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How could indestructible materials be used in power generation?

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How could indestructible materials be used in power generation?


How to make money from a browser who sees 5 seconds into the future of any web page?What power generation method is the best to sustain a hovering city?How realistic is the power generation depicted in The Legend of Korra?How long can a power plant continue to generate electricity without maintenance by people?Wireless power generation in a fleet of spaceshipsHow could a mammalian body provide substantial electrical power through non-harmful, “passive” means?Wall thickness depending on the building materials usedWhat materials can be used to construct a massive aerially placed quantum random computer?Could charged plasma be used as a working fluid to spin a magnetic turbine to generate electricity?Cryosleep antifreeze, what possible materials could be used?By any scientific/pseudo-scientific means could plasma be used to increase the lifespans of living creatures?













4












$begingroup$


Background:



In this scenario assume technology is initially equal to our own, but a method is discovered to render material indestructible. The affected material is treated as requiring infinite or arbitrarily high amounts of energy to break any of its bonds whether they be nuclear or chemical (this does mean a previously radioactive material will no longer be able to decay).

Indestructible material can deform provided this wouldn't require breaking bonds or stretching them beyond what would have been possible for the starting material.



The process to make something indestructible costs hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter affected so answers should be limited to scenarios where using such an expensive material makes financial sense. Making an object indestructible involves placing it in a sealed reaction chamber and applying the Mcguffin effect to everything within, so you can't make only part of a contiguous object indestructible.



My Question: So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?



At the very least though I'd imagine there's great utility for power generation in taking advantage of this Mcguffin's ability to easily contain extreme pressures indefinitely (emitting energy through radiation, heat emitted by the vessel and light if the vessel is transparent).










share|improve this question









$endgroup$











  • $begingroup$
    What are the properties of the material? For instance, it's thermo-conductive and electro-conductive properties? If it transfers heat well then one could simply dig a deep hole put in a rod of the stuff using the heat from below the earth to boil water and run a steam turbine.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    2 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Rob The properties of the material are mostly the same as they were before it was made indestructible. The main difference is just that you can't cause any bonds within the material to break. So if you applied the process to say silver it should retain its conductivity.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    This question is a successful graduate of the Sandbox.
    $endgroup$
    – JBH
    54 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    What happens if I put a super paper thin material in the chamber and then cover my machine in the material? Does it effectively armor my machine and make it indestructible?
    $endgroup$
    – Muuski
    27 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Does this process work on fluids? That is, if I put a fluid in the reaction chamber and push the button, do I get a substance that is always a fluid, irrespective of temperature and pressure? If it does, can I split the fluid into multiple containers, or is it forced to stay in one continuous mass?
    $endgroup$
    – asgallant
    20 mins ago















4












$begingroup$


Background:



In this scenario assume technology is initially equal to our own, but a method is discovered to render material indestructible. The affected material is treated as requiring infinite or arbitrarily high amounts of energy to break any of its bonds whether they be nuclear or chemical (this does mean a previously radioactive material will no longer be able to decay).

Indestructible material can deform provided this wouldn't require breaking bonds or stretching them beyond what would have been possible for the starting material.



The process to make something indestructible costs hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter affected so answers should be limited to scenarios where using such an expensive material makes financial sense. Making an object indestructible involves placing it in a sealed reaction chamber and applying the Mcguffin effect to everything within, so you can't make only part of a contiguous object indestructible.



My Question: So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?



At the very least though I'd imagine there's great utility for power generation in taking advantage of this Mcguffin's ability to easily contain extreme pressures indefinitely (emitting energy through radiation, heat emitted by the vessel and light if the vessel is transparent).










share|improve this question









$endgroup$











  • $begingroup$
    What are the properties of the material? For instance, it's thermo-conductive and electro-conductive properties? If it transfers heat well then one could simply dig a deep hole put in a rod of the stuff using the heat from below the earth to boil water and run a steam turbine.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    2 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Rob The properties of the material are mostly the same as they were before it was made indestructible. The main difference is just that you can't cause any bonds within the material to break. So if you applied the process to say silver it should retain its conductivity.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    This question is a successful graduate of the Sandbox.
    $endgroup$
    – JBH
    54 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    What happens if I put a super paper thin material in the chamber and then cover my machine in the material? Does it effectively armor my machine and make it indestructible?
    $endgroup$
    – Muuski
    27 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Does this process work on fluids? That is, if I put a fluid in the reaction chamber and push the button, do I get a substance that is always a fluid, irrespective of temperature and pressure? If it does, can I split the fluid into multiple containers, or is it forced to stay in one continuous mass?
    $endgroup$
    – asgallant
    20 mins ago













4












4








4





$begingroup$


Background:



In this scenario assume technology is initially equal to our own, but a method is discovered to render material indestructible. The affected material is treated as requiring infinite or arbitrarily high amounts of energy to break any of its bonds whether they be nuclear or chemical (this does mean a previously radioactive material will no longer be able to decay).

Indestructible material can deform provided this wouldn't require breaking bonds or stretching them beyond what would have been possible for the starting material.



The process to make something indestructible costs hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter affected so answers should be limited to scenarios where using such an expensive material makes financial sense. Making an object indestructible involves placing it in a sealed reaction chamber and applying the Mcguffin effect to everything within, so you can't make only part of a contiguous object indestructible.



My Question: So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?



At the very least though I'd imagine there's great utility for power generation in taking advantage of this Mcguffin's ability to easily contain extreme pressures indefinitely (emitting energy through radiation, heat emitted by the vessel and light if the vessel is transparent).










share|improve this question









$endgroup$




Background:



In this scenario assume technology is initially equal to our own, but a method is discovered to render material indestructible. The affected material is treated as requiring infinite or arbitrarily high amounts of energy to break any of its bonds whether they be nuclear or chemical (this does mean a previously radioactive material will no longer be able to decay).

Indestructible material can deform provided this wouldn't require breaking bonds or stretching them beyond what would have been possible for the starting material.



The process to make something indestructible costs hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter affected so answers should be limited to scenarios where using such an expensive material makes financial sense. Making an object indestructible involves placing it in a sealed reaction chamber and applying the Mcguffin effect to everything within, so you can't make only part of a contiguous object indestructible.



My Question: So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?



At the very least though I'd imagine there's great utility for power generation in taking advantage of this Mcguffin's ability to easily contain extreme pressures indefinitely (emitting energy through radiation, heat emitted by the vessel and light if the vessel is transparent).







science-based technology physics chemistry power-sources






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 3 hours ago









Vakus DrakeVakus Drake

865928




865928











  • $begingroup$
    What are the properties of the material? For instance, it's thermo-conductive and electro-conductive properties? If it transfers heat well then one could simply dig a deep hole put in a rod of the stuff using the heat from below the earth to boil water and run a steam turbine.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    2 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Rob The properties of the material are mostly the same as they were before it was made indestructible. The main difference is just that you can't cause any bonds within the material to break. So if you applied the process to say silver it should retain its conductivity.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    This question is a successful graduate of the Sandbox.
    $endgroup$
    – JBH
    54 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    What happens if I put a super paper thin material in the chamber and then cover my machine in the material? Does it effectively armor my machine and make it indestructible?
    $endgroup$
    – Muuski
    27 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Does this process work on fluids? That is, if I put a fluid in the reaction chamber and push the button, do I get a substance that is always a fluid, irrespective of temperature and pressure? If it does, can I split the fluid into multiple containers, or is it forced to stay in one continuous mass?
    $endgroup$
    – asgallant
    20 mins ago
















  • $begingroup$
    What are the properties of the material? For instance, it's thermo-conductive and electro-conductive properties? If it transfers heat well then one could simply dig a deep hole put in a rod of the stuff using the heat from below the earth to boil water and run a steam turbine.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    2 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Rob The properties of the material are mostly the same as they were before it was made indestructible. The main difference is just that you can't cause any bonds within the material to break. So if you applied the process to say silver it should retain its conductivity.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    This question is a successful graduate of the Sandbox.
    $endgroup$
    – JBH
    54 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    What happens if I put a super paper thin material in the chamber and then cover my machine in the material? Does it effectively armor my machine and make it indestructible?
    $endgroup$
    – Muuski
    27 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Does this process work on fluids? That is, if I put a fluid in the reaction chamber and push the button, do I get a substance that is always a fluid, irrespective of temperature and pressure? If it does, can I split the fluid into multiple containers, or is it forced to stay in one continuous mass?
    $endgroup$
    – asgallant
    20 mins ago















$begingroup$
What are the properties of the material? For instance, it's thermo-conductive and electro-conductive properties? If it transfers heat well then one could simply dig a deep hole put in a rod of the stuff using the heat from below the earth to boil water and run a steam turbine.
$endgroup$
– Rob
2 hours ago




$begingroup$
What are the properties of the material? For instance, it's thermo-conductive and electro-conductive properties? If it transfers heat well then one could simply dig a deep hole put in a rod of the stuff using the heat from below the earth to boil water and run a steam turbine.
$endgroup$
– Rob
2 hours ago












$begingroup$
@Rob The properties of the material are mostly the same as they were before it was made indestructible. The main difference is just that you can't cause any bonds within the material to break. So if you applied the process to say silver it should retain its conductivity.
$endgroup$
– Vakus Drake
1 hour ago




$begingroup$
@Rob The properties of the material are mostly the same as they were before it was made indestructible. The main difference is just that you can't cause any bonds within the material to break. So if you applied the process to say silver it should retain its conductivity.
$endgroup$
– Vakus Drake
1 hour ago












$begingroup$
This question is a successful graduate of the Sandbox.
$endgroup$
– JBH
54 mins ago




$begingroup$
This question is a successful graduate of the Sandbox.
$endgroup$
– JBH
54 mins ago












$begingroup$
What happens if I put a super paper thin material in the chamber and then cover my machine in the material? Does it effectively armor my machine and make it indestructible?
$endgroup$
– Muuski
27 mins ago




$begingroup$
What happens if I put a super paper thin material in the chamber and then cover my machine in the material? Does it effectively armor my machine and make it indestructible?
$endgroup$
– Muuski
27 mins ago




1




1




$begingroup$
Does this process work on fluids? That is, if I put a fluid in the reaction chamber and push the button, do I get a substance that is always a fluid, irrespective of temperature and pressure? If it does, can I split the fluid into multiple containers, or is it forced to stay in one continuous mass?
$endgroup$
– asgallant
20 mins ago




$begingroup$
Does this process work on fluids? That is, if I put a fluid in the reaction chamber and push the button, do I get a substance that is always a fluid, irrespective of temperature and pressure? If it does, can I split the fluid into multiple containers, or is it forced to stay in one continuous mass?
$endgroup$
– asgallant
20 mins ago










7 Answers
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active

oldest

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Easy Peasy. Fusion reactors.



