Comments:Delaware scientists create shortest ever metal to metal bond
This page is for commentary on the news. If you wish to point out a problem in the article (e.g. factual error, etc), please use its regular collaboration page instead. Comments on this page do not need to adhere to the Neutral Point of View policy. You should sign your comments by adding ~~~~ to the end of your message. Please remain on topic. Though there are very few rules governing what can be said here, civil discussion and polite sparring make our comments pages a fun and friendly place. Please think of this when posting.
Quick hints for new commentators:
- Use colons to indent a response to someone else's remarks
- Always sign your comments by putting --~~~~ at the end
- You can edit a section by using the edit link to the right of the section heading
whats the point of this research? while i do like bluesky research i just don't see the point of this, it doesn't seam to help theory or have any practical implications, but perhaps they're working on room temp superconductors (although i doubt it because it contains carbon) or maybe they're working on nano-tech??
Same for me, it was the first question which came into my mind: what is the practical application for this research? I don't think they did it only for the sake of a record or only to see if it is possible to do it.
- It should be a really strong metal, which has many practical uses. They're looking for a super-strong metal for the space elevator last I checked. Fephisto 17:24, 11 November 2007 (UTC)
- Carbon is the top candidate for a space elevator, the issue is making a molecule miles long. This? I just don't know. I wonder if the scientists even have enough to work out the properties of the compound. --Brian McNeil / talk 17:34, 11 November 2007 (UTC)
- No, this wouldn't make a strong metal, because it's a compound. It has no immediate real-world applications - in that sense it is blue sky work. This is really "pushing the envelope" of bonding theory - five bonds between the same two atoms is pretty weird! And that means in the long term that we may discover some unusual properties that will lead to new applications, perhaps some we can't even imagine right now. Walkerma 07:35, 12 November 2007 (UTC)
- My comment came from this quote in the article, "In general, shorter bonds containing more electrons will be stronger". But as a side-note, Delaware! Fephisto 18:07, 12 November 2007 (UTC)
- No, this wouldn't make a strong metal, because it's a compound. It has no immediate real-world applications - in that sense it is blue sky work. This is really "pushing the envelope" of bonding theory - five bonds between the same two atoms is pretty weird! And that means in the long term that we may discover some unusual properties that will lead to new applications, perhaps some we can't even imagine right now. Walkerma 07:35, 12 November 2007 (UTC)
- Carbon is the top candidate for a space elevator, the issue is making a molecule miles long. This? I just don't know. I wonder if the scientists even have enough to work out the properties of the compound. --Brian McNeil / talk 17:34, 11 November 2007 (UTC)