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Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything

physorg.com

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Re: Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything

#41

Post by sophacles »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #2

This seems like the kind of report they'd show as a flashback in a post-apocalyptic film :)

I'm going to start a pool. Buy in is $200 equivalent[1] per square. The board will be a 3 dimensional matrix, whose axis are:

1. The amount of time from now the collapse occurs. (most likely a logrithmic scale)

2. How far civilization falls, e.g. "back to the 19th century" or "back to the stone age"[2].

3. How "wierd" this makes the world, e.g. are there 40 degree temperature shifts in the afternoon in San Diego and warm beaches in Antarctica. Are there now hyper-intelligent wasps running the show. Do we discuss the "fragility of the fabric of space-time" much more frequently.. and so on.[3]

Finally, every "square" is actually in a state of superposition, based on the answer to the question "are there zombies[4] now" at the time of selection. Therefore if you are sure 10 days from now, early 16th century avg tech, wierd factor of .09, put in $400 worth of goods to catch the both zombies outcomes.

Winners will be chosen at the END of the collapse, before the rebuilding period. The winners will be given the location and secret combination to enter the cache. Transport and armed escort will not be provied by me or any other participant of this pool, (except by other arrangement out of scope of the pool) nor will any other form of survivability enhancement until reaching the cache.

[1] Entry fee must be in the form of non-perishable food, ammo, guns and other items traditionally considered valuable post-apocalypse

[2] Avg tech level does not include the fact that various warlords, mad scientists, intelligent creatures and other bad guys will have access to various tech remnants and caches... This is strictly about the level of technology and civilization available to the average person.

[3] Weirdness factor algorithm tbd, but it will be normalized on a 0-1 scale, with the current state of the US being .27.

[4] Zombies here includes both new and old style zombies, some forms of mutant, possibly mind-control victims, and certain types of insectoid horde. All other types of undead, mutants and creatures, as well as those with supernatural powers are actually just manifestations of the wierd factor (see [3]).

Re: Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything

#43

Post by dbrannan »

jbri wrote: post #25
yummyfajitas wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? Asbestos has been known to be harmful for a long time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos#History_of_health_conc...

Are you suggesting that the health risks of asbestos were known when it started to become widely used? If not, you missed the point of my comment.

There are like 100 forms of asbestos with 6 types being extremely harmful. The manufactures started using the cheapest of the materials (which are extremely difficult to tell apart).

http://www.asbestos.com/asbestos/types.php

Re: Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything

#44

Post by Vivtek »

jbri wrote: post #25
yummyfajitas wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? Asbestos has been known to be harmful for a long time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos#History_of_health_conc...

Are you suggesting that the health risks of asbestos were known when it started to become widely used? If not, you missed the point of my comment.

That is, in fact, what he's saying, although it wasn't definitively shown. But clearly it was known to be a carcinogen when they built my high school in the early 70's, and yet they were still using it as a standard insulation and fireproofing material. I have lots of asbestos tape in my house, too.

Lead paint, though - there's a good one. Everybody knew you shouldn't drink it, but nobody suspected the dust was a problem. (Although Japan had already banned it by the 20's, if I recall correctly, while America was still merrily painting everything in sight with toxins).

And of course, the Romans didn't even know you shouldn't drink it. Although the benefits lead plumbing in Rome due to widespread availability of clean water almost certainly outweighed the costs of some stupider Romans.

Re: Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything

#45

Post by yummyfajitas »

juiceandjuice wrote: post #32
ellyagg wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Society's track record is pretty good, then. Deaths attributable to asbestos are extremely rare in the scheme of things. Sensational headlines and ambulance chasing lawyers fool our primitive brain's broken probabilistic reasoning circuitry into making bad risk assessments. Given the overwhelming improvement in health and lifespan due to new material development and widespread use, I'd say we've been consistently mak…

Extremely rare compared to what? Compared to the entire population of the United States? Maybe. Compared to the population of those directly and continuously exposed? Not so much. We don't use that much asbestos anymore for a reason, and it's not because we found something better to replace it. I'm not advocating we abandon nanomaterial research by any means. I'm hoping that it's widespread use and adoption doesn't o…

Extremely rare compared to what? Compared to the entire population of the United States?

Compared to other health threats in the US. Before the 60's and 70's, Asbestosis was a minor concern except for people with occupational exposure (e.g. asbestos miners). Much bigger and more pressing issues were polio, malaria, measles, and the like.

Once we became rich and healthy enough to care about it, we dealt with it. It was hardly an unknown threat, just a minor one.

Re: Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything

#46

Post by malbs »

ellyagg wrote: post #26
jbri wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lack of understanding about possible adverse effects of asbestos worries me... Oh wait, it is actually pretty nasty stuff. Now, while the "20 years down the road" thing is a bit silly, a lack of understanding about potential adverse effects is a reason to investigate further, not to dismiss anyone who's cautious about it as paranoid.

Society's track record is pretty good, then. Deaths attributable to asbestos are extremely rare in the scheme of things. Sensational headlines and ambulance chasing lawyers fool our primitive brain's broken probabilistic reasoning circuitry into making bad risk assessments. Given the overwhelming improvement in health and lifespan due to new material development and widespread use, I'd say we've been consistently mak…

I guess you'd be happy to break up asbestos sheeting with no breathing apparatus then? Or participate in loose-fibre insulation removal, again with no protection? We'll check in with you in 20 years and see how you're going.

Re: Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything

#47

Post by bpd1069 »

webXL wrote: post #23

yawn... Get back to me when you have transparent aluminum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transparent_aluminium

"To create transparent aluminium, more power than is used by an entire city had to be focused into a dot with a diameter of less than one-twentieth the thickness of a human hair, and then could only maintain the transparent state for 40 femtoseconds."

And its only transparent to the X-rays that are needed to knock out the electron in the L-shell.

Re: Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything

#48

Post by leoc »

bobds wrote: post #16
Splines wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have no fear, consumer; it's breathable, so there's nothing to worry about.

How about applying a coating to your lungs? Then they can't get dirty from all the glass nanoparticles flying around.

Would you recommend Marlboro or Camels? :)

Re: Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything

#49

Post by lanstein »

leoc wrote: post #48
bobds wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about applying a coating to your lungs? Then they can't get dirty from all the glass nanoparticles flying around.

Would you recommend Marlboro or Camels? :)

Camels, obviously! More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette!

Re: Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything

#50

Post by pbhjpbhj »

tbrownaw wrote: post #36
yummyfajitas wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lack of understanding about possible cancerous effects of wifi worries me, especially with stuff like this and "cellular" phones. The lack of understanding about possible cancerous effects of CRT screens worries me, especially with stuff like this and "digital" displays. The lack of understanding about possible cancerous effects of GMO food worries me... The lack of understanding about possible cancerous effects…

Yup, it's probably no more dangerous than printer toner or asbestos or coal dust... Wifi is known to be safe; we understand what makes UV and higher frequency light dangerous, and know that radio frequencies are fine (ionizing vs non-ionizing). CRT screens I believe use leaded glass to block the xrays they'd otherwise bombard you with. I'd guess GMO foods are about as safe as anything else intentionally made poisonou…

>Yup, it's probably no more dangerous than printer toner or asbestos or coal dust...

I assume this was a tongue in cheek remark. The problem is that we contain these things whilst the article is anticipating covering virtually all contact surfaces with this spray. Which will probably be fine for 20 years or so and then we'll run out of serviceable lungs.

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