The primary challenge involved with fusion power is maintaining containment, which is a big challenge given the pressures and temperatures involved. I've included a link below, but here's the important bit:



"Not only will the neutrons deposit energy in the blanket material, but their impact will convert atoms in the wall and blanket into radioactive forms. Materials will be needed that can extract heat effectively while surviving the neutron-induced structural weakening for extended periods of time."



http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/challenges/fusion.aspx



The TLDR is that currently a PHYSICAL containment solution is impossible, requiring magnetic solutions that suck up most, if not ALL of the power being generated. Your Macguffin would solve this neatly, allowing a simple machined or cast sphere to be turned into a perfect containment vessel for a fusion powerplant of pretty much any size you need.



EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it, it'd be a good solution for FISSION reactors as well, since a reactor vessel macguffin'd in the manner you describe wouldn't lose containment in a runaway nuclear reaction. The core could still melt down, but it'd stay in the reactor vessel. Your reactor would be destroyed, but it couldn't irradiate the entire powerplant ala Chernobyl or Fukushima.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    Your link doesn't work
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    2 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake weird... try now?
    $endgroup$
    – Morris The Cat
    2 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Yeah it works now, you just left the /fusion.aspx off the link at first
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    2 hours ago







  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Note that meltdowns in an indestructable crucible might be considered a feature not a failure... if you don't have to worry about your fuel elements remaining solid, you can run them at a much higher temperature, which is great for a thermal powerplant.
    $endgroup$
    – Starfish Prime
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @StarfishPrime If you have an idea for using these materials to construct a super high energy reactor you should make that into an answer, especially if you know enough about nuclear physics to give a more in depth description of how it would work.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago


















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$begingroup$

Nuclear pressure containment is a good method.



Nukes have to be held together to make fission continue for as long as possible. If you hold 20 critical masses together for a full second, you'd generate the largest nuclear explosion ever made by humans.



With indestructible materials, you could hold them together for an hour. At those high energies, there are all sorts of effects that release even more energy.



Make a box out of indestructinum. Put a nuclear bomb in it. Detonate and let it build up fusion-capable pressure. Slowly vent it out to generate power. If your material conducts heat, put it in a very effective cooling system and generate power reactor-style.



Alternatively, vent it out quickly in the direction of someone rich until they give you what you want.






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Superb answer, wish I'd thought of it. +1
    $endgroup$
    – Agrajag
    1 hour ago


















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How could indestructible materials be used in power generation?





Energy storage.



If you can spin a flywheel to relativistic speeds on indestructable bearings using electromagnets (in vacuo), then you can use that flywheel as a lossless energy storage device.



enter image description here



Wikipedia 2019 - CCSA License



The energy density would be infinite (or limited by the unspecified arbitrary high amounts of energy in the question) - thus you would need a microscopic miniscule ammount, a nano-flywheel mounted on gimbals - radically reducing the price per flywheel and opening it up to mass marketing, totally outclassing all battery tech available today.



Not only the obvious solution to the supply and demand issues with windpower, but for vehicles - cars/planes, phones, power-tools, toys, mobile phones and of course space exploration.



Infinite energy storage in the size of a grain of sand.



Miniature Tactical Nuke:



Of course, this section is about political power generation.



To release all that energy in one instant - perhaps an object charged with just below the threshold of it's (unspecified arbitrary potential energy) capacity, could be placed near an enemy stronghold and fed that last few jouls of energy to tip it over the edge, that's the dark side, someone will find a way to weaponise it for sure, if not the leader of some isolationist sanctioned state, then a disaffected teenager.



Power of a civilisation through time travel.



Speculativley: Also it would have potential to enable time travel or at least the potential to send messages back in time as it would exhibit frame dragging. For a few hints on how this could be of tactical use see this answer to another question.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    I think the "Hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter" criteria excludes your disaffected teenagers. =P
    $endgroup$
    – Morris The Cat
    2 hours ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    I don't really understand how you propose to use this to violate causality since the indestructible material isn't made perfectly rigid (so you can't push/pull on one end of an indestructible rod and have the other end move instantly). Also being indestructible isn't going to make the pivots perfectly frictionless, so you're still going to be losing some energy to heat in your flywheels.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake Quite right, I've no Idea how causality violation would work, I'll edit to clear-up the bearings thing too.
    $endgroup$
    – Agrajag
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    I forsee a couple of issues... 1. charging up a micro flywheel to silly levels is going to require silly hardware (eg. enormous lasers or particle beams) which tend to be silly inefficient. Useful for specialist purposes, not for general purpose. 2. Indestructable does not imply frictionless. 3. extracting large amounts of energy at a useful rate from a miniature flywheel is going to be technically awkward...
    $endgroup$
    – Starfish Prime
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @StarfishPrime We can make X-ray tubes (ie EM in the 1/10 th of a nanometre range), creating a standing wave of a phase a little ahead or a little behind the induced hysteretic field can add or subtract energy from the flywheel: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_hysteresis They're frictionless because they're suspended in a magnetic field in a vacuum as stated.
    $endgroup$
    – Agrajag
    1 hour ago



















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"So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?"



Well, if you could make copper indestructible then you could use it as I mentioned in my comment. Simply dig a very deep hole and place a copper rod in it. The heat at the bottom of the hole would conduct through the rod to boil water at ground level. The boiling water would be used in a convention steam turbine and BAM nearly infinite free and clean energy. The only reason we don't already do this is because copper would melt at the temperatures needed to get enough heat conducting through the rod to boil water on the other end. That and it would be very hard to dig a hole that deep because all the drill bits would melt but since we can make indestructible drill bits, it should be no problem... heck, we could reach the core with indestructible material.






share|improve this answer








New contributor




Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






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  • $begingroup$
    I think you need to work on the logistics of that idea a bit more (though I can see some variation of it working): The copper rod would conduct heat to the surrounding stone so little heat would make it all the way to the surface, and magma can only conduct heat into/through the copper rod so quickly placing limits on power generation (especially given indestructible material is pretty expensive).
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @Vakus Drake Sure, agreed but people are already trying to do this with graphene because of its unique ability to conduct heat. You could surround the copper with a less thermal conductive material to reduce heat transfer to the surrounding rock. Copper conducts heat very well and very fast. See for yourself, grab a piece, hold one end in your fingers and put a lighter to the other end. You can boil water with a blow torch and a copper rod.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    1 hour ago







  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake In reality I wouldn't worry too much about logistics or details because an indestructible material would take an infinite amount of energy just to exist.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    1 hour ago


















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$begingroup$

For a more nerdy approach, you could build indestructible turbines.



(Disclaimer: My memories of thermodynamics are fading in the mists of time, so feel free to blast me in the comments if I'm wrong).



I remember that in thermal power generation (where water is heathed into steam, whose energy is used to move a turbine), they were forced to limit the calor of the steam in output from the turbine, thus reducing the efficiency (basically, the colder the exiting steam, the better the efficiency).

The reason was that if the water steam was allowed to cool too much, it would condensate and create water droplets that would move so fast to act as bullets, damaging the turbine.

But an indestructible turbine could easily withstand this scenario, thus allowing for exploiting all the energy of the steam and generating more power.

Of course it is necessary to evaluate if the increase in efficiency is enough to compensate for the higher cost of the indestructible turbine.






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$




















    0












    $begingroup$

    While the fusion power example is the most practical, you can connect a massive solar collector in orbit to the ground via an indestructible fibre-optic cable, and send a laser pulse down the cable to a boiler powering a steam turbine. As a bonus, since the cable is indestructible, you could use it to tether a space elevator, and get cheap rides to orbit.






    share|improve this answer









    $endgroup$




















      0












      $begingroup$

      Sometimes the smallest thing has the largest impact



      Do you know how much wire you can extrude from a cubic meter of copper when you can trust it to be indestructible?1



      Indestructible insulating enamel + indestructible conductive wire = the perfect transformer/motor/generator.



      When was the last time you opened a power supply, motor housing, generator, or anything using inductive windings, and found the transformer/motor/coil burned out. For me, it was last week (literally, it was last week). If you could make both the wire used in the windings and the enamel used to coat the wires indestructible, what you would have is the perfect transformer/motor/generator.



      Yeah, but this stuff is expensive



      Which is why it would make sense for large items, like turbine-style power generators where the limit to the electricity you're generating is suddenly the mechanical stress limits of the linkages and not the heat-generating characteristics of the coils. Better still, indestructible windings and enamel means you can make the coils incredibly dense — and as coil density increases, so does power output. Your efficiency might actually approach unity. Imagine a wire that is no longer a fuse if too much power is put through it. There is no longer too much power, the limitation is literally the speed electrons can be induced to move through the wire.



