From
Gizmodo, the latest in nano-to-wear
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I want a trenchcoat made of this: nano-enabled "metal rubber", in
the
lab at NanoSonic Inc. Charged
with electricity, it has the ability to
shape-shift. That's right, they're talking about morphing. More
here
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Metal Rubber might someday serve "morphing" aircraft with shape-
shifting wings. It might have biomedical applications - perhaps as a
component of artificial muscles - or meet other needs not yet
identified. More
here
Stain-resistant pants are so ‘last week’; try the odor-free socks
Geeky garments keep you comfy, and just might save your life
1 comment:
This has already been accomplished by a CAD-expert
mathematician and scientist of India-persuasion teaching
somewhere in Michigan. Once he worked out his approach
to this suggested outcome, he immediately went to the US Air Force and NASA to see if they were interested. His immediate application is to create completely smooth wings complete with ailerons that exhibit no gaps between the aileron and the main wing. [The notion to do this with 'culottes' and 'nay-roo' jackets
came later;<== this will keep the fashion-plates guessing.]
I think an article featuring this researcher and his accomplishment appeared in an issue of WIRED magazine about 2 years ago.
I will try to describe how this mathematician CAD-expert creates his finished results.
Basically, using appropriately-crafted and programmed calculations that have been installed in a CAD system, a designer using this CAD system enters the overall size and shape of a desired control surface. The designer then enters the amount of force that the control surface has to exert when "flexed". The material that the control suface is made from is often
a single piece of high-strength plastic.
What the specially-crafted CAD system generates is an interior cut-out Shape that looks a lot like a french drafting-tool. For an elevator or aileron, this means taking a LONG piece of plastic and precisely cutting this interior cut-out along and down-the-center-of the entire length of the LONG plastic block.
What the calculations determine results in the creation
of a very fancy Lever. By applying only finger pressure on an interior portion of the machined plastic block, an entire outer aileron control surface can be caused to "flex". Thousands of pounds of force must be
applied at the exterior surface in order to counteract the exhibited and desired "flex" of the control surface. Or, using very little force at the interior control point, the exterior control surface can be easily retracted.
What the mathematician CAD-expert's application achieves is an extension of what the Wright Brothers originally developed; wing-warping.
Personally, and I don't believe that the WIRED article mentioned this, I think the really great application would be to create an absolutely silent Submarine. Using the same methods, it is probably possible to make a Submarine that literally swims just like a fish. What a merciless weapon that would be.
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