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Space-Age Houses

Posted by michael on from the forecast-calls-for-snow dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The dream of building the Jetson's Skypad Apartment may come to true because technology designed for space could become the basis of the new German Antarctic station. The same ultra-light composites that ESA uses onboard its spacecraft for antennas and solar panels, will be used to make a self-supporting lightweight shell-like structure able to withstand severe earthquakes. This approach is in sharp contrast to many contemporary design solutions that use ever more steel and concrete..."

3 of 230 comments (clear)

  1. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 0, Troll

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  2. Re:What's cooler? by ZorbaTHut · · Score: 0, Troll

    Yeah! Instead of paying utility bills, we just have to pay maintenance and replacement costs for the solar power cells, the water recyclers and cleaners, and the air filters. Plus we have to pay out the nose to buy the equipment in the first place.

    Sounds like a great deal!

    --
    Breaking Into the Industry - A development log about starting a game studio.
  3. Re:Stress fractures by ackthpt · · Score: 0, Troll
    Ever wonder what the air temperature is outside your aluminum aircraft at 40,000 feet?

    Ever notice all those little cracks in the skin of aircraft? I know it's a pretty good alloy, because the velocity is ~500 kts and vibration and other physical stresses are considerable, but then it's aero dynamic, too, which most houses aren't.

    How's Carbon hold up under extreme cold? Got any good references?

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar