Monomolecular blades

[Tom Mazanec]

Why are these superscience? Couldn't Drexlerian nanotech make one?

[Kelly Pedersen]

As I understand it (I am not a material scientist!), the superscience bit isn't in making monomolecular strands, it's in their effects. Basically, the ideas that a monomolecular strand would be a) very strong, and b) capable of cutting through virtually anything are the "superscience" bits.

[GodBeastX]

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

As I understand it (I am not a material scientist!), the superscience bit isn't in making monomolecular strands, it's in their effects. Basically, the ideas that a monomolecular strand would be a) very strong, and b) capable of cutting through virtually anything are the "superscience" bits.

^ This pretty much.

To be more clear, "Monowire" tech is often found in many cinematic sources. And example that always comes to mind is the Battle Angel universe.

http://battleangel.wikia.com/wiki/Mono-molecular_wire

The idea is it's nigh indestructible, never dulls, never snaps from weight, can be formed to whatever shape, and can cut through materials often seen as too hard to cut.

If you were to take a scissors to monowire to snip it, bye byte scissors!

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by GodBeastX

To be more clear, "Monowire" tech is often found in many cinematic sources. An example that always comes to mind is the Battle Angel universe.

I was first introduced to monowire in Neuromancer, wielded by a sarariman corporate assassin who manages to get himself killed with it [1]. I also saw it pop up a lot in Larry Niven, where it somehow magically cuts everything except when you want it to just be a super strong thread to hold your backpack together.

There's no explanation for why a single thread of atoms (aka a very thin bit of metal) is somehow stronger than multiple threads, the magic immunity to having its own bonds broken, and is somehow completely immune to chemical reactions.

[1] Although as mentioned in the book, what really kills him is the culture shock and bad music.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I also saw it pop up a lot in Larry Niven, where it somehow magically cuts everything except when you want it to just be a super strong thread to hold your backpack together.

IIRC, the magic explanation for Niven's monofilament blades is that they were surrounded by a stasis field. The one-atom-thick object was, for all practical purposes, encased in an absolutely unbreakable force field.

[Kelly Pedersen]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

IIRC, the magic explanation for Niven's monofilament blades is that they were surrounded by a stasis field. The one-atom-thick object was, for all practical purposes, encased in an absolutely unbreakable force field.

The "variable sword" weapon was indeed that, but Niven also mentions "Sinclair molecule chain" as separate, un-stasis-fielded stuff, and claims it's "fantastically dangerous", and that you can cut off various extremities if you're incautious about it. The stasis field on a variable sword seems to be mostly about making the monowire blade easy to control, rather than making it somehow sharper or more resilient.

[Humabout]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

IIRC, the magic explanation for Niven's monofilament blades is that they were surrounded by a stasis field. The one-atom-thick object was, for all practical purposes, encased in an absolutely unbreakable force field.

For me, it was first explicitely described in The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C Clarke. It wasnt used as a weapon, but it was used to saw through a steel bolt at one point and otherwise hang an elevator from GEO.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I was first introduced to monowire in Neuromancer...

For me it was shigawire in Dune... though the first time it was called monofilament wire for me was in Stand on Zanzibar.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

For me it was shigawire in Dune... though the first time it was called monofilament wire for me was in Stand on Zanzibar.

Technically, though, IIRC shigawire isn't monomolecular, it's a weird biological product that is extremeluy fine and tough and strong, more so than anything we have today but not a single molecule.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I was first introduced to monowire in Neuromancer, wielded by a sarariman corporate assassin who manages to get himself killed with it [1]. I also saw it pop up a lot in Larry Niven, where it somehow magically cuts everything except when you want it to just be a super strong thread to hold your backpack together.

For those without a natural feel for times involved the use in Niven predates Neuromancer by a decade or so.