Futuristic 'Smart' Yarns from Carbon Nanotubes

neutron_p writes "Scientists at The UTD NanoTech Institute achieved a major technological breakthrough by spinning multi-walled carbon nanotube yarns that are strong, tough and extremely flexible, and are both electrically and thermally conducting. Among other things, the futuristic yarns could result in 'smart' clothing that stores electricity, provides ballistic protection and adjusts temperature and porosity to provide greater comfort. The breakthrough, made possible by, in effect, downsizing ancient technology used for wool and cotton spinning to the nanoscale, resulted from an unusual collaboration involving nanotechnologists and experts in wool spinning."

Finally...

[tokenhillbilly]

Now we can get to work on spinning the belt for the space elevator.

Not only clothing

[kusanagi374]

This kind of technology is not only useful in helping you wear your computer, which seems to be today's fetiche of every geek. Although that is, indeed, attractive, let us think for a while about the advantages of being able to have such small conductors. For example, we can have super computers that are roughly the same size of today's desktops.

Imagine a beowulf cluster of nanocomputers inside your ATX case, and then you'll see what's a really good fetiche. It might even run Longhorn with Doom 3 and Duke Nukem Forever on dual monitors!

Arthur C. Clarke's Fountain of Paradise

[MasterC]

Am I the only one who thought of Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke when reading this?

For those that don't know, Foutains of Paradise [amazon.com] is where ACC first coined the idea of building an elevator into space which he later used in 3001: A Final Odyssey [amazon.com] (The 3rd sequal to 2001: A Space Odyssey). To build the elevator a super-strength carbon string was bundled into three bundles and then attached to a giant mass in space to keep the tethers taught. At least if memory serves me correctly that's how it was done. If you're an ACC fan and haven't read Fountains of Paradise, I recommend it.

Not cool enough

[qengho]

"Smart clothes," feh. Wake me up when they've developed mimetic polycarbon. [technovelgy.com]

Just in Time for WTO textile liberalization

[Donny Smith]

That's just in time (or just a bit too late?) to save many a developed country's ass - if I'm not mistaken in 2005 WTO members must abolish textile quotas and Chinese and Indian manufacturers are poised to make a killing.

Products based on this technology will command premium prices (and have great features - I might finally become interested in shopping!).

Ballistic protection

[roman_mir]

In Ontario, Canada the guvmnt wants to declare bullet proof vests against the law, just like weapons. Will clothes that provide ballistic protection as well as a range of other great features be against the law? I want my bullet-proof underwear, god-damnit!

The killer app

[Control Group]

This is clearly cool. Temperature-sensitive clothing that adjusts to keep me comfortable over a range of conditions would be spectacular. Bullet resistance is a cool bonus. The potential exoskeletal applications are downright neat. And, personally, I would love to see this in wearable computing applications.

But all that being said, what I want to see most is clothing that you can change the appearance of (color, pattern, even cut, if possible) at will. Not because I particularly want it, mind you, but because I'm quite certain that that's the feature that will drive adoption of this in the consumer space, which is what will cause all the actually cool applications to be available.

Viva fashion, and whatnot.

Re:I just upgraded my loom last month ...

[Scutter]

It doesn't seem that they're in any hurry to weave a microscopic carpet yet.

Can you imagine a self-cleaning carpet? You drop crumbs on it and the fibers work it cilia-like toward a vaccuum duct in the wall? Sweeeeet....

Health concernes..

[lordsilence]

This may be a really stupid question. Related to a recent study concerning the replacements for asbestos. Back in the 80:ies when it was discovered that asbestos would cause lung-cancer or worse after repeated exposion to it, they replaced asbestos rather swiftly with materials like cheramic fibres. Now, recently they discovered that replacements like heat-resistant cheramics could also cause lung-cancer this. Perhaps just as dangerous as asbestos. The reason found, was because of the micro-fragments (dust) which would gather in the lungs and it's air-sacks (alveoli) and make them to swell abnormally and then risk causing cancer.
Even building insolation materials have also been questioned.
Now to my concern regarding carbon fibre.. has there been any studies on carbon tubes's affects on the human body? Carbon-fibre is an artificial material such as many insolations questioned. That is why I ask.
Ten years, twenty years or more from now, will we notice the dangerious side-affects of materials we push out on the market?

Photoelectric?

[mogrify]

Maybe you could use this to create overlapping grids of nanoscale photoelectric cells and LEDs or similar, and create the effect of light being passed through your body to the other side... if not making you completely invisible, at least sort of ghostly or insubstantial-seeming. Or, alternately, an effect of reflecting all light that hits you, or any number of visual effects. Sort of like a walking Photoshop.

OK, I'll bite

[RealProgrammer]

• [...] But how does this science help mankind? Does it improve agriculture? Does it help provide things people need? Does it help the environment? Does it help people get along better? [...]

Eventually, we'll need thread for nanosurgical sutures.

Farmers everywhere would appreciate weatherproof, pest-proof grain bins that breathe, but don't ever explode.

If you can't get along with someone when you're both in bullet-proof underwear, you each deserve what you get. (Not sure I believe that, but it's worth thinking about anyway)

Thin, strong twine could make for improved saws. A razor-thin ultrastrong wire with handles or a bow could slice through anything from a steel bar to a loaf of bread. The trick will be figuring out to make a band-saw shaped one.

Then again, consider how easy a thread of this stuff would be to smuggle into prison.

Re:Knitting

[Anonymous Coward]

> Does this mean that grandma can now knit me a bullet proof
> vest?

Yes, and if it saves your life from bullets then you have to look forwards to a slow and painful death from all the numerous detrimental and very dangerous effects from exposure to carbon nanotubes.

This is not safe stuff to just be casting around ideas of using in clothing. It's as irresponsible as the asbestos-impregnated children's clothing from the 1930s and 1940s.

Steel Wool

[suso]

and extremely flexible, and are both electrically and thermally conducting.

Eh hem, everybody remember what happens to steel wool when you hook it up to a 9 volt battery in science class?

Dangerous fashion

[demigod]

No photographs please [sciam.com].

Not the first collaboration

[Cyclotron_Boy]

between the textile industry and computing industry... In the late 60s, before bipolar transistor memory or MOS transistor memories were commonplace and practical, companies like Digital and IBM employed several textile company weaving-experts on the efficient weaving of core memory "ropes" and "cloths." Basically, the problems encountered in the fabrication of core memory on a large, complex scale had been solved, or at least examined, centuries before. see Rope memory [ed-thelen.org] and Apollo Guidance Computer rope memory [ed-thelen.org]. And of course, who could forget the original programmed computer, the Jacquard's punch-card loom? [acusd.edu]