9 ms·

Apparently it's transparent. I'll have to remember this the next time I need to build a whale tank

twic 7y ago
> But a team in the US showed this isn't the case for metallic vanadium dioxide (VO2) - a material that's already well known for its strange ability to switch from a see-through insulator to a conductive metal at the temperature of 67 degrees Celsius (152 degrees Fahrenheit). The next time you need to do whale sous-vide, i think.
- the8472 7y ago
  The transition temperature can be tuned with dopants[0]. And the switching happens from transparent at low temperatures to reflective at higher temperatures. That said, its highest transmittance is in the infrared, it's not that great in the visible spectrum. [0] https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/bitstream/handle/10220/25845/for-your-whale-tank.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/bitstream/handle/10220/25845/for-your-...
ianai 7y ago
Is that a Star Trek movie reference?
- dghughes 7y ago
  Yes. Original series when they went back in time. Scotty showed an earth engineer how to make transparent aluminum.
  - mike_hock 7y ago
    A keyboard? How quaint!
    - Jgrubb 7y ago
      proceeds to type at 400 wpm...
      - mike_hock 7y ago
        Also makes you wonder how he was going to input that into the computer using voice commands.
        zeeZ 7y ago
        It's not as surprising of you can imagine all the stuff probably going on in the background when you say "<assistant of choice>, play the next episode of Star Trek on my TV"
        mike_hock 7y ago
        Lots of stuff going on, but based on concepts known to the developers. He had to teach the computer how to synthesize a hitherto unknown substance. Can't get around the information entropy of the stuff he'd've had to input into the computer.
        Godel_unicode 7y ago
        How hard is it to say "take $known_aluminum_alloy and add $dopant using $heating_process"?
        dghughes 7y ago
        Obviously by using the corded speakerphone "Hello computer".
      - furgooswft13 7y ago
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkqiDu1BQXY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkqiDu1BQXY Using mostly his index fingers. Suck it vim users, your editor has nothing on MOLECULAR DESIGN for System 3.0
  - ars 7y ago
    > how to make transparent aluminum Which is just alumna (aluminium oxide, AKA ruby and other gems).
    - agumonkey 7y ago
      Homelab torch process can be seen on YouTube
mrfusion 7y ago
I never understood why the tank needed to be transparent.
- carapace 7y ago
  It didn't need to be, it was transparent because it was glass. They traded the formula for the glass. The company didn't manufacture transparent aluminum on the spot and give it to them.
  - mrfusion 7y ago
    My question is more, why not I’m just use steel or aluminum?
    - carapace 7y ago
      Because then you wouldn't get to see the whales. It's just a movie. :-)
  - StephanTLavavej 7y ago
    Plexiglass: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Plexicorp https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Plexicorp
dreamcompiler 7y ago
Aye laddie. Indeed. Now if we only had computers we could talk to. (Without trying to sell us something in the process.)
cellular 7y ago
I never understood why the whales needed to see outside their tank.

twic 7y ago

> But a team in the US showed this isn't the case for metallic vanadium dioxide (VO2) - a material that's already well known for its strange ability to switch from a see-through insulator to a conductive metal at the temperature of 67 degrees Celsius (152 degrees Fahrenheit). The next time you need to do whale sous-vide, i think.

the8472 7y ago
The transition temperature can be tuned with dopants[0]. And the switching happens from transparent at low temperatures to reflective at higher temperatures. That said, its highest transmittance is in the infrared, it's not that great in the visible spectrum. [0] https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/bitstream/handle/10220/25845/for-your-whale-tank.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/bitstream/handle/10220/25845/for-your-...

ianai 7y ago

Is that a Star Trek movie reference?

dghughes 7y ago
Yes. Original series when they went back in time. Scotty showed an earth engineer how to make transparent aluminum.
- mike_hock 7y ago
  A keyboard? How quaint!
  - Jgrubb 7y ago
    proceeds to type at 400 wpm...
    - mike_hock 7y ago
      Also makes you wonder how he was going to input that into the computer using voice commands.
      - zeeZ 7y ago
        It's not as surprising of you can imagine all the stuff probably going on in the background when you say "<assistant of choice>, play the next episode of Star Trek on my TV"
        mike_hock 7y ago
        Lots of stuff going on, but based on concepts known to the developers. He had to teach the computer how to synthesize a hitherto unknown substance. Can't get around the information entropy of the stuff he'd've had to input into the computer.
        Godel_unicode 7y ago
        How hard is it to say "take $known_aluminum_alloy and add $dopant using $heating_process"?
      - dghughes 7y ago
        Obviously by using the corded speakerphone "Hello computer".
    - furgooswft13 7y ago
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkqiDu1BQXY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkqiDu1BQXY Using mostly his index fingers. Suck it vim users, your editor has nothing on MOLECULAR DESIGN for System 3.0
- ars 7y ago
  > how to make transparent aluminum Which is just alumna (aluminium oxide, AKA ruby and other gems).
  - agumonkey 7y ago
    Homelab torch process can be seen on YouTube

mrfusion 7y ago

I never understood why the tank needed to be transparent.

carapace 7y ago
It didn't need to be, it was transparent because it was glass. They traded the formula for the glass. The company didn't manufacture transparent aluminum on the spot and give it to them.
- mrfusion 7y ago
  My question is more, why not I’m just use steel or aluminum?
  - carapace 7y ago
    Because then you wouldn't get to see the whales. It's just a movie. :-)
- StephanTLavavej 7y ago
  Plexiglass: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Plexicorp https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Plexicorp

dreamcompiler 7y ago

Aye laddie. Indeed. Now if we only had computers we could talk to. (Without trying to sell us something in the process.)

cellular 7y ago

I never understood why the whales needed to see outside their tank.