      And if you expand to power utilization, the applications become … impressive



      Miniature motors that can turn the propellers on a submarine? Dock 6. Full-size motors that push submarines at tsunami-creating speeds? Dock 2. Car alternators the size of your thumb? Aisle 14. A Dremel the size of a pencil? Aisle 1. An electric car that actually works climbing the Rockies? The display arrives next week. A residential wind turbine that actually powers an entire house? We have on the roof, you can see it as you enter the building.



      The process may be expensive, but the material requirements (in terms of how much you need) drop like a rock when you can trust the wire and enamel to be indestructible. The process of making things indestructible would benefit almost any application at any price. A steam boiler the size of a Buick enjoying such high pressure that it can pull a mile-long train? On display by the front counter.



      Disclaimer: at hundreds of millions of dollars per-cubic-meter there it is unlikely that any application is worth it. Unless you can jack the price through the roof, the cost recovery time at that price relegates the material to use (not necessarily power generation) in remote locations (like space) where repair costs even more. A spaceship hull would be worth that price. I frankly can't imagine any power generation/utilization solution that ever would. Not even fusion. The cost of using something less capable would be so much more economical that such a solution would only happen as a test, never a commercial solution. So, a frame challenge concerning the price.




      1A cubic meter of copper weighs 8,930 Kg. 40 Gauge wire weighs 0.04454 grams/meter for 200,490.6 Kilometers of wire. That's enough wire to wrap the equator 5 times.2 And you might be able to use thinner wire than that. It's a lot of honking wire.



      2Of course, the wire is indestructible. If you wrapped the equator just once and tied the two ends to space ships, assuming a reasonable amount of thrust, could you garrote the world in half? It gets the mind wondering, doesn't it?






      share|improve this answer









      $endgroup$












      • $begingroup$
        Unfortunately you can't make complex machines out of this material. In the question it states that the material can deform but cannot break. So for example, gears under a lot of stress are going to mush themselves into useless circles. Valves won't break but they will leak, a lot. The list goes on.
        $endgroup$
        – Muuski
        5 mins ago











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      7 Answers
      7






      active

      oldest

      votes








      7 Answers
      7






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes









      8












      $begingroup$

      Easy Peasy. Fusion reactors.



      The primary challenge involved with fusion power is maintaining containment, which is a big challenge given the pressures and temperatures involved. I've included a link below, but here's the important bit:



      "Not only will the neutrons deposit energy in the blanket material, but their impact will convert atoms in the wall and blanket into radioactive forms. Materials will be needed that can extract heat effectively while surviving the neutron-induced structural weakening for extended periods of time."



      http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/challenges/fusion.aspx



      The TLDR is that currently a PHYSICAL containment solution is impossible, requiring magnetic solutions that suck up most, if not ALL of the power being generated. Your Macguffin would solve this neatly, allowing a simple machined or cast sphere to be turned into a perfect containment vessel for a fusion powerplant of pretty much any size you need.



      EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it, it'd be a good solution for FISSION reactors as well, since a reactor vessel macguffin'd in the manner you describe wouldn't lose containment in a runaway nuclear reaction. The core could still melt down, but it'd stay in the reactor vessel. Your reactor would be destroyed, but it couldn't irradiate the entire powerplant ala Chernobyl or Fukushima.






      share|improve this answer











      $endgroup$












      • $begingroup$
        Your link doesn't work
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        2 hours ago










      • $begingroup$
        @VakusDrake weird... try now?
        $endgroup$
        – Morris The Cat
        2 hours ago










      • $begingroup$
        Yeah it works now, you just left the /fusion.aspx off the link at first
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        2 hours ago







      • 2




        $begingroup$
        Note that meltdowns in an indestructable crucible might be considered a feature not a failure... if you don't have to worry about your fuel elements remaining solid, you can run them at a much higher temperature, which is great for a thermal powerplant.
        $endgroup$
        – Starfish Prime
        1 hour ago










      • $begingroup$
        @StarfishPrime If you have an idea for using these materials to construct a super high energy reactor you should make that into an answer, especially if you know enough about nuclear physics to give a more in depth description of how it would work.
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        1 hour ago















      8












      $begingroup$

      Easy Peasy. Fusion reactors.



      The primary challenge involved with fusion power is maintaining containment, which is a big challenge given the pressures and temperatures involved. I've included a link below, but here's the important bit:



      "Not only will the neutrons deposit energy in the blanket material, but their impact will convert atoms in the wall and blanket into radioactive forms. Materials will be needed that can extract heat effectively while surviving the neutron-induced structural weakening for extended periods of time."



      http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/challenges/fusion.aspx



      The TLDR is that currently a PHYSICAL containment solution is impossible, requiring magnetic solutions that suck up most, if not ALL of the power being generated. Your Macguffin would solve this neatly, allowing a simple machined or cast sphere to be turned into a perfect containment vessel for a fusion powerplant of pretty much any size you need.



      EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it, it'd be a good solution for FISSION reactors as well, since a reactor vessel macguffin'd in the manner you describe wouldn't lose containment in a runaway nuclear reaction. The core could still melt down, but it'd stay in the reactor vessel. Your reactor would be destroyed, but it couldn't irradiate the entire powerplant ala Chernobyl or Fukushima.






      share|improve this answer











      $endgroup$












      • $begingroup$
        Your link doesn't work
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        2 hours ago










      • $begingroup$
        @VakusDrake weird... try now?
        $endgroup$
        – Morris The Cat
        2 hours ago










      • $begingroup$
        Yeah it works now, you just left the /fusion.aspx off the link at first
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        2 hours ago







      • 2




        $begingroup$
        Note that meltdowns in an indestructable crucible might be considered a feature not a failure... if you don't have to worry about your fuel elements remaining solid, you can run them at a much higher temperature, which is great for a thermal powerplant.
        $endgroup$
        – Starfish Prime
        1 hour ago










      • $begingroup$
        @StarfishPrime If you have an idea for using these materials to construct a super high energy reactor you should make that into an answer, especially if you know enough about nuclear physics to give a more in depth description of how it would work.
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        1 hour ago













      8












      8








      8





      $begingroup$

      Easy Peasy. Fusion reactors.



      The primary challenge involved with fusion power is maintaining containment, which is a big challenge given the pressures and temperatures involved. I've included a link below, but here's the important bit:



      "Not only will the neutrons deposit energy in the blanket material, but their impact will convert atoms in the wall and blanket into radioactive forms. Materials will be needed that can extract heat effectively while surviving the neutron-induced structural weakening for extended periods of time."



      http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/challenges/fusion.aspx



      The TLDR is that currently a PHYSICAL containment solution is impossible, requiring magnetic solutions that suck up most, if not ALL of the power being generated. Your Macguffin would solve this neatly, allowing a simple machined or cast sphere to be turned into a perfect containment vessel for a fusion powerplant of pretty much any size you need.



      EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it, it'd be a good solution for FISSION reactors as well, since a reactor vessel macguffin'd in the manner you describe wouldn't lose containment in a runaway nuclear reaction. The core could still melt down, but it'd stay in the reactor vessel. Your reactor would be destroyed, but it couldn't irradiate the entire powerplant ala Chernobyl or Fukushima.






      share|improve this answer











      $endgroup$



      Easy Peasy. Fusion reactors.



      The primary challenge involved with fusion power is maintaining containment, which is a big challenge given the pressures and temperatures involved. I've included a link below, but here's the important bit:



      "Not only will the neutrons deposit energy in the blanket material, but their impact will convert atoms in the wall and blanket into radioactive forms. Materials will be needed that can extract heat effectively while surviving the neutron-induced structural weakening for extended periods of time."



      http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/challenges/fusion.aspx



      The TLDR is that currently a PHYSICAL containment solution is impossible, requiring magnetic solutions that suck up most, if not ALL of the power being generated. Your Macguffin would solve this neatly, allowing a simple machined or cast sphere to be turned into a perfect containment vessel for a fusion powerplant of pretty much any size you need.



      EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it, it'd be a good solution for FISSION reactors as well, since a reactor vessel macguffin'd in the manner you describe wouldn't lose containment in a runaway nuclear reaction. The core could still melt down, but it'd stay in the reactor vessel. Your reactor would be destroyed, but it couldn't irradiate the entire powerplant ala Chernobyl or Fukushima.







      share|improve this answer














      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer








      edited 2 hours ago

























      answered 3 hours ago









      Morris The CatMorris The Cat

      3,304521




      3,304521











      • $begingroup$
        Your link doesn't work
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        2 hours ago










      • $begingroup$
        @VakusDrake weird... try now?
        $endgroup$
        – Morris The Cat
        2 hours ago










      • $begingroup$
        Yeah it works now, you just left the /fusion.aspx off the link at first
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        2 hours ago







      • 2




        $begingroup$
        Note that meltdowns in an indestructable crucible might be considered a feature not a failure... if you don't have to worry about your fuel elements remaining solid, you can run them at a much higher temperature, which is great for a thermal powerplant.
        $endgroup$
        – Starfish Prime
        1 hour ago










      • $begingroup$
        @StarfishPrime If you have an idea for using these materials to construct a super high energy reactor you should make that into an answer, especially if you know enough about nuclear physics to give a more in depth description of how it would work.
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        1 hour ago
















      • $begingroup$
        Your link doesn't work
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        2 hours ago










      • $begingroup$
        @VakusDrake weird... try now?
        $endgroup$
        – Morris The Cat
        2 hours ago










      • $begingroup$
        Yeah it works now, you just left the /fusion.aspx off the link at first
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        2 hours ago







      • 2




        $begingroup$
        Note that meltdowns in an indestructable crucible might be considered a feature not a failure... if you don't have to worry about your fuel elements remaining solid, you can run them at a much higher temperature, which is great for a thermal powerplant.
        $endgroup$
        – Starfish Prime
        1 hour ago










      • $begingroup$
        @StarfishPrime If you have an idea for using these materials to construct a super high energy reactor you should make that into an answer, especially if you know enough about nuclear physics to give a more in depth description of how it would work.
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        1 hour ago















      $begingroup$
      Your link doesn't work
      $endgroup$
      – Vakus Drake
      2 hours ago




      $begingroup$
      Your link doesn't work
      $endgroup$
      – Vakus Drake
      2 hours ago












      $begingroup$
      @VakusDrake weird... try now?
      $endgroup$
      – Morris The Cat
      2 hours ago




      $begingroup$
      @VakusDrake weird... try now?
      $endgroup$
      – Morris The Cat
      2 hours ago












      $begingroup$
      Yeah it works now, you just left the /fusion.aspx off the link at first
      $endgroup$
      – Vakus Drake
      2 hours ago





      $begingroup$
      Yeah it works now, you just left the /fusion.aspx off the link at first
      $endgroup$
      – Vakus Drake
      2 hours ago





      2




      2




      $begingroup$
      Note that meltdowns in an indestructable crucible might be considered a feature not a failure... if you don't have to worry about your fuel elements remaining solid, you can run them at a much higher temperature, which is great for a thermal powerplant.
      $endgroup$
      – Starfish Prime
      1 hour ago




      $begingroup$
      Note that meltdowns in an indestructable crucible might be considered a feature not a failure... if you don't have to worry about your fuel elements remaining solid, you can run them at a much higher temperature, which is great for a thermal powerplant.
      $endgroup$
      – Starfish Prime
      1 hour ago












      $begingroup$
      @StarfishPrime If you have an idea for using these materials to construct a super high energy reactor you should make that into an answer, especially if you know enough about nuclear physics to give a more in depth description of how it would work.
      $endgroup$
      – Vakus Drake
      1 hour ago




      $begingroup$
      @StarfishPrime If you have an idea for using these materials to construct a super high energy reactor you should make that into an answer, especially if you know enough about nuclear physics to give a more in depth description of how it would work.
      $endgroup$
      – Vakus Drake
      1 hour ago











      4












      $begingroup$

      Nuclear pressure containment is a good method.



      Nukes have to be held together to make fission continue for as long as possible. If you hold 20 critical masses together for a full second, you'd generate the largest nuclear explosion ever made by humans.



      With indestructible materials, you could hold them together for an hour. At those high energies, there are all sorts of effects that release even more energy.



      Make a box out of indestructinum. Put a nuclear bomb in it. Detonate and let it build up fusion-capable pressure. Slowly vent it out to generate power. If your material conducts heat, put it in a very effective cooling system and generate power reactor-style.



      Alternatively, vent it out quickly in the direction of someone rich until they give you what you want.






      share|improve this answer









      $endgroup$








      • 1




        $begingroup$
        Superb answer, wish I'd thought of it. +1
        $endgroup$
        – Agrajag
        1 hour ago















      4












      $begingroup$

      Nuclear pressure containment is a good method.



      Nukes have to be held together to make fission continue for as long as possible. If you hold 20 critical masses together for a full second, you'd generate the largest nuclear explosion ever made by humans.



      With indestructible materials, you could hold them together for an hour. At those high energies, there are all sorts of effects that release even more energy.



      Make a box out of indestructinum. Put a nuclear bomb in it. Detonate and let it build up fusion-capable pressure. Slowly vent it out to generate power. If your material conducts heat, put it in a very effective cooling system and generate power reactor-style.



      Alternatively, vent it out quickly in the direction of someone rich until they give you what you want.






      share|improve this answer









      $endgroup$








      • 1




        $begingroup$
        Superb answer, wish I'd thought of it. +1
        $endgroup$
        – Agrajag
        1 hour ago













      4












      4








      4





      $begingroup$

      Nuclear pressure containment is a good method.



      Nukes have to be held together to make fission continue for as long as possible. If you hold 20 critical masses together for a full second, you'd generate the largest nuclear explosion ever made by humans.



      With indestructible materials, you could hold them together for an hour. At those high energies, there are all sorts of effects that release even more energy.



      Make a box out of indestructinum. Put a nuclear bomb in it. Detonate and let it build up fusion-capable pressure. Slowly vent it out to generate power. If your material conducts heat, put it in a very effective cooling system and generate power reactor-style.



      Alternatively, vent it out quickly in the direction of someone rich until they give you what you want.






      share|improve this answer









      $endgroup$



      Nuclear pressure containment is a good method.



      Nukes have to be held together to make fission continue for as long as possible. If you hold 20 critical masses together for a full second, you'd generate the largest nuclear explosion ever made by humans.



      With indestructible materials, you could hold them together for an hour. At those high energies, there are all sorts of effects that release even more energy.



      Make a box out of indestructinum. Put a nuclear bomb in it. Detonate and let it build up fusion-capable pressure. Slowly vent it out to generate power. If your material conducts heat, put it in a very effective cooling system and generate power reactor-style.



      Alternatively, vent it out quickly in the direction of someone rich until they give you what you want.







      share|improve this answer












      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer










      answered 1 hour ago









      Adrian HallAdrian Hall

      1,317114




      1,317114







      • 1




        $begingroup$
        Superb answer, wish I'd thought of it. +1
        $endgroup$
        – Agrajag
        1 hour ago












      • 1




        $begingroup$
        Superb answer, wish I'd thought of it. +1
        $endgroup$
        – Agrajag
        1 hour ago







      1




      1




      $begingroup$
      Superb answer, wish I'd thought of it. +1
      $endgroup$
      – Agrajag
      1 hour ago




      $begingroup$
      Superb answer, wish I'd thought of it. +1
      $endgroup$
      – Agrajag
      1 hour ago











      3












      $begingroup$


      How could indestructible materials be used in power generation?





      Energy storage.



      If you can spin a flywheel to relativistic speeds on indestructable bearings using electromagnets (in vacuo), then you can use that flywheel as a lossless energy storage device.



      enter image description here



      Wikipedia 2019 - CCSA License



      The energy density would be infinite (or limited by the unspecified arbitrary high amounts of energy in the question) - thus you would need a microscopic miniscule ammount, a nano-flywheel mounted on gimbals - radically reducing the price per flywheel and opening it up to mass marketing, totally outclassing all battery tech available today.



      Not only the obvious solution to the supply and demand issues with windpower, but for vehicles - cars/planes, phones, power-tools, toys, mobile phones and of course space exploration.



      Infinite energy storage in the size of a grain of sand.



      Miniature Tactical Nuke:



      Of course, this section is about political power generation.



      To release all that energy in one instant - perhaps an object charged with just below the threshold of it's (unspecified arbitrary potential energy) capacity, could be placed near an enemy stronghold and fed that last few jouls of energy to tip it over the edge, that's the dark side, someone will find a way to weaponise it for sure, if not the leader of some isolationist sanctioned state, then a disaffected teenager.



      Power of a civilisation through time travel.



      Speculativley: Also it would have potential to enable time travel or at least the potential to send messages back in time as it would exhibit frame dragging. For a few hints on how this could be of tactical use see this answer to another question.






      share|improve this answer











      $endgroup$












      • $begingroup$
        I think the "Hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter" criteria excludes your disaffected teenagers. =P
        $endgroup$
        – Morris The Cat
        2 hours ago






      • 1




        $begingroup$
        I don't really understand how you propose to use this to violate causality since the indestructible material isn't made perfectly rigid (so you can't push/pull on one end of an indestructible rod and have the other end move instantly). Also being indestructible isn't going to make the pivots perfectly frictionless, so you're still going to be losing some energy to heat in your flywheels.
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        1 hour ago






      • 1




        $begingroup$
        @VakusDrake Quite right, I've no Idea how causality violation would work, I'll edit to clear-up the bearings thing too.
        $endgroup$
        – Agrajag
        1 hour ago










      • $begingroup$
        I forsee a couple of issues... 1. charging up a micro flywheel to silly levels is going to require silly hardware (eg. enormous lasers or particle beams) which tend to be silly inefficient. Useful for specialist purposes, not for general purpose. 2. Indestructable does not imply frictionless. 3. extracting large amounts of energy at a useful rate from a miniature flywheel is going to be technically awkward...
        $endgroup$
        – Starfish Prime
        1 hour ago










      • $begingroup$
        @StarfishPrime We can make X-ray tubes (ie EM in the 1/10 th of a nanometre range), creating a standing wave of a phase a little ahead or a little behind the induced hysteretic field can add or subtract energy from the flywheel: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_hysteresis They're frictionless because they're suspended in a magnetic field in a vacuum as stated.
        $endgroup$
        – Agrajag
        1 hour ago
















      3












      $begingroup$


      How could indestructible materials be used in power generation?





      Energy storage.



      If you can spin a flywheel to relativistic speeds on indestructable bearings using electromagnets (in vacuo), then you can use that flywheel as a lossless energy storage device.



      enter image description here



      Wikipedia 2019 - CCSA License



      The energy density would be infinite (or limited by the unspecified arbitrary high amounts of energy in the question) - thus you would need a microscopic miniscule ammount, a nano-flywheel mounted on gimbals - radically reducing the price per flywheel and opening it up to mass marketing, totally outclassing all battery tech available today.



