World's Largest Nanotube Model

darthpenguin writes "A group at Rice University has completed building the world's largest Nanotube model. Rice University is a leader in this revolutionary field involving nanotubes and buckyballs, which have the potential to revolutionize certain areas of science. The completed model, a full 360 meters in length, has been accepted by the Guinness Book of World Records."

Comments

Definition of Irony:

[TripMaster Monkey]

A group at Rice University has completed building the world's largest Nanotube model.

Someone ought to call the kids over at Rice University and let them know they're working in the wrong direction....the whole point of nanotubes is that they're supposed to be small.

Seriously, though, shouldn't these kids be working on something other than trying to get into the Book of Records? Like, perhaps, doing work with actual nanotubes?

The completed model, a full 360 meters in length, has been accepted by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Wow...what's the category? World's Biggest Waste of Time ?

Re:Definition of Irony:

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow...what's the category? World's Biggest Waste of Time ?

I think that pretty well describes everything in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Re:Definition of Irony:

[Anonymous Coward]

I dont think the grandparent post was someone who claimed to be doing legitimate scientific research.

Just becuase you don't agree with someone does not make it flamebait.

Grow up.

Re:Definition of Irony:

[Council]

Like posting on /.?

No, wait, before you mod me down -- this is a fallacy I see a lot that bothers me and will probably come out a lot in these comments. When someone does something big and pointless and it's closely related to something good for the world, people say "what a waste of time!" but when they do something big and pointless and geeky that doesn't remind you about the world's problems, people say "cool!" Millions of people are wasting time constantly, including people with the potential to change the world tremendously.

Put another way, researchers don't have to devote every minute of their lives to doing research. Especially not when we're wasting our lives posting about them on /.

Though the GWR is silly.

Re:Definition of Irony:

[RFINN]

Dude - you're an idiot.

Structures like this tube are what will be needed for applications such as a space elevator cable and fuel tanks that can hold hydrogen (the hydrogen binds to nanotubes and can be packed more densly than in an empty vacuum).

And it's not the "kids" working on these kinds of projects - the goals are set by people like Rick Smalley, who invented and named the Bucky Ball.

The cost of making nanotubes needs to come down before it can be used commerically however - and lo and behold it costs less to produce longer strands.

Last time I spoke with the folks at Rice's Center for Nanoscale Technology they were talking about this as a milestone on their way to $1/gram instead of $1000/gram it stands near now.

Oxymoron

[Palal]

Isn't this an oxymoron? Enough for the first post

Guinness

[Tyler Eaves]

Any remember when a GWR actually MEANT something? Now seems like they'll give a record to any borderline unique PR stunt...

Community building

[Anonymous Coward]

It's just about pulling together as chemistry geeks. Most of the world's monuments were largely about this. Partially the local religion, but mostly "look at this fucking thing we built."

That's a valuable thing in and of itself. The actual thing doesn't have to then be useful.

You could suggest they do a charity instead, but that wouldn't necessarily pull them together. You can't just force people to enjoy the same charity.

You might want to look at what human beings are like sometime.

Re:Community building

[TripMaster Monkey]

You might want to look at what human beings are like sometime.

Actually, no...I wouldn't. Every time I try that, it takes me a whole bottle of Pepto to get my stomach back under control.

Modern Academia

[Anonymous Coward]

Is not about doing anything useful or revolutionary, its about getting your name and your institution's name printed in whatever publications you can.

Rice is a relatively small university in the middle of South Texas. I guess instead of doing something relevant in science, they decided to do something for play and get it in Guiness and call it scientific research.

Re:Modern Academia

[FleaPlus]

The Nobel prize is largely without credibility anyomre becuase of all the political extremism of the Nobel committiee.

That may be an issue with the Peace prize or even the Economics prize, but I've never heard of somebody accuse the Nobel Prize in Chemistry as being politically extreme.

Yeah, you were six

[Anonymous Coward]

They never meant anything. You were just young. There are comics going back to the 60s about people making the world's largest noodle stack to get in the book. It's always been ridiculous.

Re:Next step, Mass production

[grumpygrodyguy]

Score:0, Offtopic.

Sometimes I wish I could moderate moderators into 0, Offtopic for being such dumbasses.

Re:ok...

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot could have a story about a 13 year old who single handedly designed and built a working Stargate and you would still get comments like, "so what, I was thinking of doing this," and the ever popular "what a waste of time, they could have been working on a cure for cancer!" So no matter what you do, if you post it on Slashdot you will be belittled by geeks with a superiority complex.