61–70 of 255 posts
Since I discovered the availability of anvils on Amazon, I have always wondered about the economics of shipping them. Right now, I can order a 66lb "Happybuy" anvil for $153 with free prime shipping. One assumes that the $153 includes the cost of shipping it all the way from China in the first place. For comparison, a similarly sized anvil from a reputable local dealer costs $949 plus tax and shipping at the lowest r…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"a teaspoon of neutron star material would weigh around a billion tonnes." https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/n/neutron+star#:~:text=... .
It would be impossible to put neutron star material inside a cardboard box, and the original post was talking about possibility.
On the other end of the spectrum is lightweight, but bulky stuff. I sold things like this for a time, some time ago. Would get a fair amount of grief from customers who would use the simpler UPS/Fedex calculators on the weight only and complain that I padding shipping prices. But UPS and Fedex charge "dimensional weight" for these types of shipments, and you have to use a more complicated formula.
Pun of the day.
Semi related - a few months ago, while not fully sober, I was aimlessly browsing through Amazon and ended up owning a set of two 1.5inch cubes - one aluminium, one tungsten. It’s kind of a silly purchase considering it’s a lot of money for 2 metal cubes, but it’s honestly very impressive just how heavy that small cube is - both objectively, and when compared to the aluminium cube. Also makes for a great talking point…
When I heard that the crypto millionaires were buying Tungsten cubes for fun, I checked into the prices. Amazon lists a 1.5" cube (weighs 1 kg) at $199 and a 4" cube (that weighs 18.9 kg [0]) at $3499. There's no way I'm spending that, but I will admit to wanting to experience their density for myself. [0] free Prime shipping for the win
I was able to buy a 2" tungsten cube from Alibaba for $312 after shipping. It was cheaper than any (re)sellers I found on Amazon/eBay/webstores. It came out to 137% more tungsten for only 56% more cost. $39.00 per cubic inch versus $59.26 per cubic inch.
Having it next to an aluminum cube of the same size is fun.
An implosion-type nuclear weapon can compress matter to some multiple of the density of osmium. This isn't useful for USPS box packaging; I just think it's neat. edit: Also, inertial confinement fusion plasmas go up to about 1,000 g/cm³, https://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/5.0008231 ( "Unified first-principles equations of state of deuterium-tritium mixtures in the global inertial confinement fusion region" )
It would be remarkable, but I guess it's hard to imagine how that could work.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wish I was a millionaire. I could fulfil my wish of owning replica of IPK that is small cylinder of Platinum-Iridium weighting very very close to kilogram.
IPK?
I have a 115lb shipment of small metal parts that needs to be across the country before Wed. Both FedEx and UPS quoted me ~$750 to ship it in a 12"x8"x8" OSB box via 2-day shipping. Fedex one rate boxes have a weight limit of 50lbs. The small boxes are $31/ea to ship. I just finished breaking the shipment up into 3 parts. Heck, next day would be ~$300.
Airlines work the same way. 2x50 lb bags cost $30 each. One single 100lb bag has a $200 surcharge.
An implosion-type nuclear weapon can compress matter to some multiple of the density of osmium. This isn't useful for USPS box packaging; I just think it's neat. edit: Also, inertial confinement fusion plasmas go up to about 1,000 g/cm³, https://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/5.0008231 ( "Unified first-principles equations of state of deuterium-tritium mixtures in the global inertial confinement fusion region" )
Can this overcompressed material continue to exist at room temperature and pressure? It would be remarkable, but I guess it's hard to imagine how that could work.