BY UBER GEEK - FEBRUARY, 28TH 2014

Science and engineering have taken

great leaps and bounds in the past few

years. We’ve made so many great

achievements, discoveries and

inventions. Here are 10 examples of

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10 FuturisticConstructionMaterialsThat WillChangeEverything

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materials created by man that could

change construction techniques

forever.

10. Carbon Nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes are long chains of

carbon held together by the sp2 bond

which is the strongest bond in

chemistry. These nanotubes have

many amazing physical properties. The

nanotubes are capable of ballistic

electron transport which makes them

great for use in electronics. Carbon

nanotubes also have a specifice

strength 300 times greater than that of

steel. This makes the them perfect for

constructing towers which are

hundreds of kilometers high (such as in

a space elevator).

9. Superalloys

This is a generic term for a metal which

can operate at temperatures of up

to 2000 °F. Superalloys are very useful

in the superhot turbine areas of jet

engines. Jet engines can be made for

more advanced oxygen-breathing

designs (such as ramjet and scramjet)

using superalloys. Superalloys are what

will make it possible for hypersonic

crafts to travel at incredible speeds one

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day.

8. Transparent Alumina

This form of alumina is three times

stronger than steel and as an added

bonus, it’s transparent. This material

has a large number of applications in a

wide range of fields. The skylines of the

future could look a lot clearer with

transparent skyscrapers allowing the

sunlight to pass to the streets below

and an entire space station could come

into low orbit without driving people

mad. The possibilities are endless.

7. Metamaterials

Metamaterials are materials that gain

their properties from structure rather

than composition. These materials

have amazing optical properties and

have made it possible to create

invisibility cloaks and superlenses

which can resolve features smaller than

the wavelength of light (due to their

negative refractive index). These

materials could even be used in phased

array optics, allowing perfect holograms

to be created on a two-dimensional

screen.

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6. Bulk Diamond

Laying down thick layers of diamond in

a CVD machine (Chemical Vapor

Decomposition) will make a future of

bulk diamond machinery a reality.

Diamond is ideal as a construction

material because of its strength,

lightweight, almost complete thermal

conductivity and melting and boiling

points which are the highest of any

almost any material in the world. Fine-

tuned diamond machinery gives us the

possibility of making jets of the future

more powerful than any modern day

fighter jet.

5. Bulk Fullerenes

Diamond nanorods (or amorphous

fullerenes) are stronger than diamonds.

The nanoscale structure of the fullerene

gives it an iridescent appearance.

Fullerenes can be made stronger than

diamond, but at a greater cost. After the

‘Diamond Age’, with the advancement

of technology, we may enter a

‘Fullerene Age’.

4. Amorphous Material

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Amorphous materials are also called

metallic glass and are basically metals

with a disordered atomic structure.

They can be twice as strong as steel

and because of their disordered

structure, they are more effective in

dispersing impact energy than regular

metal which has points of weakness

due to its crystal structure. These

metals are made by instantly cooling

the molten form before the atoms

arrange themselves into a crystal

structure. Amorphous materials have

many uses including in military armor

and power transmission.

3. Metal Foam

Metal foam is formed when a foaming

agent (such as powdered titanium

hydride) is added to molten aluminium

before it is allowed to cool. The result is

a strong but light metal with 75-95%

empty space. Because of these

properties, metal foams can be used in

the future to construct space colonies.

Some metal foams can even float on

water, which will allow for even more

possible applications.

2. E-Textiles

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The possibilities of electronic textiles

are limitless. The future of clothing and

tech gadgets can merge into one and

allow users to wear their gadgets

instead of carry them around. People

could play their favorite videos on their

shirts, a robe that displays a live feed of

the night sky could also be possible.

Talking to loved ones could become

even simpler with thought-to-speech

interfaces which turn the user’s

thoughts into sound.

1. Aerogel

Sometimes called frozen smoke,

aerogel holds fifteen records in the

Guinness Book of World Records

(which is more than any other material).

Aerogel is made by supercritical cooling

of liquid gels of alumina, chromia, tin

oxide, or carbon. The material is 99.8%

empty space which makes it look semi-

transparent. The material is a fantastic

insulator and stops heat from flowing

(even protection from a flamethrower is

possible). A small amount of aerogel

could even support a brick, meaning

that the material has considerable

strength.

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