      Not only the obvious solution to the supply and demand issues with windpower, but for vehicles - cars/planes, phones, power-tools, toys, mobile phones and of course space exploration.



      Infinite energy storage in the size of a grain of sand.



      Miniature Tactical Nuke:



      Of course, this section is about political power generation.



      To release all that energy in one instant - perhaps an object charged with just below the threshold of it's (unspecified arbitrary potential energy) capacity, could be placed near an enemy stronghold and fed that last few jouls of energy to tip it over the edge, that's the dark side, someone will find a way to weaponise it for sure, if not the leader of some isolationist sanctioned state, then a disaffected teenager.



      Power of a civilisation through time travel.



      Speculativley: Also it would have potential to enable time travel or at least the potential to send messages back in time as it would exhibit frame dragging. For a few hints on how this could be of tactical use see this answer to another question.






      share|improve this answer











      $endgroup$












      • $begingroup$
        I think the "Hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter" criteria excludes your disaffected teenagers. =P
        $endgroup$
        – Morris The Cat
        2 hours ago






      • 1




        $begingroup$
        I don't really understand how you propose to use this to violate causality since the indestructible material isn't made perfectly rigid (so you can't push/pull on one end of an indestructible rod and have the other end move instantly). Also being indestructible isn't going to make the pivots perfectly frictionless, so you're still going to be losing some energy to heat in your flywheels.
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        1 hour ago






      • 1




        $begingroup$
        @VakusDrake Quite right, I've no Idea how causality violation would work, I'll edit to clear-up the bearings thing too.
        $endgroup$
        – Agrajag
        1 hour ago










      • $begingroup$
        I forsee a couple of issues... 1. charging up a micro flywheel to silly levels is going to require silly hardware (eg. enormous lasers or particle beams) which tend to be silly inefficient. Useful for specialist purposes, not for general purpose. 2. Indestructable does not imply frictionless. 3. extracting large amounts of energy at a useful rate from a miniature flywheel is going to be technically awkward...
        $endgroup$
        – Starfish Prime
        1 hour ago










      • $begingroup$
        @StarfishPrime We can make X-ray tubes (ie EM in the 1/10 th of a nanometre range), creating a standing wave of a phase a little ahead or a little behind the induced hysteretic field can add or subtract energy from the flywheel: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_hysteresis They're frictionless because they're suspended in a magnetic field in a vacuum as stated.
        $endgroup$
        – Agrajag
        1 hour ago














      3












      3








      3





      $begingroup$


      How could indestructible materials be used in power generation?





      Energy storage.



      If you can spin a flywheel to relativistic speeds on indestructable bearings using electromagnets (in vacuo), then you can use that flywheel as a lossless energy storage device.



      enter image description here



      Wikipedia 2019 - CCSA License



      The energy density would be infinite (or limited by the unspecified arbitrary high amounts of energy in the question) - thus you would need a microscopic miniscule ammount, a nano-flywheel mounted on gimbals - radically reducing the price per flywheel and opening it up to mass marketing, totally outclassing all battery tech available today.



      Not only the obvious solution to the supply and demand issues with windpower, but for vehicles - cars/planes, phones, power-tools, toys, mobile phones and of course space exploration.



      Infinite energy storage in the size of a grain of sand.



      Miniature Tactical Nuke:



      Of course, this section is about political power generation.



      To release all that energy in one instant - perhaps an object charged with just below the threshold of it's (unspecified arbitrary potential energy) capacity, could be placed near an enemy stronghold and fed that last few jouls of energy to tip it over the edge, that's the dark side, someone will find a way to weaponise it for sure, if not the leader of some isolationist sanctioned state, then a disaffected teenager.



      Power of a civilisation through time travel.



      Speculativley: Also it would have potential to enable time travel or at least the potential to send messages back in time as it would exhibit frame dragging. For a few hints on how this could be of tactical use see this answer to another question.






      share|improve this answer











      $endgroup$




      How could indestructible materials be used in power generation?





      Energy storage.



      If you can spin a flywheel to relativistic speeds on indestructable bearings using electromagnets (in vacuo), then you can use that flywheel as a lossless energy storage device.



      enter image description here



      Wikipedia 2019 - CCSA License



      The energy density would be infinite (or limited by the unspecified arbitrary high amounts of energy in the question) - thus you would need a microscopic miniscule ammount, a nano-flywheel mounted on gimbals - radically reducing the price per flywheel and opening it up to mass marketing, totally outclassing all battery tech available today.



      Not only the obvious solution to the supply and demand issues with windpower, but for vehicles - cars/planes, phones, power-tools, toys, mobile phones and of course space exploration.



      Infinite energy storage in the size of a grain of sand.



      Miniature Tactical Nuke:



      Of course, this section is about political power generation.



      To release all that energy in one instant - perhaps an object charged with just below the threshold of it's (unspecified arbitrary potential energy) capacity, could be placed near an enemy stronghold and fed that last few jouls of energy to tip it over the edge, that's the dark side, someone will find a way to weaponise it for sure, if not the leader of some isolationist sanctioned state, then a disaffected teenager.



      Power of a civilisation through time travel.



      Speculativley: Also it would have potential to enable time travel or at least the potential to send messages back in time as it would exhibit frame dragging. For a few hints on how this could be of tactical use see this answer to another question.







      share|improve this answer














      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer








      edited 1 hour ago

























      answered 2 hours ago









      AgrajagAgrajag

      6,47411347




      6,47411347











      • $begingroup$
        I think the "Hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter" criteria excludes your disaffected teenagers. =P
        $endgroup$
        – Morris The Cat
        2 hours ago






      • 1




        $begingroup$
        I don't really understand how you propose to use this to violate causality since the indestructible material isn't made perfectly rigid (so you can't push/pull on one end of an indestructible rod and have the other end move instantly). Also being indestructible isn't going to make the pivots perfectly frictionless, so you're still going to be losing some energy to heat in your flywheels.
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        1 hour ago






      • 1




        $begingroup$
        @VakusDrake Quite right, I've no Idea how causality violation would work, I'll edit to clear-up the bearings thing too.
        $endgroup$
        – Agrajag
        1 hour ago










      • $begingroup$
        I forsee a couple of issues... 1. charging up a micro flywheel to silly levels is going to require silly hardware (eg. enormous lasers or particle beams) which tend to be silly inefficient. Useful for specialist purposes, not for general purpose. 2. Indestructable does not imply frictionless. 3. extracting large amounts of energy at a useful rate from a miniature flywheel is going to be technically awkward...
        $endgroup$
        – Starfish Prime
        1 hour ago










      • $begingroup$
        @StarfishPrime We can make X-ray tubes (ie EM in the 1/10 th of a nanometre range), creating a standing wave of a phase a little ahead or a little behind the induced hysteretic field can add or subtract energy from the flywheel: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_hysteresis They're frictionless because they're suspended in a magnetic field in a vacuum as stated.
        $endgroup$
        – Agrajag
        1 hour ago

















      • $begingroup$
        I think the "Hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter" criteria excludes your disaffected teenagers. =P
        $endgroup$
        – Morris The Cat
        2 hours ago






      • 1




        $begingroup$
        I don't really understand how you propose to use this to violate causality since the indestructible material isn't made perfectly rigid (so you can't push/pull on one end of an indestructible rod and have the other end move instantly). Also being indestructible isn't going to make the pivots perfectly frictionless, so you're still going to be losing some energy to heat in your flywheels.
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        1 hour ago






      • 1




        $begingroup$
        @VakusDrake Quite right, I've no Idea how causality violation would work, I'll edit to clear-up the bearings thing too.
        $endgroup$
        – Agrajag
        1 hour ago










      • $begingroup$
        I forsee a couple of issues... 1. charging up a micro flywheel to silly levels is going to require silly hardware (eg. enormous lasers or particle beams) which tend to be silly inefficient. Useful for specialist purposes, not for general purpose. 2. Indestructable does not imply frictionless. 3. extracting large amounts of energy at a useful rate from a miniature flywheel is going to be technically awkward...
        $endgroup$
        – Starfish Prime
        1 hour ago










      • $begingroup$
        @StarfishPrime We can make X-ray tubes (ie EM in the 1/10 th of a nanometre range), creating a standing wave of a phase a little ahead or a little behind the induced hysteretic field can add or subtract energy from the flywheel: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_hysteresis They're frictionless because they're suspended in a magnetic field in a vacuum as stated.
        $endgroup$
        – Agrajag
        1 hour ago
















      $begingroup$
      I think the "Hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter" criteria excludes your disaffected teenagers. =P
      $endgroup$
      – Morris The Cat
      2 hours ago




      $begingroup$
      I think the "Hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter" criteria excludes your disaffected teenagers. =P
      $endgroup$
      – Morris The Cat
      2 hours ago




      1




      1




      $begingroup$
      I don't really understand how you propose to use this to violate causality since the indestructible material isn't made perfectly rigid (so you can't push/pull on one end of an indestructible rod and have the other end move instantly). Also being indestructible isn't going to make the pivots perfectly frictionless, so you're still going to be losing some energy to heat in your flywheels.
      $endgroup$
      – Vakus Drake
      1 hour ago




      $begingroup$
      I don't really understand how you propose to use this to violate causality since the indestructible material isn't made perfectly rigid (so you can't push/pull on one end of an indestructible rod and have the other end move instantly). Also being indestructible isn't going to make the pivots perfectly frictionless, so you're still going to be losing some energy to heat in your flywheels.
      $endgroup$
      – Vakus Drake
      1 hour ago




