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Team Creates Working Space Elevator Made of Legos

gizmodo.com — For those of you who know what a space elevator is, you also know how difficult (some would say impossible) it will be to create one. Well, don't tell that to the starry-eyed guys in Redmond this weekend

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  • bornahokie, on 07/20/2008, -2/+9i think i've seen this exact thing in a co-worker's house ;) ha
    • FMDC, on 07/21/2008, -3/+0Well you're ***** cool, aren't you?
      Did everyone get that? This guy has already seen this. Just makin sure everyone knows that this dude is a little better than you.
  • MorganMghee, on 07/21/2008, -1/+3Had to be Redmond..
  • Haoie, on 07/21/2008, -1/+11Damn, I was hoping it'd be to scale.
  • bubba9999, on 07/21/2008, -1/+27How will NASA build the PVC stand to support the real thing?
  • jhandfield, on 07/21/2008, -2/+8Buried for the link including an anchor to the comments...

    Otherwise pretty cool though.
  • GiJoeBob, on 07/21/2008, -0/+20In order to "really work" wouldn't it have to eventually reach space?
    • meruru, on 07/21/2008, -1/+366 feet off the ground is space to Lego people
  • KyjL, on 07/21/2008, -2/+1Holy Jesus it's Tiphares and Ketheres
  • tripledjr, on 07/21/2008, -1/+9I don't think a lego model takes everything into consideration...
    Such as gravity issues, colliding asteroids and satellites with no navigation systems...
    Weather issues on earth,
    Material issues... Unfortunately I don't think that lego blocks are quite as strong of a material or flexible as would be needed.
  • welliwonder, on 07/21/2008, -15/+2enough lego spam plz
  • welliwonder, on 07/21/2008, -17/+2enough lego spam plz
  • grey580, on 07/21/2008, -4/+16Buried because it's a toy and not the real thing.
  • filefly, on 07/21/2008, -4/+5In before "Lego bricks"
  • evil-doer, on 07/21/2008, -8/+1its bad enough seeing a lego story every day on digg, but its worse when you idiots say "legos"
  • MarkTaiwan, on 07/21/2008, -2/+15Why do I have a feeling that the guys at Gizmodo have an unhealthy obsession with Lego...
    • Devrdander, on 07/21/2008, -2/+1Is it so wrong for a grown man to love Legos? Unless they are actually LOVING them... in which case i guess you really CAN build anything with legos...
  • ivosilva, on 07/21/2008, -7/+10Ok, seriously now, WHO THE HELL comes here and bitches about it being a toy and not the real thing? Are you ***** serious? You came here expecting this to be a REAL space elevator made of LEGO? Seriously?






    No, really... Did you?
    • schrags, on 07/21/2008, -1/+5Of course not, but that's what the title says dumbass
    • bjs3171, on 07/21/2008, -2/+1also, there's really not much point to putting a motor on a pipe and saying that's a model for something that NEEDS TO GO INTO ***** OUTER-SPACE while attached to a rotating planet.
    • earthforce1, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1I thought he had the 10000000000000000 piece carbon nanotube Lego set. :(
  • slowbox, on 07/21/2008, -6/+1Whats the big deal with space anyway, there's nothing interesting there.


    hmm hmm
  • cdigioia, on 07/21/2008, -0/+10So by "working" we mean "model that doesn't work at all"

    And by "Space" elevator we mean it's a "6-foot" elevator. That is, if it worked.
  • rblancarte, on 07/21/2008, -1/+5Buried because it doesn't go into space.
  • scot333, on 07/21/2008, -1/+2I really hope the space elevator/ orbital tether concept comes to fruition.
  • krnldmp, on 07/21/2008, -1/+2calling Lego model == working space elevator makes for Major anus factor
  • 1timeuser, on 07/21/2008, -2/+2LEGO- It's spelled in all caps mother *****!
    /Samuel L Jackson
  • tw0bit, on 07/21/2008, -2/+2*Lego
  • The3rdjj, on 07/21/2008, -2/+1And now to demonstrate a possible asteroid collision. LEGO ASTEROID!
  • 3uster, on 07/21/2008, -2/+1anyone else looked at it and immediately thought "hey Gundam 00 is coming true"
  • pinje, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1shame theres not a video to see it in action.
  • cjh24, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1I can kinda see why Jesus is disappointed to hear this...
  • wjlaw100, on 07/21/2008, -2/+0IF Nasa is going to build them out of Lego parts, its time for a Lego stock purchase!
  • wjlaw100, on 07/21/2008, -2/+0IF Nasa is going to build them out of Lego parts, its time for a Lego stock purchase!
  • tripledjr, on 07/21/2008, -1/+2wtf digg..
  • BufordT, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1I was expecting something pretty cool, but that is just lame. One picture, short description, site comments and no video of it in action. Buried.
  • Invisz, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1this article is so fail without a video...
  • Andrwmorph, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1Does his family speak a bunch of different languages now?
  • Modiga, on 07/21/2008, -0/+3Shame it wouldn't scale. Just remember if you double its size (in all dimensions, not just height) then its weight will go up by a factor of 8, but its strength, or rather the amount of weight it can support, will only go up by a factor of 4. This is because weight is the result of three dimensions, but strength is only really based on two (the cross-sectional area).
  • bjs3171, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2As cool an idea as i think the space elevator is, i don't see how building something in legos that can go up and down, in any way represents what a real space elevator would be. I'm pretty sure what's gonna make this work, would be the intricate engineering, and compensation for things like the earth rotation, and gravity, and such. this would be a tad bit more complicated than putting a motor on a pvc pipe.

    and btw, since Gizmodo, in NO WAY explained what the ***** a space elevator is, the idea is that NASA simply builds an elevator that goes from the earth, to above the atomosphere.
    • cnosal, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1More the fault of the submitter for claiming a functional elevator. Of course a lego model won't account for the earth's rotation, its just something put together for fun. The premise is accurate though, as the current focus for possible space elevators is a climber on a lightweight tether, anchored by a large satellite/space station in space (the PVC in this case). (We don't have materials to build a 'traditional' elevator shaft, as it doesn't scale and would collapse under its own weight). For the functional prototypes in the competition, the motor is on the climber, and power is transmitted from the base to climb the tether.
  • Firespray1138, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1Is there anything Legos can't do? =)
  • Thundercat1971, on 07/21/2008, -0/+1Just imagine after they finally build a working space elevator how annoying it is going to be when some kid gets in there and presses the buttons for every floor.
  • kiza200, on 07/21/2008, -0/+0Here is a piece of lego.
    Look at this lego brick.
    This space model is made out of lego.
  • triad203, on 07/21/2008, -0/+3"Working". Only if you define working as: Not really working.
  •  

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