Space Elevator,how to solve the problem of material strong enough to withstand its own weight?

The elevator cord from ground to space station or satellite nothing is strong enough,not even carbon nanotubes even thow they do come close to not breaking.Miles of cord breaks under its own weight.
Solution:simple make the cord semi hollow with levels or little compartments along the way.like floors on a skyscraper.Fill the compartments or hollow insides [...]

Why don’t they make black box cases out of carbon-nanotube material?

I’m not sure what material they use on black boxes (that record flight logs), but I’m pretty sure it’s some type of metal.
If nanotubes are so strong, why don’t they make them out of that?
Maybe if they did that, they could record more, like video etc. because they’d fit more stuff in the box.

Would specific strength be very important for a material used to build a free floating megastructure in space?

More specifically, can the quantity of a building material make up for lower specific strengths than would be feasible on Earth due to the zero gravity environment?
Also, do you think the construction of a stanford torus 15,000 km in diameter WILL EVER be feasible with KNOWN materials like carbon nanotubes, (not considering other factors)?

What is the strongest and most durable solid material or alloy?

Also, please omit any materials which are insanely expensive or not in mass production [diamond; carbon nanotubes; etc.] or are extremely heavy [lead, iridium, etc.]

Spinoff Company Has Big Dreams For Tiny Material

The science behind Angstron Materials’ chief product — nano-graphene platelets (NGPs) — might seem obscure, at least at first.
But the company hopes the material’s potential should ring loud and clear to anyone pursuing profits: A product with wide applications, inexpensively made.
That’s the contention of Aruna Zhamu, the company’s president and chief technology officer, and fellow [...]

Next Page »