      1




      1




      $begingroup$
      @VakusDrake Quite right, I've no Idea how causality violation would work, I'll edit to clear-up the bearings thing too.
      $endgroup$
      – Agrajag
      1 hour ago




      $begingroup$
      @VakusDrake Quite right, I've no Idea how causality violation would work, I'll edit to clear-up the bearings thing too.
      $endgroup$
      – Agrajag
      1 hour ago












      $begingroup$
      I forsee a couple of issues... 1. charging up a micro flywheel to silly levels is going to require silly hardware (eg. enormous lasers or particle beams) which tend to be silly inefficient. Useful for specialist purposes, not for general purpose. 2. Indestructable does not imply frictionless. 3. extracting large amounts of energy at a useful rate from a miniature flywheel is going to be technically awkward...
      $endgroup$
      – Starfish Prime
      1 hour ago




      $begingroup$
      I forsee a couple of issues... 1. charging up a micro flywheel to silly levels is going to require silly hardware (eg. enormous lasers or particle beams) which tend to be silly inefficient. Useful for specialist purposes, not for general purpose. 2. Indestructable does not imply frictionless. 3. extracting large amounts of energy at a useful rate from a miniature flywheel is going to be technically awkward...
      $endgroup$
      – Starfish Prime
      1 hour ago












      $begingroup$
      @StarfishPrime We can make X-ray tubes (ie EM in the 1/10 th of a nanometre range), creating a standing wave of a phase a little ahead or a little behind the induced hysteretic field can add or subtract energy from the flywheel: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_hysteresis They're frictionless because they're suspended in a magnetic field in a vacuum as stated.
      $endgroup$
      – Agrajag
      1 hour ago





      $begingroup$
      @StarfishPrime We can make X-ray tubes (ie EM in the 1/10 th of a nanometre range), creating a standing wave of a phase a little ahead or a little behind the induced hysteretic field can add or subtract energy from the flywheel: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_hysteresis They're frictionless because they're suspended in a magnetic field in a vacuum as stated.
      $endgroup$
      – Agrajag
      1 hour ago












      0












      $begingroup$

      "So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?"



      Well, if you could make copper indestructible then you could use it as I mentioned in my comment. Simply dig a very deep hole and place a copper rod in it. The heat at the bottom of the hole would conduct through the rod to boil water at ground level. The boiling water would be used in a convention steam turbine and BAM nearly infinite free and clean energy. The only reason we don't already do this is because copper would melt at the temperatures needed to get enough heat conducting through the rod to boil water on the other end. That and it would be very hard to dig a hole that deep because all the drill bits would melt but since we can make indestructible drill bits, it should be no problem... heck, we could reach the core with indestructible material.






      share|improve this answer








      New contributor




      Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






      $endgroup$












      • $begingroup$
        I think you need to work on the logistics of that idea a bit more (though I can see some variation of it working): The copper rod would conduct heat to the surrounding stone so little heat would make it all the way to the surface, and magma can only conduct heat into/through the copper rod so quickly placing limits on power generation (especially given indestructible material is pretty expensive).
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        1 hour ago






      • 1




        $begingroup$
        @Vakus Drake Sure, agreed but people are already trying to do this with graphene because of its unique ability to conduct heat. You could surround the copper with a less thermal conductive material to reduce heat transfer to the surrounding rock. Copper conducts heat very well and very fast. See for yourself, grab a piece, hold one end in your fingers and put a lighter to the other end. You can boil water with a blow torch and a copper rod.
        $endgroup$
        – Rob
        1 hour ago







      • 1




        $begingroup$
        @VakusDrake In reality I wouldn't worry too much about logistics or details because an indestructible material would take an infinite amount of energy just to exist.
        $endgroup$
        – Rob
        1 hour ago















      0












      $begingroup$

      "So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?"



      Well, if you could make copper indestructible then you could use it as I mentioned in my comment. Simply dig a very deep hole and place a copper rod in it. The heat at the bottom of the hole would conduct through the rod to boil water at ground level. The boiling water would be used in a convention steam turbine and BAM nearly infinite free and clean energy. The only reason we don't already do this is because copper would melt at the temperatures needed to get enough heat conducting through the rod to boil water on the other end. That and it would be very hard to dig a hole that deep because all the drill bits would melt but since we can make indestructible drill bits, it should be no problem... heck, we could reach the core with indestructible material.






      share|improve this answer








      New contributor




      Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






      $endgroup$












      • $begingroup$
        I think you need to work on the logistics of that idea a bit more (though I can see some variation of it working): The copper rod would conduct heat to the surrounding stone so little heat would make it all the way to the surface, and magma can only conduct heat into/through the copper rod so quickly placing limits on power generation (especially given indestructible material is pretty expensive).
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        1 hour ago






      • 1




        $begingroup$
        @Vakus Drake Sure, agreed but people are already trying to do this with graphene because of its unique ability to conduct heat. You could surround the copper with a less thermal conductive material to reduce heat transfer to the surrounding rock. Copper conducts heat very well and very fast. See for yourself, grab a piece, hold one end in your fingers and put a lighter to the other end. You can boil water with a blow torch and a copper rod.
        $endgroup$
        – Rob
        1 hour ago







      • 1




        $begingroup$
        @VakusDrake In reality I wouldn't worry too much about logistics or details because an indestructible material would take an infinite amount of energy just to exist.
        $endgroup$
        – Rob
        1 hour ago













      0












      0








      0





      $begingroup$

      "So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?"



      Well, if you could make copper indestructible then you could use it as I mentioned in my comment. Simply dig a very deep hole and place a copper rod in it. The heat at the bottom of the hole would conduct through the rod to boil water at ground level. The boiling water would be used in a convention steam turbine and BAM nearly infinite free and clean energy. The only reason we don't already do this is because copper would melt at the temperatures needed to get enough heat conducting through the rod to boil water on the other end. That and it would be very hard to dig a hole that deep because all the drill bits would melt but since we can make indestructible drill bits, it should be no problem... heck, we could reach the core with indestructible material.






      share|improve this answer








      New contributor




      Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






      $endgroup$



      "So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?"



      Well, if you could make copper indestructible then you could use it as I mentioned in my comment. Simply dig a very deep hole and place a copper rod in it. The heat at the bottom of the hole would conduct through the rod to boil water at ground level. The boiling water would be used in a convention steam turbine and BAM nearly infinite free and clean energy. The only reason we don't already do this is because copper would melt at the temperatures needed to get enough heat conducting through the rod to boil water on the other end. That and it would be very hard to dig a hole that deep because all the drill bits would melt but since we can make indestructible drill bits, it should be no problem... heck, we could reach the core with indestructible material.







      share|improve this answer








      New contributor




      Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer






      New contributor




      Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      answered 1 hour ago









      RobRob

      2514




      2514




      New contributor




      Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.





      New contributor





      Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






      Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      • $begingroup$
        I think you need to work on the logistics of that idea a bit more (though I can see some variation of it working): The copper rod would conduct heat to the surrounding stone so little heat would make it all the way to the surface, and magma can only conduct heat into/through the copper rod so quickly placing limits on power generation (especially given indestructible material is pretty expensive).
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        1 hour ago






      • 1




        $begingroup$
        @Vakus Drake Sure, agreed but people are already trying to do this with graphene because of its unique ability to conduct heat. You could surround the copper with a less thermal conductive material to reduce heat transfer to the surrounding rock. Copper conducts heat very well and very fast. See for yourself, grab a piece, hold one end in your fingers and put a lighter to the other end. You can boil water with a blow torch and a copper rod.
        $endgroup$
        – Rob
        1 hour ago







      • 1




        $begingroup$
        @VakusDrake In reality I wouldn't worry too much about logistics or details because an indestructible material would take an infinite amount of energy just to exist.
        $endgroup$
        – Rob
        1 hour ago
















      • $begingroup$
        I think you need to work on the logistics of that idea a bit more (though I can see some variation of it working): The copper rod would conduct heat to the surrounding stone so little heat would make it all the way to the surface, and magma can only conduct heat into/through the copper rod so quickly placing limits on power generation (especially given indestructible material is pretty expensive).
        $endgroup$
        – Vakus Drake
        1 hour ago






      • 1




        $begingroup$
        @Vakus Drake Sure, agreed but people are already trying to do this with graphene because of its unique ability to conduct heat. You could surround the copper with a less thermal conductive material to reduce heat transfer to the surrounding rock. Copper conducts heat very well and very fast. See for yourself, grab a piece, hold one end in your fingers and put a lighter to the other end. You can boil water with a blow torch and a copper rod.
        $endgroup$
        – Rob
        1 hour ago







      • 1




        $begingroup$
        @VakusDrake In reality I wouldn't worry too much about logistics or details because an indestructible material would take an infinite amount of energy just to exist.
        $endgroup$
        – Rob
        1 hour ago















      $begingroup$
      I think you need to work on the logistics of that idea a bit more (though I can see some variation of it working): The copper rod would conduct heat to the surrounding stone so little heat would make it all the way to the surface, and magma can only conduct heat into/through the copper rod so quickly placing limits on power generation (especially given indestructible material is pretty expensive).
      $endgroup$
      – Vakus Drake
      1 hour ago




      $begingroup$
      I think you need to work on the logistics of that idea a bit more (though I can see some variation of it working): The copper rod would conduct heat to the surrounding stone so little heat would make it all the way to the surface, and magma can only conduct heat into/through the copper rod so quickly placing limits on power generation (especially given indestructible material is pretty expensive).
      $endgroup$
      – Vakus Drake
      1 hour ago




      1




      1




      $begingroup$
      @Vakus Drake Sure, agreed but people are already trying to do this with graphene because of its unique ability to conduct heat. You could surround the copper with a less thermal conductive material to reduce heat transfer to the surrounding rock. Copper conducts heat very well and very fast. See for yourself, grab a piece, hold one end in your fingers and put a lighter to the other end. You can boil water with a blow torch and a copper rod.
      $endgroup$
      – Rob
      1 hour ago





      $begingroup$
      @Vakus Drake Sure, agreed but people are already trying to do this with graphene because of its unique ability to conduct heat. You could surround the copper with a less thermal conductive material to reduce heat transfer to the surrounding rock. Copper conducts heat very well and very fast. See for yourself, grab a piece, hold one end in your fingers and put a lighter to the other end. You can boil water with a blow torch and a copper rod.
      $endgroup$
      – Rob
      1 hour ago





      1




      1




      $begingroup$
      @VakusDrake In reality I wouldn't worry too much about logistics or details because an indestructible material would take an infinite amount of energy just to exist.
      $endgroup$
      – Rob
      1 hour ago




      $begingroup$
      @VakusDrake In reality I wouldn't worry too much about logistics or details because an indestructible material would take an infinite amount of energy just to exist.
      $endgroup$
      – Rob
      1 hour ago











      0












      $begingroup$

      For a more nerdy approach, you could build indestructible turbines.



