Hacker News Reader

Comment by stevage | Hacker News Reader

This is very cool, but I don't really see the direct connection between a paper structure which is very strong in compression and emergency accommodation (which the article really focuses on).

Tents don't need to be strong in compression - there's no weight on the roof. And obviously paper is not a material that scales up or would be practical for outdoor use.

Just a bit confused by the obvious mismatch here - maybe it's the journalist putting more weight on the disaster application than the kid did.

View on HN

This is a problem with our science funding system. We really discourage pure research, so everything needs to be justified in terms of saving lives or helping to cure cancer. He'll make a good academic someday.

We never know when the result of pure research will have applications. Maybe his findings would have material impact 20 years from now in a field we are unable to foresee today.

100% this. There's nothing wrong with focusing on first principles and this is a rediscovery in that matter.

It's just an acknowledgement that the Miura pattern works and this kid kept his focus. To be perfectly honest, he just took something that was already done before (the fold) and applied it. Scientists do this all the time and win prizes--like cellophane tape to create graphene.

I suspect the connection isn't "paper roof holding weight" so much as "geometry that can turn thin sheet material into a stiff, self-supporting form"

I thought it was about the compressability of the material to save space, perhaps?

> tents don't need to be strong in compression - there's no weight on the roof

But there is on the floor, unless you expect the inhabitants to sleep more or less directly on the ground, including themselves, whatever is used as a mattress, belongings, small appliances, etc. Emergency habitation is not the same as a camping tent, it needs to be able to service populations that have difficulty with camping's limitations, like the elderly.

> Paper is not a material that scales up

Citation needed? It's made from a renewable resource (wood) and there's some 400+ million metric tons of paper production yearly (source: Gemini, so feel free to take with a grain of salt).

> Or would be practical for outdoor use

If exposed directly to the elements, sure. But what if the paper is laminated or otherwise enclosed within plastic, rubber, or other synthetic material well-recognized as hydrophobic?

>> Paper is not a material that scales up

>Citation needed? It's made from a renewable resource (wood) and there's some 400+ million metric tons of paper production yearly (source: Gemini, so feel free to take with a grain of salt).

Sorry, I meant in the sense of physical scale - I wouldn't imagine the properties of paper at 50cm scale translate directly to say 5 or 10 metre scale.

The ground can already support the weight. Anything whatsoever in between the ground and the occupants is sufficient if your goal is to separate their feet from it.

> It's made from a renewable resource (wood) and there's some 400+ million metric tons of paper production yearly

They don’t mean production volume, they mean physically. You can’t increase the thickness of paper by 1000x to just make thicker, stronger, paper. It’s a different material entirely.

In a cold climate it's essential to have air/insulation between the floor and ground.

Most tents are in fact not very strong in compression unless designed for snow. If you do get a big snow you need to wake up in the night and remove the snow so it doesn't crush the tent.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com