From: Gina Miller <nanogirl@halcyon.com>
>Does any one here have any architectural insight to a question I have? If I
>were to begin building a simple structure merely to achieve it's epitome of
>height, what should it be built of, (not considering the future of
>nanotubes, but what could be used now) how high would it reach and how
thick
>would the structure have to be in width?
A carbon filament attached to a satellite in geosynchonous orbit would put
you up over 20,000 miles.
If you prefer building from the ground up, a triangular truss made of carbon
filament with stabilizing guy wires could put you up at least a mile. The
guy wires would make it about as wide as tall. If you want something simple,
take the Eiffel Tower as a template. It's made of iron, with lots of open
spaces to let the wind through, and the weight of the iron helps to dampen
vibrations. You could make a back yard scale model Tower out of welded angle
iron. A nice addition to your suburban landscape?