Bucky!

I was reading an article about carbon nanotubes the other day and it appears that a manufacturing process has been developed that allows them to make a carbon nanotube sheet. The article didn’t say how wide the sheet is, but they can make it at a speed of 20 feet per minute. It’s an older article, but very relevant…

So what do you do with a sheet of carbon nanotubes? (First, you have to find it. It’s transparent; as well as being much stronger than steel.) You could wrap ordinary items with it and transfer that strength. It’s an excellent conductor of electricity, so my thought would be to cover roads with it. The road would never wear out and could also carry signals that controlled vehicle speeds and directions. The ideas seem unlimited!

The best part of nanotubes? It’s the fact that they are also known as Buckytubes, to honor R. Buckminster Fuller. Mr. Fuller was a man who always asked “why?’ And he is best remembered as the man who created the first Geodesic dome. But he did so much more than that…and he’s always been one of my heroes.