      (Disclaimer: My memories of thermodynamics are fading in the mists of time, so feel free to blast me in the comments if I'm wrong).



      I remember that in thermal power generation (where water is heathed into steam, whose energy is used to move a turbine), they were forced to limit the calor of the steam in output from the turbine, thus reducing the efficiency (basically, the colder the exiting steam, the better the efficiency).

      The reason was that if the water steam was allowed to cool too much, it would condensate and create water droplets that would move so fast to act as bullets, damaging the turbine.

      But an indestructible turbine could easily withstand this scenario, thus allowing for exploiting all the energy of the steam and generating more power.

      Of course it is necessary to evaluate if the increase in efficiency is enough to compensate for the higher cost of the indestructible turbine.






      share|improve this answer









      $endgroup$

















        0












        $begingroup$

        For a more nerdy approach, you could build indestructible turbines.



        (Disclaimer: My memories of thermodynamics are fading in the mists of time, so feel free to blast me in the comments if I'm wrong).



        I remember that in thermal power generation (where water is heathed into steam, whose energy is used to move a turbine), they were forced to limit the calor of the steam in output from the turbine, thus reducing the efficiency (basically, the colder the exiting steam, the better the efficiency).

        The reason was that if the water steam was allowed to cool too much, it would condensate and create water droplets that would move so fast to act as bullets, damaging the turbine.

        But an indestructible turbine could easily withstand this scenario, thus allowing for exploiting all the energy of the steam and generating more power.

        Of course it is necessary to evaluate if the increase in efficiency is enough to compensate for the higher cost of the indestructible turbine.






        share|improve this answer









        $endgroup$















          0












          0








          0





          $begingroup$

          For a more nerdy approach, you could build indestructible turbines.



          (Disclaimer: My memories of thermodynamics are fading in the mists of time, so feel free to blast me in the comments if I'm wrong).



          I remember that in thermal power generation (where water is heathed into steam, whose energy is used to move a turbine), they were forced to limit the calor of the steam in output from the turbine, thus reducing the efficiency (basically, the colder the exiting steam, the better the efficiency).

          The reason was that if the water steam was allowed to cool too much, it would condensate and create water droplets that would move so fast to act as bullets, damaging the turbine.

          But an indestructible turbine could easily withstand this scenario, thus allowing for exploiting all the energy of the steam and generating more power.

          Of course it is necessary to evaluate if the increase in efficiency is enough to compensate for the higher cost of the indestructible turbine.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$



          For a more nerdy approach, you could build indestructible turbines.



          (Disclaimer: My memories of thermodynamics are fading in the mists of time, so feel free to blast me in the comments if I'm wrong).



          I remember that in thermal power generation (where water is heathed into steam, whose energy is used to move a turbine), they were forced to limit the calor of the steam in output from the turbine, thus reducing the efficiency (basically, the colder the exiting steam, the better the efficiency).

          The reason was that if the water steam was allowed to cool too much, it would condensate and create water droplets that would move so fast to act as bullets, damaging the turbine.

          But an indestructible turbine could easily withstand this scenario, thus allowing for exploiting all the energy of the steam and generating more power.

          Of course it is necessary to evaluate if the increase in efficiency is enough to compensate for the higher cost of the indestructible turbine.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered 1 hour ago









          McTroopersMcTroopers

          8656




          8656





















              0












              $begingroup$

              While the fusion power example is the most practical, you can connect a massive solar collector in orbit to the ground via an indestructible fibre-optic cable, and send a laser pulse down the cable to a boiler powering a steam turbine. As a bonus, since the cable is indestructible, you could use it to tether a space elevator, and get cheap rides to orbit.






              share|improve this answer









              $endgroup$

















                0












                $begingroup$

                While the fusion power example is the most practical, you can connect a massive solar collector in orbit to the ground via an indestructible fibre-optic cable, and send a laser pulse down the cable to a boiler powering a steam turbine. As a bonus, since the cable is indestructible, you could use it to tether a space elevator, and get cheap rides to orbit.






                share|improve this answer









                $endgroup$















                  0












                  0








                  0





                  $begingroup$

                  While the fusion power example is the most practical, you can connect a massive solar collector in orbit to the ground via an indestructible fibre-optic cable, and send a laser pulse down the cable to a boiler powering a steam turbine. As a bonus, since the cable is indestructible, you could use it to tether a space elevator, and get cheap rides to orbit.






                  share|improve this answer









                  $endgroup$



                  While the fusion power example is the most practical, you can connect a massive solar collector in orbit to the ground via an indestructible fibre-optic cable, and send a laser pulse down the cable to a boiler powering a steam turbine. As a bonus, since the cable is indestructible, you could use it to tether a space elevator, and get cheap rides to orbit.







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered 30 mins ago









                  asgallantasgallant

                  1513




                  1513





















                      0












                      $begingroup$

                      Sometimes the smallest thing has the largest impact



                      Do you know how much wire you can extrude from a cubic meter of copper when you can trust it to be indestructible?1



                      Indestructible insulating enamel + indestructible conductive wire = the perfect transformer/motor/generator.



                      When was the last time you opened a power supply, motor housing, generator, or anything using inductive windings, and found the transformer/motor/coil burned out. For me, it was last week (literally, it was last week). If you could make both the wire used in the windings and the enamel used to coat the wires indestructible, what you would have is the perfect transformer/motor/generator.



                      Yeah, but this stuff is expensive



                      Which is why it would make sense for large items, like turbine-style power generators where the limit to the electricity you're generating is suddenly the mechanical stress limits of the linkages and not the heat-generating characteristics of the coils. Better still, indestructible windings and enamel means you can make the coils incredibly dense — and as coil density increases, so does power output. Your efficiency might actually approach unity. Imagine a wire that is no longer a fuse if too much power is put through it. There is no longer too much power, the limitation is literally the speed electrons can be induced to move through the wire.



                      And if you expand to power utilization, the applications become … impressive



                      Miniature motors that can turn the propellers on a submarine? Dock 6. Full-size motors that push submarines at tsunami-creating speeds? Dock 2. Car alternators the size of your thumb? Aisle 14. A Dremel the size of a pencil? Aisle 1. An electric car that actually works climbing the Rockies? The display arrives next week. A residential wind turbine that actually powers an entire house? We have on the roof, you can see it as you enter the building.



                      The process may be expensive, but the material requirements (in terms of how much you need) drop like a rock when you can trust the wire and enamel to be indestructible. The process of making things indestructible would benefit almost any application at any price. A steam boiler the size of a Buick enjoying such high pressure that it can pull a mile-long train? On display by the front counter.



                      Disclaimer: at hundreds of millions of dollars per-cubic-meter there it is unlikely that any application is worth it. Unless you can jack the price through the roof, the cost recovery time at that price relegates the material to use (not necessarily power generation) in remote locations (like space) where repair costs even more. A spaceship hull would be worth that price. I frankly can't imagine any power generation/utilization solution that ever would. Not even fusion. The cost of using something less capable would be so much more economical that such a solution would only happen as a test, never a commercial solution. So, a frame challenge concerning the price.




                      1A cubic meter of copper weighs 8,930 Kg. 40 Gauge wire weighs 0.04454 grams/meter for 200,490.6 Kilometers of wire. That's enough wire to wrap the equator 5 times.2 And you might be able to use thinner wire than that. It's a lot of honking wire.



                      2Of course, the wire is indestructible. If you wrapped the equator just once and tied the two ends to space ships, assuming a reasonable amount of thrust, could you garrote the world in half? It gets the mind wondering, doesn't it?






                      share|improve this answer









                      $endgroup$












                      • $begingroup$
                        Unfortunately you can't make complex machines out of this material. In the question it states that the material can deform but cannot break. So for example, gears under a lot of stress are going to mush themselves into useless circles. Valves won't break but they will leak, a lot. The list goes on.
                        $endgroup$
                        – Muuski
                        5 mins ago















                      0












                      $begingroup$

                      Sometimes the smallest thing has the largest impact



                      Do you know how much wire you can extrude from a cubic meter of copper when you can trust it to be indestructible?1



                      Indestructible insulating enamel + indestructible conductive wire = the perfect transformer/motor/generator.



                      When was the last time you opened a power supply, motor housing, generator, or anything using inductive windings, and found the transformer/motor/coil burned out. For me, it was last week (literally, it was last week). If you could make both the wire used in the windings and the enamel used to coat the wires indestructible, what you would have is the perfect transformer/motor/generator.



