Re: Just thinking crazy I guess :)


"Jim Logajan" <JamesL@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:121ki4ioa4pj353@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Spaceman" <Realspace@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Could someone actually fill a nanotube with helium atoms and
seal it off?

Yes.

Buckyballs, the spherical analog of nanotubes, can trap helium and argon,
for example. In fact this has allegedly happened in past eras:

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news100.html

I'm wondering though why you think this is a crazy idea or what the value
is in doing it?

Trapping hydrogen in nanotubes has been proposed as one possible way to
store hydrogen for use as a fuel source, so there is some value in that
concept. I'm not sure what value there is in trapping helium, though.

Thanks for the reply Jim,
Well, depending on how long it would stay trapped, I would gather it
would make the tube slightly "lighter" and in turn may be
able to make tiny machines made lighter so less
energy would be needed to run them in the long run depending on if
they actually would make a difference to the weight of the nanotubes
themselves.
(I also think about vacuum "filled" nanotubes).
And I was also wondering about "floating in air of course too."
(the floating is the crazy part I am think I guess.)
:)

--
James M Driscoll Jr
Spaceman





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