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Obtaining Unobtainium at DARPAtech 2004
Engineers are not usually happy about using the term "unobtainium" - a reference to a material that outperforms anything known (and is therefore unobtainable).
But at DARPA, obtaining unobtainium is an everyday goal - and they are succeeding:
Here's a taste of projects under development:
Read more about Materials Science Engineering Careers and DARPA Defense Sciences Office - Ultra-Lightweight Materials.
Science fiction is, of course, replete with examples of unobtainium. Consider smart material, a wall covering that eats any graffiti written upon it. Or inexpensive talking tape short lengths of which contain wireless networking capability and speakers allowing buildings to almost build themselves (with some help from willing humans.
Can you think of other examples of "unobtainium" from sf?
In his declassified talk available on the DARPAtech 2004 website, Dr. John Main talks about The Pursuit of Unobtainium.
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