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Atom-Thick Balloon Inflated
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Fri Aug 08, 2008 03:13 PM
from the only-a-little-hot-air dept.
from the only-a-little-hot-air dept.
Anonymous Cow writes "Researchers have inflated gas-filled balloons of graphene, the atom-thick carbon material being used to make super-small transistors. Apart from giving them a valid claim to be in the Guinness Book of Records, it could apparently be handy for weighing microscopic objects. 'The sheets were used to seal microscopic wells made in a layer of silica glass, forming a kind of drum head. The membranes were held in place only by the van der Waals forces that make things sticky at microscopic scales. The wells varied from 1 to 100 square micrometers in area and 250 nanometers to 3 micrometers deep.'"
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Submission: Atom-thick balloon inflated by Anonymous Coward
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Great! (Score:5, Funny)
Just Friggin Great!
Now my kid's going to want one of THESE tied to her wrist!
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(((pop))) (Score:4, Funny)
This will immediately lead to a companion record for the world's quietest popping sound when one of them has a weak point.
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I think they've just upped the ante... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I think they've just upped the ante... (Score:5, Funny)
At last, life-size balloon bacteria!
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Or the world's smallest water balloon splash.
consumer uses (Score:5, Insightful)
this will be the thinnest condom ever!
Re:consumer uses (Score:4, Insightful)
this will be the thinnest condom ever!
That's not as daft as you might think, for many people the stated reason for not using condoms is lack of sensitivity caused by their thickness.
Were there a way to reduce thickness to this extent, there would be a huge amount of money to be made.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Were there a way to reduce thickness to this extent, there would be a huge amount of money to be made.
In lawsuits when they break. One atom thick? That's makes for some pretty sharp edges of busted condom to have in sensitive places for both parties.
Re:consumer uses (Score:4, Informative)
At that level I think you'll find that connection strength is somewhat strong.
Parent
Re:consumer uses (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:consumer uses (Score:5, Funny)
What! Who let the physicists in?
Listen you, this is the internets, we can't be dealing with your smug 'fundamental laws of the universe' stuff.
If it don't explode, or have boobies, it ain't interesting, YOU GOT THAT!!!!!
Parent
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Re:consumer uses (Score:5, Funny)
I was going to construct an elegant and incisive rebuttal to your comment, but your use of the term 'graphene monolayer' confused me, and I find myself resorting to a response of lower intellectual calibre.
To whit
"So's your face"
I am reliably informed that this always works, therefore I win..
Parent
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Soft silicon is often used for sex toys, and when very clean and dry they are also very sticky. As soon as you add a few drops of lubricant, that stickiness vanishes. I'd imagine that it would be the same with a graphene condom. Van der Waals forces don't have much range, so a few microns layering of Glycerin should make that a none issue.
Is there any reason why van der Waals forces would be any strong f
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm not a physicist or whatever engineer that deals with sharp edges of materials, but doesn't the material have to be hard (or have some other property) in order to pose a risk for cutting. For example when a piece of latex, the edges of broken part would be "sharp" (very thin) but since the material is flimsy it would bend before causing damage to other materials. I guess my point is there is a different between thin and sharp.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
You are right. There is difference between thin and sharp, at least in the context you are putting it in. In Geology it would not matter how thin the edge is of a rock. If it was lower on the Moh's scale than the other material, it would not cut it.
As for the poster that mentioned paper, well the edge of piece of paper is probably harder than human skin.
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And thanks to the current thread subject, I just got the horrible thought of a long paper cut on my glans penis. Ouch!
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That's not as daft as you might think, for many people the stated reason for not using condoms is lack of sensitivity caused by their thickness.
Were there a way to reduce thickness to this extent, there would be a huge amount of money to be made.
You're 100% right & I knew that as I posted- it's a common topic with me & gf since she (understandably) isn't too cool with hormone-based contraceptives.
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For many women, it helps regulate what can be a very erratic menstrual cycle. Some women also experience a lightening of the cycle because the pill evens out their hormones. At the time, it was also by far the most effective method of birth control, as the proper use of the pill is much more common than proper use of condoms and even when it's not quite properly used, it's still much more effective than no condom at all.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I never quite understood how "the pill" got so popular to begin with. Messing with your hormones is not a good idea. When so many other good methods exist, it's a miracle that women actually want to take medication, and mess with their bodies, to prevent having kids.
All methods have their issues:
IUDs- near impossible to convince a doctor to give you unless you are married and have had children already (chance of damaging the uterus)
Tubal ligation- Most doctors will not perform on a nulparous woman. Expensive.
Diaphragms/caps/sponges- difficult to insert, messy (some require lots of spermicide), lack of spontaneity, not as effective as IUDs and hormonal BC
Condoms- perceived loss of sensation, sometimes ill-fitting, chance of breakage, sensitivities to ingredient
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Of course if you don't want pills because you don't think they're safe, then IMHO it does not make much sense to want an IUD if doctors don't think they're safe enough for you...
