4 ms·

It still amazes me that some of the best materials we can obtain have to be grown by living organisms, and cannot be synthesised. Lumber, leather, wool...

CyberDildonics 6y ago
That would be fascinating it were true, but it isn't. Wood isn't the best material, it is the cheapest, because it is already made and just waiting to be harvested.
- m463 6y ago
  Balsa wood is pretty amazing. Took us a long time to come up with a good carbon fiber tech tree.
  - CyberDildonics 6y ago
    Balsa wood is extremely fragile. > Took us a long time to come up with a good carbon fiber tech tree. I don't know what this is supposed to mean
    - canadianfella 6y ago
      He played civilization. Doesn’t mean much at all.
    - m463 6y ago
      Balsa wood is extremely durable for its weight. > carbon fiber I think the "tech tree" of wood products has been around for hundreds of years. It's only been the last few decades where we have developed synthetic materials that were strong AND light. I would say carbon fiber and other composites have really only come into their element maybe since the 80's so with cost-insensitive projects like military jets.
      - CyberDildonics 6y ago
        > Balsa wood is extremely durable for its weight. Maybe compared to other wood. It is one step above cardboard. Why are you even bringing up carbon fiber? The above post was saying we can't create anything better than wood based on a title of a skyscraper being made of wood. The building isn't actually a skyscraper, it is actually made of wood, concrete and steel, and humanity isn't "struggling" to come up with better materials than wood. Wood is used because it has already been made. Airplanes, cars and boats aren't made out of balsa wood. They are made out of aluminum, steel and polymers. I have no idea how you hallucinated a reason to bring up carbon fiber. A single normal building made using more wood than normal does not mean anyone is 'struggling to come up with better materials than nature'. The above post is nonsense. Also if you look up specific strength you can see that balsa wood stacks up terribly compared to modern polymers and alloys. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_strength https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_strength
svachalek 6y ago
Life builds things molecule by molecule, sometimes atom by atom. It's very humbling to think about. We are a long, long way from being able to replicate that in manufacturing.
klyrs 6y ago
Don't forget teeth!
airhead969 6y ago
How is leather great? There are plenty of pleathers that work just fine that don't require skinning animals. How is wool great? It maybe somewhat warm but it's itchy, and prone to issues with water. Thinsulate is often superior.
- rich_sasha 6y ago
  Leather is strong, durable, water- and fire-resistant. For many applications, we don't have a better alternative. Wool clothing stays warm when wet, and has antiseptic properties, keeping it fresh for longer. Sure, for many applications, we have better alternatives, but often we just don't. Or they are not cost-effective, which to me is the same - we have something just-as-good, but harder to make. Another one is down for down jackets etc. Synthetic has its upsides, but we still can't make anything as warm, compact and light as down jackets.
  - jjeaff 6y ago
    Regarding leather, repairability is superior to most synthetic options too. You can literally sand it down and dye it and smooth it out again after it wears.
    - airhead969 6y ago
      Leather comes from animals and causes a lot of pollution. Nit: "Literally" is an unnecessary word in most circumstances.
      - snypher 6y ago
        Everyone is literally eating the animals and we use the leftover leather.
      - jjeaff 6y ago
        In this case, literally is there for a reason, albeit, imprecisely. It implies you can actually get sandpaper at the hardware store and use that to physically sand leather down like one sands wood. Rather that some specialty tool or process. And until we start killing cows and discarding the carcass just for the leather, I can't imagine the processing is any worse than synthetic, usually petroleum based substitutes.

CyberDildonics 6y ago

That would be fascinating it were true, but it isn't. Wood isn't the best material, it is the cheapest, because it is already made and just waiting to be harvested.

m463 6y ago
Balsa wood is pretty amazing. Took us a long time to come up with a good carbon fiber tech tree.
- CyberDildonics 6y ago
  Balsa wood is extremely fragile. > Took us a long time to come up with a good carbon fiber tech tree. I don't know what this is supposed to mean
  - canadianfella 6y ago
    He played civilization. Doesn’t mean much at all.
  - m463 6y ago
    Balsa wood is extremely durable for its weight. > carbon fiber I think the "tech tree" of wood products has been around for hundreds of years. It's only been the last few decades where we have developed synthetic materials that were strong AND light. I would say carbon fiber and other composites have really only come into their element maybe since the 80's so with cost-insensitive projects like military jets.
    - CyberDildonics 6y ago
      > Balsa wood is extremely durable for its weight. Maybe compared to other wood. It is one step above cardboard. Why are you even bringing up carbon fiber? The above post was saying we can't create anything better than wood based on a title of a skyscraper being made of wood. The building isn't actually a skyscraper, it is actually made of wood, concrete and steel, and humanity isn't "struggling" to come up with better materials than wood. Wood is used because it has already been made. Airplanes, cars and boats aren't made out of balsa wood. They are made out of aluminum, steel and polymers. I have no idea how you hallucinated a reason to bring up carbon fiber. A single normal building made using more wood than normal does not mean anyone is 'struggling to come up with better materials than nature'. The above post is nonsense. Also if you look up specific strength you can see that balsa wood stacks up terribly compared to modern polymers and alloys. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_strength https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_strength

svachalek 6y ago

Life builds things molecule by molecule, sometimes atom by atom. It's very humbling to think about. We are a long, long way from being able to replicate that in manufacturing.

klyrs 6y ago

Don't forget teeth!

airhead969 6y ago

How is leather great? There are plenty of pleathers that work just fine that don't require skinning animals. How is wool great? It maybe somewhat warm but it's itchy, and prone to issues with water. Thinsulate is often superior.

rich_sasha 6y ago
Leather is strong, durable, water- and fire-resistant. For many applications, we don't have a better alternative. Wool clothing stays warm when wet, and has antiseptic properties, keeping it fresh for longer. Sure, for many applications, we have better alternatives, but often we just don't. Or they are not cost-effective, which to me is the same - we have something just-as-good, but harder to make. Another one is down for down jackets etc. Synthetic has its upsides, but we still can't make anything as warm, compact and light as down jackets.
- jjeaff 6y ago
  Regarding leather, repairability is superior to most synthetic options too. You can literally sand it down and dye it and smooth it out again after it wears.
  - airhead969 6y ago
    Leather comes from animals and causes a lot of pollution. Nit: "Literally" is an unnecessary word in most circumstances.
    - snypher 6y ago
      Everyone is literally eating the animals and we use the leftover leather.
    - jjeaff 6y ago
      In this case, literally is there for a reason, albeit, imprecisely. It implies you can actually get sandpaper at the hardware store and use that to physically sand leather down like one sands wood. Rather that some specialty tool or process. And until we start killing cows and discarding the carcass just for the leather, I can't imagine the processing is any worse than synthetic, usually petroleum based substitutes.