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UK researchers create graphene-based sieve that can remove salt from seawater

bbc.com

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Re: UK researchers create graphene-based sieve that can remove salt from seawater

#61

Post by Jach »

_coldfire wrote: post #60
Jach wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd question the 30-40 years figure. I suspect "it depends". Check out the book "Skunk Works" sometime and marvel at what they managed to do on the frontiers with such small numbers of people and crappy computers (with relatively small budgets and tight deadlines to boot). Peter Thiel riffs on this idea a lot. Despite our incredible advances in computing and networks, it seems like progress in everything else has slo…

Which of those two skyscrapers would you prefer to be inside during an earthquake?

Zhang's. They're built to withstand magnitude 9.0. https://www.wired.com/2012/09/broad-sustainable-building-ins... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/30/chinese-constr...

Re: UK researchers create graphene-based sieve that can remove salt from seawater

#62

Post by Animats »

M_Grey wrote: post #5

I swear I've heard about this before... is this one of those stories that emerges about a technology that never seems to enter the market? That "super slick" coating for condiment container interiors is another that springs to mind.

You can buy that as Rust-Oleum® NeverWet®. It works great at first, but it wears out fast. It works by creating a surface with tiny spikes. Water has so much surface tension that it rolls across the spikes, rather than breaking up and getting down to the base layer. So the contact area is tiny and the adhesion is low.

The surface is fragile, because it's composed of tiny spikes. Rubbing will destroy it. It's hard to fix this, because the property that makes it useful is the same as the one that makes it fragile.

Re: UK researchers create graphene-based sieve that can remove salt from seawater

#64

Post by desireco42 »

adrianratnapala wrote: post #56
desireco42 wrote: post #47

This is all fine, but if it isn't inert and if it 'leaks' graphene, it can be super toxic as well. I don't want to pu-pu it, but it is legitimate concern.

I didn't know that graphene was toxic. I should stop licking my pencils. And from what little chemistry I know, I though graphene oxide was rather inert.

:) You can continue licking your pencils.

Re: UK researchers create graphene-based sieve that can remove salt from seawater

#65

Post by edent »

desireco42 wrote: post #47

This is all fine, but if it isn't inert and if it 'leaks' graphene, it can be super toxic as well. I don't want to pu-pu it, but it is legitimate concern.

For future reference, the phrase is "to pooh-pooh" - see https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pooh-pooh

Re: UK researchers create graphene-based sieve that can remove salt from seawater

#66

Post by adrianN »

Jach wrote: post #61
_coldfire wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which of those two skyscrapers would you prefer to be inside during an earthquake?

Zhang's. They're built to withstand magnitude 9.0. https://www.wired.com/2012/09/broad-sustainable-building-ins... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/30/chinese-constr...

They might be designed to withstand magnitude 9.0, whether they actually are built that way is a different question.

Re: UK researchers create graphene-based sieve that can remove salt from seawater

#67

Post by Xophmeister »

This is somewhat OT, but I've noticed a trend -- although I can't say how recent -- of headlines of the form "British [X] do [Amazing Thing]", particularly (but not necessarily) from the BBC. I note that the HN headline has been changed to "UK researchers" (IIRC, it said "British Scientists" earlier) and this BBC article doesn't actually use this phrase in their headline, but it appears prominently in the tagline.

This may be because I'm restricted to English language articles, but I don't see, for example, "Spanish researchers do [Amazing Thing]". Even in English, I don't regularly see "US/Australian/NZ/Canadian/South African/etc. [X] do [Amazing Thing]"; even though I'm sure plenty of amazing things have been done by these folks.

I understand that the popular press is directed towards the masses, but is the nationality/allegiance of [X] really so important? More so than their discovery/invention/whatever? I'm British and, in a time when populist nationalism is causing all kinds of problems, I'm not sure this rhetoric is helpful. Just be proud of the achievement.

How about just: "[Amazing Thing]"?

Or, if you want to associate it with people, to make it more personal and less "stark" (perhaps to sell it better): "Humanity achieves [Amazing Thing]".

Re: UK researchers create graphene-based sieve that can remove salt from seawater

#68

Post by martinald »

Xophmeister wrote: post #67

This is somewhat OT, but I've noticed a trend -- although I can't say how recent -- of headlines of the form "British [X] do [Amazing Thing]", particularly (but not necessarily) from the BBC. I note that the HN headline has been changed to "UK researchers" (IIRC, it said "British Scientists" earlier) and this BBC article doesn't actually use this phrase in their headline, but it appears prominently in the tagline. Th…

Is this a different headline on BBC.com? On BBC.co.uk the headline is what you say, [amazing thing?]

Re: UK researchers create graphene-based sieve that can remove salt from seawater

#69

Post by louhike »

martinald wrote: post #68
Xophmeister wrote: post #67

This is somewhat OT, but I've noticed a trend -- although I can't say how recent -- of headlines of the form "British [X] do [Amazing Thing]", particularly (but not necessarily) from the BBC. I note that the HN headline has been changed to "UK researchers" (IIRC, it said "British Scientists" earlier) and this BBC article doesn't actually use this phrase in their headline, but it appears prominently in the tagline. Th…

Is this a different headline on BBC.com? On BBC.co.uk the headline is what you say, [amazing thing?]

Yes, it is [amazing thing?] on bbc.com. But the point might be that the HN title should the same than the BBC one.

Re: UK researchers create graphene-based sieve that can remove salt from seawater

#70

Post by olalonde »

Xophmeister wrote: post #67

This is somewhat OT, but I've noticed a trend -- although I can't say how recent -- of headlines of the form "British [X] do [Amazing Thing]", particularly (but not necessarily) from the BBC. I note that the HN headline has been changed to "UK researchers" (IIRC, it said "British Scientists" earlier) and this BBC article doesn't actually use this phrase in their headline, but it appears prominently in the tagline. Th…

I'm not seeing "British" anywhere in the article though it does say "UK-based team". I agree that highlighting the nationalities or country of residence of researchers is distracting at best and that your comment is OT for HN.
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