# So you've got Adamantium. Now what ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 28, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111 "2013-06-28T12:53:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/1 "2013-06-28T12:53:40Z")
Not sure whether this is GD fodder, of CS, or IMHO or what, but here goes. I was rewatching Wolverine because I’ve got so much free time on my hands, I even have the time to watch lemons twice, and it gave me the idea for a thought exercise. Say your country has gotten its greedy little mittens on a fist-sized chunk of Adamantium. I don’t care what Marvel says, here’s the properties of this Adamantium : it’s positively, absatively indestructible. Harder friction than inside Lindsey Lohan’s panties during happy hour, absolute zero, planet-sized impacts at the speed of light - not only will they not make a measurable dent, they will barely heat up the surface. Its melting point is so high, you couldn’t even see it from a heatpoint that can only be reached by condensing Hell into a single point in the smallest possible unit of measurable time there is. It won’t fucking blend, alright ? BUT there is a way to forge it into simple shapes and objects by a fairly abstract and convoluted procedure that cannot be replicated through happenstance nor really happen naturally - think riverdancing at midnight during an eclipse while wrapped in honeyed ham. When that happens, it becomes pliable for a short time. What do you make with it, to bring the most benefit to your nation-state ? Me, I’d forgo the American way of doing things. Forget adamantium-tipped shells, adamantium-coated tanks, even Hollywood applications to generate the largest explosion ever caught on camera. That’s small fry IMO. I’d make indestructible, manhole-sized (but almost invisibly thin) drill bits secured to indestructible hair-wide tethers. Drill somewhere close-ish to the Earth’s core, enjoy the nigh-infinite geothermal energy, conquer through superior economy. What says you ? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/2 "2013-06-28T13:18:58Z")
How are you going to get geothermal energy through something that can’t transmit heat? ---
**Author:** ![Latro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@Latro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latro)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/3 "2013-06-28T13:32:39Z")
I would slap some cool retractable claws on an untrustworthy git. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/4 "2013-06-28T13:32:53Z")
I got the impression the indestructible drill bits were used to _access_ geothermal heat, but once the tunnels were dug, the heat passes through conventional pipes or whatever. Personally, I’d be curious if a fist-size chunk of adamantium could be made malleable enough to coat the undercarriage of something the size of a space shuttle and be used as a heat shield, but I guess drill bits and other cutting tools are probably more practical. Maybe it could be formed as a fusion reactor cowl - make a large indesctrutible shell, detonate an H-Bomb within, somehow tap the energy and instantly recharge every electric automobile, laptop, power tool and cellphone in the world… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/5 "2013-06-28T14:07:20Z")
How lightweight and safe could a spacecraft be if all applicable parts were coated with a couple-atoms-think layer of Adamantium? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/6 "2013-06-28T14:07:32Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I got the impression the indestructible drill bits were used to _access_ geothermal heat, but once the tunnels were dug, the heat passes through conventional pipes or whatever. Precisely. As I understand it, the difficulty with drilling thermal boreholes is the sheer amount of rock to cut through (which quickly chews through conventional drills, even when they’re made out of diamond) and the stupid-strong pressures involved once you reach any kind of fun depth. Adamantium solves both. Then you just… dump a load of highly heat-conducive copper or whatever down the hole to funnel the heat upwards or something. I’ll have a team of eggheads work on that over their lunch break while I’m stroking my adamantium-coated goatee. > [@](#): > > Personally, I’d be curious if a fist-size chunk of adamantium could be made malleable enough to coat the undercarriage of something the size of a space shuttle and be used as a heat shield. Sure, why not. As long as the whole coating procedure is done down here on earth, where riverdancing while wrapped in honeyed ham is doable (as opposed to, say, zero G in low orbit, where one bounces too high) then hammer away. If you can cover a square meter in gold leaf with just a 5mm wide nugget, then you can cover a (relatively) small spacecraft with a fist-sized chunk of Adamantium. The question is, though : what for ? [QUOTE=Latro] I would slap some cool retractable claws on an untrustworthy git. [/QUOTE] Historical data shows this does not work well. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/7 "2013-06-28T15:38:35Z")
At just a few miles depth, rock in the earth’s crust acts as a fluid and will full in the hole you dig. That’s the real problem with digging deep. You’re going to have to use the magic stuff to keep the hole open. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/8 "2013-06-28T15:53:31Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Sure, why not. As long as the whole coating procedure is done down here on earth, where riverdancing while wrapped in honeyed ham is doable (as opposed to, say, zero G in low orbit, where one bounces too high) then hammer away. If you can cover a square meter in gold leaf with just a 5mm wide nugget, then you can cover a (relatively) small spacecraft with a fist-sized chunk of Adamantium. > > The question is, though : what for ? See post #5. Adamantium leaf would allow a spacecraft to be extremely lightweight and safe, allowing more powerful(but currently unsafe) propulsion systems to be used. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/9 "2013-06-28T15:57:07Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > **So you’ve got Adamantium. Now what ?** Now I go for Unobtainium. ---
