Originally posted by JCMinJapan
The superior mechanical and electrical properties of carbon nanotubes have intrigued materials scientists for a decade. But they've struggled to take advantage of the hollow tubes, just nanometers wide, for macroscopic projects.

Now, researchers have spun the tubes into composite fibers that are tougher than steel, Kevlar, or spider silk. The new fibers appear to be tougher than any other synthetic or natural material, says Ray Baughman of the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson

Read the full article: It is quite good.
www.sciencenews.org...

Nanotubes

Examples:
Nanoledge makes carbon nanotubes for commercial uses, of which one mundane (marketing tactic) use is in a tennis racket, made by Babolat. The yoke of the racket bends less during ball impact, improving the player's performance.
Impact: Once companies like Nanoledge can scale-up their production from grams, to pounds, to tons, and can do so while controlling the type of nanotube they produce, the world becomes their oyster: everywhere strength and weight are a factor - such as in the aerospace, automobile, and airplane industries - they will make a major (disruptive) impact. See French firm hopes to get PR bounce out of nanotubes in tennis rackets

Applied Nanotech recently demonstrated a 14" monochrome display based on electron emission from carbon nanotubes.
Impact: Once the process is perfected, costs will go down, and the high-end market will start being filled. Shortly thereafter, and hand-in-hand with the predictable drop in price of CNTs, production economies-of-scale will enable the costs to drop further still, at which time we will see nanotube-based screens in use everywhere CRTs and view screens are used today. See Applied Nanotech demonstrates carbon nanotube TV

And Samsung is expected to demonstrate a CNT-based 32" display by the end of 2003.

Originally posted by PurdueNuc

Actually, you may be right with extreme machines...

I think what you're actually thinking of is Extreme Engineering.

Great show talking about future designs of enormous proportion and the technology that will make them possible. A couple of the shows have been on already completed projects, like the Hong Kong International Airport

Originally posted by JCMinJapan
Extreme Engineering... you win a cookie.. Thanks alot. The tokyo project is here if someone is interested. media.dsc.discovery.com...