Bay District Talks Teacher Pay
By: Kevin Character
Scrap Metal Prices Entice Thieves To Cash In
By: J. Michael Brown
Finally an Answer as to Who Owns Davis Lake
By: Nadeen Yanes
Cold Cash Rebates
By: Mary Scott Speigner
Campaign Signs Coming Down
Source:
The Flu Vaccine is Available Early
By: Elizabeth Cate
Rash of Counterfeit Currency Plagues DeFuniak Springs
Source: DeFuniak Springs Police Department
Sheriff’s Office Seeking Suspects in Car Burglaries
Source: Bay County Sheriff Office
Oil Rig Explosion in Gulf of Mexico off Coast of Louisiana
Source: CNN
U.S. Soldier MIA from Korean War Identified
Source: U.S. Department of Defense
For Additional Headlines - go to our News Section »
- Police Union Claims Unfair Labor Practices
made by Oldman - Cab Controversy Continues at New Airport
made by Oldman - Police Union Claims Unfair Labor Practices
made by Conspiracy Theory - Cab Controversy Continues at New Airport
made by zman - Panama City Police Searching for Car Burglary Suspects
made by Nitro
Florida researchers have concocted a wondrous new type of paper that’s as light and thin as tissue, but stronger than steel.
It’s called Buckypaper and looks a lot like carbon paper, but don’t let its cute name or flimsy appearance fool you.
Researchers believe Buckypaper could revolutionize the way manufacturers build airplanes, cars, computers and even flatscreen TV’s.
Buckypaper is made of tube-shaped carbon molecules that are 50,000 times thinner than a human hair, but with the potential to be 500 times stronger than steel.
You need a massive electron microscope to see the ultra-tiny cylinders known as carbon nanotubes.
The material has been a lab wonder for the past 20 years, but no one knew how to use its unique properties in commercial production. Now researchers at Florida State University’s High-Performance Materials Institute are solving that puzzle.
They are starting a company to pave the way for commercial uses of Buckypaper. In addition to its heavy-duty strength, Buckypaper conducts electricity very effectively and that makes it a great shield against lightning for airplanes.
Professor Ben Wang says the metal commercial airplanes of today typically get hit by lightning twice a year, but they can dissipate the jolt without a problem.
He says the planes of the future will be made of carbon fiber, like this model plane in the lab, because it’s lighter and can save on fuel costs. But it’s also vulnerable to lightning strikes.
Wang envisions Buckypaper as a lightning shield for the planes of the future.
Wang also sees Buckypaper as something that will be in many materials in the future and we all will use it in some form or another on a daily basis.
The long-range goal is to use Buckypaper to build airplanes, cars and possibly for military applications such as armor plating.
The lab wonder, developed more than 20 years ago during an experiment re-creating the conditions in a star, is now offering real-world value as a result of the work of these engineers at Florida State.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
WMBB.com requires that you be a registered site member to post comments and content.
First, we are not being sneaky and gathering your email or other information to sell to telemarketers or e-mail spam companies.
Registration on this site is required simply to allow us to keep people who would post discriminatory, threatening and harassing messages and comments from doing it again.
By having user registration, we hope to provide you with a better user experience. Please view WMBB.com's full Terms & Conditions