this post was submitted on 04 May 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] LordGimp@lemm.ee 0 points 2 months ago (14 children)

I'm real tired of "strongest material" being thrown around. As a welder turned machinist, "strong" doesn't mean much of anything to me. Aluminum is plenty "strong" but it's softer than some woods. Tungsten carbide is harder than a coffin nail but you can chip it by looking at it funny sometimes. Kevlar is plenty tough, but it isn't hard or particularly flexible. There isn't any super material that will ever do all the things "the best" and throwing around meaningless titles for clickbait feels childish at best and exploitative at worst.

[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 months ago (11 children)

You're forgetting that "strength" has a formalized engineering definition, which is the amout of force (not energy or impact) a material can resist before deforming or breaking.

The other 2 properties you're alluding to are hardness (force needed per unit of deformation) and toughness (energy absorbed before deforming or breaking. All of these are important factors when choosing materials for a particular use case.

The article is comparing the material to kevlar and spider silk, which suggests that they're referring to tensile strength, which is a proper use case. It isn't the paper's fault that your are incorrectly conflating "strongest" with "best". What's best for any particular use case is going to be dependent on design requirements.

[–] LordGimp@lemm.ee 0 points 2 months ago (10 children)

And you're forgetting that the chumps making these engineering definitions are chump engineers who think they're making parts in a theoretical plane of existence where only their numbers matter.

In reality, everything should be made out of copper nickel superalloys because man that shit is cool af. Frfr if you ever get a chance to mess with aluminum copper nickel you should do it because that shit is borderline mystical.

[–] Tweaker@lemm.ee 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Lookout everyone, big brain here has it all figured out. Don't need any more engineers with their fancy words.

[–] LordGimp@lemm.ee 0 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

An engineer made the oceangate sub. Worked out pretty well for him. Right up until it didn't.

[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago (2 children)

nah fuckwit ignored actual engineers, insurers and regulating bodies. worked out as could be expected.

[–] LordGimp@lemm.ee 0 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

Fuckwit was an actual engineer, but go ahead and tell me again how all the bad engineers are "fake" wannabes and all the "real" actual engineers are perfect little angels that never did anything wrong.

[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago

pfft get a grip. he ignored so much valid advice. the sub couldn't pass cert.

you really stanning for someone who killed their own customers?

yeah that's some great engineering what a toolbag

[–] Tweaker@lemm.ee 0 points 2 months ago

Lol hey man its not too late to go to college for engineering. Just imagine the problems you could solve with your superior machinist brain!

[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 months ago

One engineer being a dipshit doesn't invalidate the entire discipline. Especially when said engineer went to an ivy league school where a degree says more about you parent's bank account than your actual ability

[–] thebardingreen@lemmy.starlightkel.xyz 0 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Know people that worked with him, can confirm.

"Move fast and break things" Startup mindset is dangerous when taking your customers into potentially hostile environments. If only Michael Crichton had warned us about that decades ago.

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