• multitotal
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    3 months ago

    carbon nanotubes have already changed the world with their applications on a macro scale.

    I’m not disagreeing or disparaging what you say, but I’d love to hear some examples.

    • ComradeSalad
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      3 months ago

      Their conductive properties and light weight makes them perfect for use in large scale battery components.

      They have revolutionized polymer composites, as nanotubes bond very well to epoxy and create a material significantly stronger other current composite materials. The listed current applications for this are wind turbines, marine paints on ships, professional sports equipment such as skis, hockey skates, arrows, etc.

      Vantablack is made from nanotubes.

      I had to look this up, but apparently they are used in atomic force microscopes and have allowed us to discover tens of thousands of microbiological species that were undetected before along with revolutionized microbiological studies.

      It’s a significantly lighter lightweight adhesive compared to glue and other tapes. Since the tape also uses Van der Waals forces, there are no chemical adhesives needed.

      This is a limited list of course, but there are many further niches uses in various fields of research.

      • multitotal
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        3 months ago

        wind turbines,

        Wind turbines are bad: they kill birds, the sounds mess with marine animals, and there’s no way to recycle the blades so they have to be buried underground.

        marine paints on ships, professional sports equipment such as skis, hockey skates, arrows, etc.

        These things existed before nanotubes, marginal improvement isn’t world-changing.

        Vantablack

        Rich people stuff.

        there are many further niches uses

        But that’s it: niche uses that don’t really affect people’s lives, so carbon nanotubes haven’t changed the world on a macro scale. We’re just not there yet as a society/species and we won’t be as long as there are hungry and homeless people on this planet.

        • cayde6ml
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          3 months ago

          Wind turbines are remarkable as wind power though, and the fossil fuel industry exaggerates the still unfortunate number of birds killed by them.

            • cayde6ml
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              3 months ago

              China is a big advocate of wind power.

              Relying on any one method though is stupid, a combination is needed.

            • ComradeSalad
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              3 months ago

              I guess China is installing so many wind turbines because they’re filthy capitalists, right?

              What “fossil fuel” interests does China have to be the leader in installing wind turbines?

              • multitotal
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                3 months ago

                What kind of argument is that? lmao. The US is also installing wind turbines, they are based communists!

                I could be wrong about fossil fuel industry supporting wind turbines, but you can’t make the argument that just because China does something that means that thing is automatically good.

                The WEF is all gung-ho for wind power: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/05/greenertower-greener-steel-wind-power/

                I guess the WEF is a bunch of communists and we should do everything they say.

                Wind turbines are dumb and worse than nuclear power, I don’t care if Lenin himself rises from the dead and says wind power is the most communist thing ever.

                • ComradeSalad
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                  3 months ago

                  China has triple the total wind power that the US does. The US added 18 GW of total capacity last year, and China added 72 GW.

                  Womp womp. Guess China is acquiescing to the whims of capital by making wind it’s third most plentiful source of energy generation.

                  What kind of argument is that? The WEF says some random piece of technology is good so it’s automatically evil? Really?

                  • multitotal
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                    3 months ago

                    China has triple the total wind power that the US does. The US added 18 GW of total capacity last year, and China added 72 GW.

                    Oh, I see, the more wind turbines a country has the more communist it is.

                    What kind of argument is that? The WEF says some random piece of technology is good so it’s automatically evil? Really?

                    It’s exactly the same as your argument, I just flipped it to show you how weak it is. I’m glad we agree.

                    In China, the largest wind turbine producer, Goldwind, is only 40% state-owned. In all countries wind power is a capitalist enterprise, whereas most nuclear power plants are publicly/state-owned and controlled.

                  • multitotal
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                    3 months ago

                    Your argument is: “China does it, therefore it is good.” It’s not very compelling.