Japanese 2050 Space Elevator project (Obayashi Corporation)

[Prophet141]

My proposal is, to use a hollow string and shoot a magnetic piston inside by compressed air (Helium or H2 might be better suited). The capsule on the outside would be connected by strong magnets to the inside piston. From a certain point onwards, the pressure must be reduced before piston and capsule will crash into the counterweight by the expanding gas volume.

@martinbayer : I'm not so sure about the information quality of the English language. If you ever talked to a patent attorney you will probably learn, that German is much more capable of describing precisely than English. Despite my not so sophisticated English, I have to agree, that it is much easier to learn than French (learned it in school) and probably most other languages.

This could certainly be interesting for actively supported structures, such as space towers, as these would already be making extensive usage of hollow tubing.

 

[Arjen]

German is much more capable of describing precisely than English.

Two possibilities
- insufficient mastery of English (of which I suspect even native speakers suffer)
- not trying hard enough

 

[Nicknick]

@Arjen It was surly the fault of my English teacher….

A nice example btw, an English teacher can be a German who teaches English or an Englishman teaching Math.

In German:

englischer Lehrer: a teacher coming from England

Englischlehrer: a teacher teaching English


A French Press can be:

Coffee machine

A press which was developed in France

A device to turn the frogs into porrige


I believe you are dutch, aren't you?

What I like about Dutch are these funny words like Bromfiets and Snorfiets

 

[MrTopaz]

@Arjen It was surly the fault of my English teacher….

A nice example btw, an English teacher can be a German who teaches English or an Englishman teaching Math.

In German:

englischer Lehrer: a teacher coming from England

Englischlehrer: a teacher teaching English


A French Press can be:

Coffee machine

A press which was developed in France

A device to turn the frogs into porrige


I believe you are dutch, aren't you?

What I like about Dutch are these funny words like Bromfiets and Snorfiets

I don’t know how one would go about describing an intimidating syntactic Frankenstein of compound words meant to precisely describe the most specific possible idea, but I’m sure the Germans have a word for it.

 

[Arjen]

I have found the English language as suitable for expressing complex concepts as Dutch or German. My mastery of French is too limited to properly judge that language for myself, of other languages I understand even less but I think most languages have different strengths and weaknesses, and I suspect none really stand out. The limited personal vocabulary that comes with avoiding books is a problem in any language.
In any language, there will always be some difficulty in finding the right words to describe reality with adequate precision. Sometimes words fail me to express what I wish to express, but new words pop up all the time to suit my needs, or are pilfered from other languages. Some are forgotten.
To return to...

German is much more capable of describing precisely than English.

... I beg to differ.

 

[Nicknick]

I don’t know how one would go about describing an intimidating syntactic Frankenstein of compound words meant to precisely describe the most specific possible idea, but I’m sure the Germans have a word for it.

The combined words are not longer than in English, there ist just a clear rule, If it is one thing, you write it as one wort. In English it is sometimes a single word and sometimes not (see "crankcase" and "connection rod"

German is much better suited for online research, if you type in "Zylinderkopf" (cylinder head) for exact search, you only get hits for cylinder heads and not e.g. of men wearing oldfashioned cylindrical heads hats on their heads....

 

[publiusr]

Americans just have a nasty habit of turning nouns into verbs.

I think it was Robert MacNeal who related a story where a waiter asked a group of diners " have you been beveraged yet?"

 

[Scott Kenny]

Americans just have a nasty habit of turning nouns into verbs.

As per Calvin&Hobbes: Verbing weirds language.