Paper Stronger Than Cast Iron

TaeKwonDood writes "All paper is made of cellulose, which at the nanoscale level is quite strong, but paper processing makes large, fragile fibers that break easily. Researchers in Sweden have have come up with a manufacturing process that keeps the fibers small, resulting in 'nanopaper' with over 1.6 times the tensile strength of cast iron (214 megapascals vs. 130 mPa). And since cellulose is the most abundant organic compound on the planet, it's cheap to use compared to other exotic, expensive-to-produce options — such as carbon nanotubes."

It's strong enough to build a ship

[camperdave]

It's strong enough to build a ship out of... as long as you don't get it wet.

Iron Man's nemesis... PAPER MAN

[Armon]

Coming next summer, the Epic battle between Robert Downy Jr. as Iron Man, and an unknown antagonists who goes by the mysterious PAPER MAN! /attempt at humor

Finally...

[Anonymous Coward]

the final piece of the puzzle falls into place and the product to make my composting underwear becomes a reality

Papery

[Deltaspectre]

It's just like irony but stronger

awesome - shredproof paper!

[Tumbleweed]

Perfect for government documents and voting machine audit results. :)

grr

[nawcom]

RECYCLE YOUR NANOPAPER!!! We need to get Mr. T to rap about this.

Oh, great...

[professorfalcon]

This is going to mess up so many games of Paper, Rock, and Scissors.

Re:Great, but is it fireproof?

[Spy der Mann]

Or treatable to be fire-resistant?

I can see a lot of uses for it even if it isn't. But I can see some fairly awe-inspiring ones if it's possible.

Guy 1: BWAHAHAHA, BEWARE my super-robot made with nanopaper! It's stronger than steel!
Guy 2: *lights match*
Robot: *FWOOOM*
Guy 1: :(

hang on!

[H0D_G]

Wait, so paper beats scissors now?

Re:Iron Man's nemesis... PAPER MAN

[unspokenchaos]

perhaps they'll have the entire cast of ROD... hehe...

Paper Cut

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't wait to make chinese stars outta this stuff. Brings a whole new meaning to the word papercut.

Ikea furniture was cheap before...

[TRAyres]

But now it will be INDESTRUCTABLE as well!

Fantastic!

Re:It's strong enough to build a ship

[Beavertank]

Ding ding tssh? These words you keep using... I don't think they mean what you think they mean.

Re:First!

[B3ryllium]

Great, just what I need - newspapers that groan and snap when I try to read them.

Re:Milli-pascal?

[pablomme]

Use your units properly.

AND they should be using MebiPascals: "204 MiPa vs. 124 MiPa".

IEC 60027-2 : making life easier for everyone since 1999.

Re:Great, but is it fireproof?

[Ilan Volow]

I understand where you're going with this, but I'd doubt that Martha Stewart would take a paper frying pan seriously.

So I guess

[ignavus]

So I guess this new paper always wins in "rock, scissors, paper"?

Re:Iron Man's nemesis... PAPER MAN

[infonography]

Larry Niven,

Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex.
http://www.larryniven.org/stories/Man_of_Steel_Woman_of_Kleenex.shtml [larryniven.org]

Re:It's strong enough to build a ship

[Scaba]

I think Ding Ding Tssh is the new annoying yet lovable character in the next Star Wars film.

Re:Which is not much...

[strength_of_10_men]

but where does this leave me?

Does this mean better, more useful origami?

[master5o1]

Like Paper Construction Cranes?

I always knew Paper was strong!

[davester666]

Cuz Paper beats Rock!

Re:Milli-pascal?

[plover]

Use your units properly.

AND they should be using MebiPascals: "204 MiPa vs. 124 MiPa".

Mebi they shouldn't.

Re:What is Tensile Strength

[mrbluze]

There seems to be some confusion about what tensile strength is. Tensile strength is how well a material can resist pulling, not bending or compression.

Exactly, for example, ordinary toilet paper has poor tensile strength, resulting in many a brown finger for some. Let's hope this will stop with our new, stronger-than-steel paper. On the downside we may expect a few more red fingers.

