I kept waiting to read about this type of lightweight but supra strong and flexible metal being used in cars..since the founder works for Toyota.
Gish...wonder what the gas savings would be if a car were light enough to be lifted, or at least tipped, by hand. Wondrous!
Just wait until China, Iran, and North Korea get ahold of this stuff.
There's a fairly high limit on how light you want a vehicle to be. As things stand now, a strong wind can buffet my 3700-pound station wagon. If a car really doesn't weigh very much, its stability in a crosswind is decreased.
Blade Runner possibilities
(whats with your sig? Its high time we all moved on from that farce)
Imagine what would happen if these were used in the Moller SkyCar?
The one that was in Popular Mechanics back in the sixties, and the founder has actually produced these.
And they look just like the original, which amazes me.
Right now these things have vertical liftoff, can cruise at 350mph and have four hour fuel capacity. Can carry four people.
Imagine.
What is going to keep the car on the ground at speed and/or a strong side wind?
Toyota is a gigantic company with many interests ranging from mining to space. A few years ago they certified an aero-engine (which was then never produced) and they had Scaled Composites build a proof of concept aircraft which was tested under great secrecy for about two years. They never said "boo" about it in public, but just cause it says "Toyota" don't assume it's destined for the next Camry.
A theoretical/molecular approach to alloys development is not new. I believe the lithium alloy that Airbus is using for the "forehead" or upper nose of the freight version of the A380 was developed this way. Of course lithium is not entirely new; some marks of F-15 have lithium alloy wing skins (lighter than anything that's a solid metal at ordinary temperatures). That alloy was developed traditionally.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
It will be tough, elastic and yet exceedingly hard. And from this sword will come miracles. And then will come Toyotas, and tent poles, and flatware.
Or be blown over byy a wind gust