Of course there can be other reasons for not wanting pills than just "safety", in which case above does not apply.
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First, the Pill really hit it's stride in the late 60's when it seemed like chemistry had the answers to most of life's ills.* Doctors were prescribing incredible numbers of new medications for problems that used to be considered part of life's burdens. Stressed out trying to keep
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Of course, abstaining from sex is an ideal solution.
No it's not, it's far from ideal. Abstaining from sex completely has a lot of side effects, including reduced pleasure in life, which can lead to higher stress levels or reduced happiness. Also it can lead to difficulties in having a healthy, stable relationship, which again can have negative social and emotional effects.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
One common technique is called the "Scotch tape method," in which a piece of tape is used to peel graphene flakes off of a chunk of graphite, which is essentially a stack of graphene sheets
not sure how to make that into a functioning prophylactic, but the methods and materials to make graphene are readily available.
Re:consumer uses (Score:5, Funny)
1 to 100 square micrometers in area and 250 nanometers to 3 micrometers deep
I'm sure it'll be perfect for you.
Parent
...sticky at microscopic scales (Score:4, Funny)
Your girlfriend is skeptical you were ever wearing an "atom-thick condom" to begin with.
Dora the explorer! (Score:2, Funny)
using sticky tape to peel layers from a chunk of graphite.
The author must have small kids, or eclectic tastes in television shows.
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Wait a minute (Score:2, Insightful)
Ok, the membrane is one atom thick. Now said membrane is holding in a gas of atoms. Since atoms are mostly empty space, why doesn't the gas atoms pass through the membrane?
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Re:Wait a minute (Score:5, Informative)
Think of it this way: a lawnmower is mostly empty space. Care to stick your hand in one?
In the Bohr model you can think of it as the electrons zipping around and eventually coming within the zone populated by the electrons in membrane. Remember, the electron has an area of influence considerably bigger than the electron itself. And the entire outer surface of an atom/molecule is coated with electrons in a cloud much larger than the n, so the net effect is of a negative charge (unless some electrons are missing, in which case you get chemical reactions). Those negative charges repel.
What's actually going on is much weirder and more complex; the electron is kind of "smeared out" rather than zipping from place to place. But you get the gist.
Parent
Bubble Wrap (Score:5, Funny)
This is great, we now have the capacity to create bubble wrap, suitable for packing/protecting nanobots.
Awesome stuff folks.
Impemeable to gases (Score:5, Informative)
The linked article claims the graphene is impermeable to gases, but didn't say exactly which gases. This article says that even the smallest gases can't get through, not even helium: http://www.photonics.com/content/news/2008/August/8/92805.aspx [photonics.com]
The Hydrogen economy crowd will love this (Score:2)
So as I understand it, one of the big issues with hydrogen as a fuel is that it leaks really easily...
So we line the tank with this stuff and the H2 gas won't escape anywhere except the valve.
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I'm curious how hydrogen bonding would work with this. Graphene honeycomb materials may even be able to improve the density of compressed hydrogen, which would get us past one of the hurdles of using hydrogen gas. Of course, you also have to have a technique to release the gas, too.
Richard Branson (Score:2, Funny)
now- make me a balloon that is a single molecule.. (Score:2)
and suck out all the air (vaccuum) it should lift better than ANYTHING
-- imagine not the lifting power of helium or hydrogen, but the lifting power of vaccuum...
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...............
As it's quitting time, I really don't feel like explaining how very wrong that is. I'm sure someone else will.
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What temperature did they do this at? (Score:2)
What would make these more useful would be ... (Score:2)
... how much water [wikipedia.org] you can get into one of them.
ULTIMATE Solar Sail material? (Score:4, Interesting)
Am I the only one to instantly think upon seeing this article that this may be the perfect Solar Sail material? IF they can make this on a LARGE scale (meters or kilometers square), it has got to have close to the lowest weight to surface area ratio of any possible material. Even if it is not reflective ("carbon black"?), it would still work by adsorbing photons (it would still gain momentum). Heating may be a problem but it should also radiate heat equally well.
Micrometeorites and high energy particles would surely put many nano-micro sized holes in it but that should only decrease the efficiency slightly. The overall structure should stay intact even with many many holes because of the immense tensile strength; the article said it could handle several atmosphere's of pressure.
So could this be the ultimate solar sail material (perhaps with a spray on coating of aluminum atoms if the reflectivity is worth the added weight)? With a rigging of carbon nano-tubes it makes theoretical solar sail designs so efficient that perhaps interstellar journeys are practical!
Re:Prick? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
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As soon as they figure out how the consumer can put one on.