbit that mass, or lifted up by rockets or thrusters etc. Unlike an actual space elevator, or orbital ring, or launch loop, it doesn't hold itself at altitude. Also, there's really no need for the tether to be conducting. For one, you coul…

I was being very simple. I used skyhook as informal and humorous and did not know that it had a technical meaning in this context. I was thinking more of what is commonly called a space elevator but did not look up the details, e.g., synchronous orbit or some such.

Really I was just commenting on the spider silk with carbon fibers that might add some of the needed strength and also permit sending power to whatever was crawling up the string of the elevator.

Again, I was just commenting on the OP and the fiber and not trying to get into space elevators in detail.

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