Re:First!

[Zencyde]

Ever tried writing on iron? Not as easy... and folding it to put it in your pocket tends to be difficult.

On another note, mPa? Really? 214 megapascals vs 130 MILLIpascals? Ever heard of SI? That lack of capitalization causes problems. : )

(it's from TFS, guys)

Re:next time

[mrbluze]

it's "*badum-psht*"

In some countries that's considered very vulgar, in others it's a very effective pickup line in nightclubs.

Re:Iron Man's nemesis... PAPER MAN

[PPH]

That's paper BOY to you, buddy!

Now watch it, or I'll toss your Sunday edition up on the roof.

Yeah, until it rains

[cheros]

Given climatic changes I think we may want to think this one over.

I can see someone building a skyscraper, only for the whole thing to fall over because someone has an aiming problem in an urinoir midlevel. And God help you if you want to redo the wallpaper :-).

No! Don't us a steame .. aaaagh!

Joking aside, interesting development. Puts the final nail into the paperless office.

No! Aaargh! I'll stop making bad jokes now! :-)

Re:First!

[Vectronic]

"Ever tried writing on iron? Not as easy... and folding it to put it in your pocket tends to be difficult."

However, if you etch a piece of metal, you can use it as a stamp to create numerous copies of the etching, and when you hit severe writers block, its much easier to kill yourself with a piece of tin than paper cuts.

Re:First!

[Slotty]

So logically as I'm able to put my fist through glass then I should be able to put my fist through cast iron and structural steel.

The only conclusion I can come to is that I am superman

Re:First!

[Zencyde]

Touche! I'll remember this the next time I'm trying to kill myself with the object I'm writing on. : )

Re:Bow to my ninja skills

[SlowMovingTarget]

And they laughed when I made papier-mâché throwing stars. I'll show them! I am the Paper Ninja (played by Matthew Lillard), and I've just come from OfficeMax!

Re:First!

[GigaplexNZ]

Apparently Superman didn't take simple physics at school otherwise he would know what tensile strength meant...

Re:Milli-pascal?

[pclminion]

214 megapascal (singular, it's a unit)

Is that really a rule? Not one I was taught.

After I ran 6.2 kilometer yesterday, I was feeling thirsty. So I drank 1.6 liter of water. It took 37 minute to walk back to my car. I fired it up, and saw that the engine was already 52 degree from sitting in the hot sun. I got home, and collapsed from exhaustion. I slept an entire 9 hour.

Maybe it's a rule. I'd rather not sound like a fool though.

Re:Iron Man's nemesis... PAPER MAN

[mrjb]

No no no - the girls were the GOOD GUYS, remember?

The girls were GUYS? :O :O

Sweden....

[gramlin]

Paper-Volvo! Bork Bork.

Re:Great, but is it fireproof?

[Anonymous Coward]

single-use knife

And there goes the last shred of credibility for airport security...

Re:Iron Man's nemesis... PAPER MAN

[Jesus_666]

In an anime, that's not exactly the most unusual revelation...

Re:First!

[cp.tar]

Great, just what I need - newspapers that groan and snap when I try to read them.

I say it will be a nice turnabout. Usually I groan and snap when I read newspapers.

I just wonder... how come this wasn't invented in Soviet Russia?

Re:First!

[cp.tar]

Apparently Superman didn't take simple physics at school otherwise he would know what tensile strength meant...

Well of course he didn't.

Had he taken any physics, he would know he couldn't fly. Tell me, then, what would have happened to Metropolis?

Not really news

[Attila]

Anyone who has ever used a public toilet in Sweden would know that this has been in development for some time.

Perfect application

[starglider29a]

Wrapping candy bars, USB drives and CD's to make them UTTERLY un-openable.

Re:Great, but is it fireproof?

[Fyzzler]

Not in landfill it doesn't. Learn some basic science. If you go to a dump, you can find 50 year old newspapers and phone books that look better preserved than they would in a museum. Get off my planet, you pathetic waste of oxygen.

That's not a problem, that's carbon sequestering. It's your Carbon credits in action.