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Radio Waves Employed in Space Construction

CDeity writes "Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology claim that radio waves could be used to shape and fuse debris in space to form massive structures according to this article. Scientists have in the past employed sound and light waves to position small particles, and every expectation indicates these techniques could work on a large scale. One engineer estimates " it would take approximately one hour to form a rubble cloud into a 50-meter long enclosed structure.""

18 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. Perhaps by kaoshin · · Score: 5, Funny

    They could seek the advice of street bums. They have lots of experience with forming structures from rubble and may provide valuable insight!

    1. Re:Perhaps by coryboehne · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah but then everything in space would start to look like a soda can.... wait,, it already does! :)

  2. just make sure you get the right channel by Wantok · · Score: 5, Funny

    OK, just tune the megatransmitter to a hiphop station for the structural elements...

    classical for the smooth solar sails...

    and talkback for all the crap that has to be cleared off the building site.

    --
    mi save tingting long peles bilong mi long Niu Ailan.
  3. Neat-o by Vraylle · · Score: 2, Funny

    I imagine results visually akin to a Borg sphere. Does this work on all matter? If so, can we ship up all the stupid people and finally put them to good use?

    --
    Mutant Freaks of Nature: "Frighteningly Addictive"
  4. In Space no one can hear you build by codeonezero · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hehe,

    Lets just hope the engineers aren't big Star Trek fans or they'll try building these structures with sound in outer space. :-)

    --

    ....
    int main (void) { ... }

    1. Re:In Space no one can hear you build by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Funny

      "You do of course understand that the parent poster was well aware of that, which is why the joke was funny. Don't you? It's called a joke. "

      Heh perhaps he didn't watch that episode where Data learned the human value known as 'humor'.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    2. Re:In Space no one can hear you build by rossifer · · Score: 2, Funny

      If I was to design a combat spacecraft control system, you would hear the other spacecraft exploding because the system would note that the spacecraft was exploding and would make the noises in your headset.

      I probably wouldn't make the bridge chair shake however.

      Regards,
      Ross

  5. 1 Hour Eh? by Malicious · · Score: 1, Funny

    Just imagine the billboards we are going to see....

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    01101001001000000110000101101101001000000110001001 10000101110100011011010110000101101110
  6. Hmm... by _ph1ux_ · · Score: 2, Funny

    Noob Astronaught: We appear to be flying towards that small moon.

    Seasoned AStronaught: Thats no moon....

    1. Re:Hmm... by Goalie_Ca · · Score: 2, Funny

      Noob astronought and seasoned astronought were flying in the millenium falcon when that happened.

      --

      ----
      Go canucks, habs, and sens!
  7. I used one of these once... by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was using one of these radio wave generators to construct my own personal spacecraft last week.

    My friend and I were sitting there in the station, and were getting real tired of the annoying noise being picked up by our stereo. We were getting really bored bored, and as you know these things take hours, so we decided to see what would happen when we broadcast some hard rock via the device.

    And it worked... mostly. All was going well until the end. All of a sudden, about 3/4 of the way through Jimmy Hendrix playing "All along the Watchtowner", the craft started spinning around wildly, and smashed itself to the moon where it shattered into a million pieces, and then it set itself on fire.

    I can't figure it out...

    And then my sister put in some Michael Jackson, but I don't even want to talk about that...

    --
    "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
  8. Re:Can the opposite be done as well? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's easy to protect the structure once you've built. I've studied this.. They fabricate and anneal a thin Sn-based alloy. Then, they shape it into a semi-conical, logarithmically-pitched manifold, which is then affixed to the perimeter of the structure. This creates an area where impinging radio waves create surface currents, which then create radio waves of their own. The two waves cancel, thus protecting the internal structures.

    This theory also has medical applications: you can fashion a similar device to keep certain extraterrestrial radio signals from interfering from your neurotransmitters. There isn't much medical literature about this yet, but it's a growing field and doctors are beginning to appreciate the dangers of these radio waves.

    I wear such a device myself.

  9. And in other news by PsychoElf · · Score: 2, Funny

    And in other news: I shaped my mash potatos into a fort using only a spoon. One scientist was quoted as saying, "It took him 4 hours, but with enough practice and a bigger spoon, it could be done in an hour."

  10. Radio waves by MongooseCN · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dude: Dude, nice techno.

    Technician: Actually I'm sending out the construction sequence for the storage module for the ISS.

    Dude: Woaw.... Rock on.

  11. The moral... by Quaoar · · Score: 3, Funny

    When Earth is threatened by a large asteroid, everyone should turn their radios on and play loud, annoying music until the rock explodes.

    --
    I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
  12. Quick Q. by DarkHelmet · · Score: 4, Funny
    So, would that mean they'd use some Nine Inch Nails to fasten the structures together?

    I like the sound of that.

    --
    /^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
  13. Re:I've seen this done on a smaller scale by LineNoiz · · Score: 2, Funny

    If someone farts in space, does it make a noise???

    Yes. But the only person who would hear it is the guy in the suit it was released in. Unless he has his transmitter on...

    Once the sound wave leaves the suit, it would be silent, but deadly. To the guy in the suit anyway...

    --
    "Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit." --Oscar Wilde
  14. Re:Weapons Research by dupper · · Score: 2, Funny

    Umm... what enemy satellites? Unlike whatever fiction you've integrated into your view of reality, the US is pretty well uncontested in the satellite area. No current enemies (Iraq, Afghanistan, even friggin' Mexico) have space programs, much less useful satellites, much less useful satellites which could possibly pose a threat to anybody.