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Transparent Aluminium (theconstructor.org)

submitted 10 months ago by Zerush@lemmy.ml to c/technology@lemmy.ml

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[-] Klanky@sopuli.xyz 118 points 10 months ago

Hello computer!?

[-] DoctorWhookah@sh.itjust.works 48 points 10 months ago

You have to use the mouse.

[-] projectsquared@lemmy.world 36 points 10 months ago

How quaint!

[-] Akasazh@feddit.nl 16 points 10 months ago

*Picks up mouse and says:

'ok computer'

[-] Oderus@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Then types over 100 WPM when he's likely never touched a keyboard ever.

That part always bugged me being a computer guy that actually uses a keyboard.

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[-] The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website 104 points 10 months ago

[-] misterundercoat@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

Not now, Madeline!

[-] DannyMac@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

I noticed you're still working with polymers.

[-] caesar_salad83@lemmy.world 98 points 10 months ago

[-] lvxferre@lemmy.ml 90 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Misleading name, on the same level as calling water "non-explosive hydrogen". That said the material looks promising, as a glass replacement for some applications (the text mentions a few of them, like armoured windows).

(It is not a metal; it's a ceramic, mostly oxygen with bits and bobs of aluminium and nitrogen. Interesting nonetheless, even if I'm picking on the name.)

[-] thegoodyinthehoody@sh.itjust.works 89 points 10 months ago

We’re gonna get transparent metal before the easy parts like to stop killing each other. Roll on Star Trek

[-] hansl@lemmy.world 43 points 10 months ago

TBF in the Star Trek universe they also do get transparent aluminum earlier than stopping the wars.

[-] Olgratin_Magmatoe@startrek.website 56 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

According to Star Trek lore, WW3 will begin in 3 years, and last for 27 years.

Buckle up.

[-] Wodge@lemmy.world 34 points 10 months ago

Can we not? Please?

[-] Olgratin_Magmatoe@startrek.website 39 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Don't worry! WW3 will be preceeded by the Bell Riots, a collection of revolts by people treated inhumanely and stuck in slums. It will be a fun little distraction before the fireworks. It's even got it's own count down now!

[-] Wodge@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I want science fiction to remain fiction.

Edit: Aside from the cool stuff, that's fine, I'll have some of that.

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[-] zib@kbin.social 10 points 10 months ago

You misunderstand, we're in the mirror universe.

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[-] SkybreakerEngineer@lemmy.world 81 points 10 months ago

Can I make a whale tank out of it?

[-] Akasazh@feddit.nl 20 points 10 months ago

Yeah your mom really needs a bath.

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[-] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 53 points 10 months ago

3 times as tough as steel and they're making bulletproof glass out of it...

There's a low budget pc game about colonizing Mars and this was one of the things in the tech tree

Crazy to see it as a real thing now.

Like OG aluminum, this is going to be crazy expensive at first, but in a century it'll likely be cheap and we'll see it replacing glass in the most mundane uses.

We'll see it replace phone screens pretty quickly tho. A few mm's of this and we'll have legitimately unbreakable screens, and even if a scratch happens, you should be able to just buff it out. They're probably wrap entire phones it honestly. One solid piece that makes repair impossible on your own.

[-] BreakDecks@lemmy.ml 24 points 10 months ago

Might be hard to assemble the functional part of a phone inside of a crystal, and you can't bake the whole thing because silicon isn't surviving 2000oC for 2 days.

[-] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

Yeah, but it was a lot harder to make regular aluminum back in the day as well.

Increasing ductility isn't impossible, but it probably is unlikely in this case.

But two halves that get glued/sealed together permanently would be possible.

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[-] library_napper@monyet.cc 51 points 10 months ago

The obtained material, which is molded and opaque, is heated to 2000 C and kept at this temperature for two days

Fuck that's a long time and a high temp

[-] BakedCatboy@lemmy.ml 28 points 10 months ago

Transparent aluminum is so weird, a piece of it was once passed around our office. It felt heavier and colder than I expected, which I guess is probably because it's much denser than most types of glass (I think it's only comparable to optical glass so it would be close to holding a high quality glass lens) and it looks like the thermal conductivity is way higher.

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[-] magnetosphere@kbin.social 25 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I had no idea this actually existed! Cool!

Here’s a more novice-friendly link: https://hackaday.com/2018/04/03/whats-the-deal-with-transparent-aluminum/

[-] OhmsLawn@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

Thanks for that. Really cool stuff.

"Aluminum oxynitride ceramics have been around since the 1980s, so it’s not new stuff by any means."

Says it costs 5X the price of standard bulletproof glass, but that it's far stronger, and IR-transparent. Cool material.

[-] ForestOrca@kbin.social 22 points 10 months ago

Star trek comes to life, yet again.

[-] blargerer@kbin.social 21 points 10 months ago

This one goes the other way. It was first patented in the 80s before the movie came out. It just wasn't a big thing yet. I assume it's had improved properties since then, but the process already existed.

[-] meco03211@lemmy.world 25 points 10 months ago

Unfortunately this is a time travel paradox. It wouldn't have even been patented if the crew hadn't gone back in time and needed it to transport a whale back to the future. I fully support the claim that Star Trek did it first in the future.

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[-] sheepishly@kbin.social 21 points 10 months ago

Looks like a cool new project for NileRed

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[-] oxjox@lemmy.ml 19 points 10 months ago

FWIW, this has been around for about twenty years.

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[-] FrankTheHealer@lemmy.world 19 points 10 months ago

This seems cool.

Also upvoted for the correct spelling of Aluminium

[-] sexual_tomato@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 10 months ago

The original discoverer of the element spelled it "aluminum". The British publisher that published his work changed the spelling. The rest of the world got the right version of the man's work. The Brits are wrong.

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[-] teft@startrek.website 18 points 10 months ago

Scotty would be proud.

[-] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago

Would that make it a type of sapphire?

[-] teft@startrek.website 22 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Types of corundum maybe but I think that’s a stretch. Sapphire is (usually) blue Al2O3. Ruby is red Al2O3. Transparent aluminum is Al2O27N5.

[-] eestileib@sh.itjust.works 10 points 10 months ago

Watch faces are often colorless sapphire; I think industrially produced.

[-] teft@startrek.website 15 points 10 months ago

Any corundum without trace elements is colorless. Corundum with trace chemical impurities makes the gems we know. Chromium gives the red to rubies, sapphire has iron and titanium, you can get other colors using vanadium or different ratios. Gems are neat.

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[-] roguetrick@kbin.social 14 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Aluminum oxynitride is transparent aluminum, but alpha aluminum oxide, which is also transparent, is called Corundum, Ruby, or Sapphire. That name is dumb.

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[-] SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

How much would a transparent aluminum butt plug cost and would it be safe to use?

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[-] vlad76@lemmy.sdf.org 9 points 10 months ago

Transparisteel is real? Neat!

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this post was submitted on 29 Dec 2023

487 points (97.1% liked)

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