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Snails' teeth beats spider silk as nature's strongest material (2015)

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Snails' teeth beats spider silk as nature's strongest material (2015)

#151

Post by nvader »

eYrKEC2 wrote: post #91
RajT88 wrote: post #3

> 3,300 one-pound bags of sugar Ah, but how many one pound bags of concrete could it hold?? Why bags of anything? This is a poor way of communicating weight. Just say "a modern passenger car".

The crazy thing is that it is also equivalent to 33,000 0.1 pound bags of sugar.

I think we're still in the right ballpark bit we're headed for the exits.

.1 lb sugar is 1.6 oz (net), and we'll need to wrap it in paper. I estimate about .5 of an ounce? So we're spending approximately 10% of the weight in packaging. Our nominal 33000 pounds of sugar just got 10% heavier.

At least we haven't resorted to those little sugar packets, which would be colossally worse!

Re: Snails' teeth beats spider silk as nature's strongest material (2015)

#153

Post by latexr »

sashank_1509 wrote: post #133
latexr wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I heard about that when it happened, but hadn’t realised it took nine years with a coma, paralysis, and seizures. It must’ve been horrifying for everyone involved, including the mates who dared him. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/teen-paralysed-even...

Touchy subject and Im not commenting on this specific case that I have no idea about, but for this class of cases (ruptured spine, paralysis, coma) MAID seems better than prolonging life, especially if there’s no hope for full healthy recovery.

Perhaps they considered it, laws pertaining to it seem to be quite recent in Australia.

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

Re: Snails' teeth beats spider silk as nature's strongest material (2015)

#155

Post by Razengan »

benoau wrote: post #128
ziofill wrote: post #24

> Thats’s comparable to a single strand of spaghetti holding up about 3,300 one-pound bags of sugar What an odd example. A mid-sized car would have been much clearer.

Or a lift full of people.

American people or Asian people?

Re: Snails' teeth beats spider silk as nature's strongest material (2015)

#156

Post by saberience »

ninalanyon wrote: post #102
saberience wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do they? I don't recall ever seeing a bag of sugar in my life. I'm not a baker though so maybe that explains it. A car is more easier to picture for me.

You must be from the US.

I'm from Europe, I never buy sugar, why would I? I don't want more sugar in my diet.

Re: Snails' teeth beats spider silk as nature's strongest material (2015)

#157

Post by nodoodles »

Razengan wrote: post #155
benoau wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or a lift full of people.

American people or Asian people?

If the lift is geometrically full of the (perhaps blended) mass of people, and race-dependent density is roughly similar, does it matter?

Re: Snails' teeth beats spider silk as nature's strongest material (2015)

#158

Post by naruhodo »

sph wrote: post #92
IshKebab wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 3,300 one-pound bags of sugar Woah that must weigh almost 3,301 pounds!

No, it’s 3,300 £1 bags of sugar, with undefined weight

Who's your sugar guy? I can get you a deal...

Re: Snails' teeth beats spider silk as nature's strongest material (2015)

#159

Post by B1FF_PSUVM »

yallpendantools wrote: post #142
necovek wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I am totally with you on the bags of sugar, I am also unsure of the significance of a single thread of spaghetti! Is that by weight? By volume? Are we comparing uncooked (brittle) or cooked (flexible)? Even so, spaghetti strand is not known for strength or tension resistance even when considering the weight/size/volume. I can't at all understand what this comparison is meant to visualize for me, so it is obviou…

> Is that by weight? By volume? It's holding up 3300 pounds . Pounds is a unit of weight. > Even so, spaghetti strand is not known for strength or tension resistance even when considering the weight/size/volume. That's...kinda the point? We have something we don't give two thoughts about (slug tooth) comparable in scale to something not known for strength or tension resistance (spaghetti) holding up to something gino…

> imagine the possibilities!

Space elevator?

Does a 35,786 km "strand of [slug-tooth] spaghetti" hold its own weight?

Re: Snails' teeth beats spider silk as nature's strongest material (2015)

#160

Post by B1FF_PSUVM »

saberience wrote: post #156
ninalanyon wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must be from the US.

I'm from Europe, I never buy sugar, why would I? I don't want more sugar in my diet.

Not Mary Berry, then. Or anyone else who ever baked a cake. Or cooked, really.

I hate sugar in food, but some recipes use sugar to balance acidity (e.g. tomato ketchup).

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