**Author:** ![Enilno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58f4c7/32.png) [@Enilno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enilno)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/10 "2013-06-28T16:10:50Z")
How about making a space elevator? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/11 "2013-06-28T16:45:35Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > See post #5. Adamantium leaf would allow a spacecraft to be extremely lightweight and safe, allowing more powerful(but currently unsafe) propulsion systems to be used. But it’s still one (1) space shuttle-sized craft, however fast and explosively you can propel it. It’s not like it’s going to be an Ark to another world. What kind of geopolitical or survival advantage would one unbreakable shuttle (or even a fleet of unbreakable probes) provide your people with ? [QUOTE=Fubaya] At just a few miles depth, rock in the earth’s crust acts as a fluid and will full in the hole you dig. That’s the real problem with digging deep. You’re going to have to use the magic stuff to keep the hole open. [/QUOTE] Sure, but at the point where rock turns gooey, wouldn’t there by definition also be copious amounts of heat to be harvested ? [QUOTE=Enilno] How about making a space elevator? [/QUOTE] Also a great idea ! Not only would it be swell for spacecraft construction, scientific endeavours and that kind of limp wristed liberal jazz ; you could also conceivably use it to easily haul mass into orbit then drop it back down for massive damage. Space elevator ? More like space trebuchet, amirite ? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/12 "2013-06-28T16:47:52Z")
Adamantium cable for a space elevator is absolutely the correct answer. 300 kilometers long, and a few molecules thick. Only problem is how you hold on to it, the cable will drift through normal materials like they were smoke. So make sure you leave handles on each end. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/13 "2013-06-28T20:14:48Z")
Make a hollow ball, say ten meters across (or something… hey, I’m not a scientist). Put a nuke in there. Close the ball, leaving just a tiny pinprick hole. Detonate the nuke. You’ve now got a hell of a lot of cheap energy. The only way out for the energy is through the pinprick hole. It seems to me that it’d last a hell of a long time. Lots of uses: It’s a powersource (point it at water, use the steam to drive a turbine). It’s a rocket engine. It’s a freakin’ 1920s Style Death Ray. And when it does finally run out, just “melt” it down and put a new nuke in- no need to worry about the adamantium being radioactive, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/14 "2013-06-28T20:19:38Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > Make a hollow ball, say ten meters across (or something… hey, I’m not a scientist). Put a nuke in there. Close the ball, leaving just a tiny pinprick hole. Detonate the nuke. > > You’ve now got a hell of a lot of cheap energy. The only way out for the energy is through the pinprick hole. It seems to me that it’d last a hell of a long time. > > Lots of uses: It’s a powersource (point it at water, use the steam to drive a turbine). It’s a rocket engine. It’s a freakin’ 1920s Style Death Ray. > > And when it does finally run out, just “melt” it down and put a new nuke in- no need to worry about the adamantium being radioactive, after all. If I remember correctly, Adamantium can only be molded _once_. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/15 "2013-06-28T20:25:20Z")
You shouldn’t mold my adamantium, Czarcasm. My sister molded my adamantium once. _ **Once** _. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/16 "2013-06-28T20:28:11Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > You shouldn’t mold my adamantium, Czarcasm. My sister molded my adamantium once. _ **Once** _. _Damn_ you for putting Piscopo’s voice in my head! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/17 "2013-06-28T20:28:17Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If I remember correctly, Adamantium can only be molded _once_. Not according to the OP, who specifically rewrote the properties of adamantium. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/18 "2013-06-28T21:57:18Z")
I’d mold it into the world’s smallest and most indestructible pop star. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/19 "2013-06-29T00:07:44Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Adamantium cable for a space elevator is absolutely the correct answer. 300 kilometers long, and a few molecules thick. Only problem is how you hold on to it, the cable will drift through normal materials like they were smoke. So make sure you leave handles on each end. Needs to be much longer than 300 km. 100,000 km would be better. And because the cable is so thin, you would need a secondary cable for winching (the cables would have to be built as a chain, since obviously they can’t otherwise bend). Still, that’s not a problem, and it can be much more than a molecule thick–250 cm^3 of source material would give you enough length if it were a micrometer across. Pretty thin, but not outside current manufacturability. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111/20 "2013-06-29T00:52:33Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Me, I’d forgo the American way of doing things. Forget adamantium-tipped shells, adamantium-coated tanks, even Hollywood applications to generate the largest explosion ever caught on camera. That’s small fry IMO. I’d make indestructible, manhole-sized (but almost invisibly thin) drill bits secured to indestructible hair-wide tethers. Drill somewhere close-ish to the Earth’s core, enjoy the nigh-infinite geothermal energy, conquer through superior economy. > What says you ? I say go in the opposite direction (not that there’s any need to choose). This is the miracle material that could make a [space elevator](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator) possible. ETA: So, it’s worth mentioning yet again. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-got-adamantium-now-what/662111.md?page=2)