                      Yeah, but this stuff is expensive



                      Which is why it would make sense for large items, like turbine-style power generators where the limit to the electricity you're generating is suddenly the mechanical stress limits of the linkages and not the heat-generating characteristics of the coils. Better still, indestructible windings and enamel means you can make the coils incredibly dense — and as coil density increases, so does power output. Your efficiency might actually approach unity. Imagine a wire that is no longer a fuse if too much power is put through it. There is no longer too much power, the limitation is literally the speed electrons can be induced to move through the wire.



                      And if you expand to power utilization, the applications become … impressive



                      Miniature motors that can turn the propellers on a submarine? Dock 6. Full-size motors that push submarines at tsunami-creating speeds? Dock 2. Car alternators the size of your thumb? Aisle 14. A Dremel the size of a pencil? Aisle 1. An electric car that actually works climbing the Rockies? The display arrives next week. A residential wind turbine that actually powers an entire house? We have on the roof, you can see it as you enter the building.



                      The process may be expensive, but the material requirements (in terms of how much you need) drop like a rock when you can trust the wire and enamel to be indestructible. The process of making things indestructible would benefit almost any application at any price. A steam boiler the size of a Buick enjoying such high pressure that it can pull a mile-long train? On display by the front counter.



                      Disclaimer: at hundreds of millions of dollars per-cubic-meter there it is unlikely that any application is worth it. Unless you can jack the price through the roof, the cost recovery time at that price relegates the material to use (not necessarily power generation) in remote locations (like space) where repair costs even more. A spaceship hull would be worth that price. I frankly can't imagine any power generation/utilization solution that ever would. Not even fusion. The cost of using something less capable would be so much more economical that such a solution would only happen as a test, never a commercial solution. So, a frame challenge concerning the price.




                      1A cubic meter of copper weighs 8,930 Kg. 40 Gauge wire weighs 0.04454 grams/meter for 200,490.6 Kilometers of wire. That's enough wire to wrap the equator 5 times.2 And you might be able to use thinner wire than that. It's a lot of honking wire.



                      2Of course, the wire is indestructible. If you wrapped the equator just once and tied the two ends to space ships, assuming a reasonable amount of thrust, could you garrote the world in half? It gets the mind wondering, doesn't it?






                      share|improve this answer









                      $endgroup$












                      • $begingroup$
                        Unfortunately you can't make complex machines out of this material. In the question it states that the material can deform but cannot break. So for example, gears under a lot of stress are going to mush themselves into useless circles. Valves won't break but they will leak, a lot. The list goes on.
                        $endgroup$
                        – Muuski
                        5 mins ago













                      0












                      0








                      0





                      $begingroup$

                      Sometimes the smallest thing has the largest impact



                      Do you know how much wire you can extrude from a cubic meter of copper when you can trust it to be indestructible?1



                      Indestructible insulating enamel + indestructible conductive wire = the perfect transformer/motor/generator.



                      When was the last time you opened a power supply, motor housing, generator, or anything using inductive windings, and found the transformer/motor/coil burned out. For me, it was last week (literally, it was last week). If you could make both the wire used in the windings and the enamel used to coat the wires indestructible, what you would have is the perfect transformer/motor/generator.



                      Yeah, but this stuff is expensive



                      Which is why it would make sense for large items, like turbine-style power generators where the limit to the electricity you're generating is suddenly the mechanical stress limits of the linkages and not the heat-generating characteristics of the coils. Better still, indestructible windings and enamel means you can make the coils incredibly dense — and as coil density increases, so does power output. Your efficiency might actually approach unity. Imagine a wire that is no longer a fuse if too much power is put through it. There is no longer too much power, the limitation is literally the speed electrons can be induced to move through the wire.



                      And if you expand to power utilization, the applications become … impressive



                      Miniature motors that can turn the propellers on a submarine? Dock 6. Full-size motors that push submarines at tsunami-creating speeds? Dock 2. Car alternators the size of your thumb? Aisle 14. A Dremel the size of a pencil? Aisle 1. An electric car that actually works climbing the Rockies? The display arrives next week. A residential wind turbine that actually powers an entire house? We have on the roof, you can see it as you enter the building.



                      The process may be expensive, but the material requirements (in terms of how much you need) drop like a rock when you can trust the wire and enamel to be indestructible. The process of making things indestructible would benefit almost any application at any price. A steam boiler the size of a Buick enjoying such high pressure that it can pull a mile-long train? On display by the front counter.



                      Disclaimer: at hundreds of millions of dollars per-cubic-meter there it is unlikely that any application is worth it. Unless you can jack the price through the roof, the cost recovery time at that price relegates the material to use (not necessarily power generation) in remote locations (like space) where repair costs even more. A spaceship hull would be worth that price. I frankly can't imagine any power generation/utilization solution that ever would. Not even fusion. The cost of using something less capable would be so much more economical that such a solution would only happen as a test, never a commercial solution. So, a frame challenge concerning the price.




                      1A cubic meter of copper weighs 8,930 Kg. 40 Gauge wire weighs 0.04454 grams/meter for 200,490.6 Kilometers of wire. That's enough wire to wrap the equator 5 times.2 And you might be able to use thinner wire than that. It's a lot of honking wire.



                      2Of course, the wire is indestructible. If you wrapped the equator just once and tied the two ends to space ships, assuming a reasonable amount of thrust, could you garrote the world in half? It gets the mind wondering, doesn't it?






                      share|improve this answer









                      $endgroup$



                      Sometimes the smallest thing has the largest impact



                      Do you know how much wire you can extrude from a cubic meter of copper when you can trust it to be indestructible?1



                      Indestructible insulating enamel + indestructible conductive wire = the perfect transformer/motor/generator.



                      When was the last time you opened a power supply, motor housing, generator, or anything using inductive windings, and found the transformer/motor/coil burned out. For me, it was last week (literally, it was last week). If you could make both the wire used in the windings and the enamel used to coat the wires indestructible, what you would have is the perfect transformer/motor/generator.



                      Yeah, but this stuff is expensive



                      Which is why it would make sense for large items, like turbine-style power generators where the limit to the electricity you're generating is suddenly the mechanical stress limits of the linkages and not the heat-generating characteristics of the coils. Better still, indestructible windings and enamel means you can make the coils incredibly dense — and as coil density increases, so does power output. Your efficiency might actually approach unity. Imagine a wire that is no longer a fuse if too much power is put through it. There is no longer too much power, the limitation is literally the speed electrons can be induced to move through the wire.



                      And if you expand to power utilization, the applications become … impressive



                      Miniature motors that can turn the propellers on a submarine? Dock 6. Full-size motors that push submarines at tsunami-creating speeds? Dock 2. Car alternators the size of your thumb? Aisle 14. A Dremel the size of a pencil? Aisle 1. An electric car that actually works climbing the Rockies? The display arrives next week. A residential wind turbine that actually powers an entire house? We have on the roof, you can see it as you enter the building.



                      The process may be expensive, but the material requirements (in terms of how much you need) drop like a rock when you can trust the wire and enamel to be indestructible. The process of making things indestructible would benefit almost any application at any price. A steam boiler the size of a Buick enjoying such high pressure that it can pull a mile-long train? On display by the front counter.



                      Disclaimer: at hundreds of millions of dollars per-cubic-meter there it is unlikely that any application is worth it. Unless you can jack the price through the roof, the cost recovery time at that price relegates the material to use (not necessarily power generation) in remote locations (like space) where repair costs even more. A spaceship hull would be worth that price. I frankly can't imagine any power generation/utilization solution that ever would. Not even fusion. The cost of using something less capable would be so much more economical that such a solution would only happen as a test, never a commercial solution. So, a frame challenge concerning the price.




                      1A cubic meter of copper weighs 8,930 Kg. 40 Gauge wire weighs 0.04454 grams/meter for 200,490.6 Kilometers of wire. That's enough wire to wrap the equator 5 times.2 And you might be able to use thinner wire than that. It's a lot of honking wire.



                      2Of course, the wire is indestructible. If you wrapped the equator just once and tied the two ends to space ships, assuming a reasonable amount of thrust, could you garrote the world in half? It gets the mind wondering, doesn't it?







                      share|improve this answer












                      share|improve this answer



                      share|improve this answer










                      answered 20 mins ago









                      JBHJBH

                      47.6k699223




                      47.6k699223











                      • $begingroup$
                        Unfortunately you can't make complex machines out of this material. In the question it states that the material can deform but cannot break. So for example, gears under a lot of stress are going to mush themselves into useless circles. Valves won't break but they will leak, a lot. The list goes on.
                        $endgroup$
                        – Muuski
                        5 mins ago
















                      • $begingroup$
                        Unfortunately you can't make complex machines out of this material. In the question it states that the material can deform but cannot break. So for example, gears under a lot of stress are going to mush themselves into useless circles. Valves won't break but they will leak, a lot. The list goes on.
                        $endgroup$
                        – Muuski
                        5 mins ago















                      $begingroup$
                      Unfortunately you can't make complex machines out of this material. In the question it states that the material can deform but cannot break. So for example, gears under a lot of stress are going to mush themselves into useless circles. Valves won't break but they will leak, a lot. The list goes on.
                      $endgroup$
                      – Muuski
                      5 mins ago




                      $begingroup$
                      Unfortunately you can't make complex machines out of this material. In the question it states that the material can deform but cannot break. So for example, gears under a lot of stress are going to mush themselves into useless circles. Valves won't break but they will leak, a lot. The list goes on.
                      $endgroup$
                      – Muuski
                      5 mins ago

















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