Wikipedia

Unobtainium

Unobtainium(orunobtanium) is a term used infiction,engineering,and common situations for a material ideal for a particular application but impractically difficult or impossible to obtain. Unobtainium originally referred to materials that do not exist at all, but can also be used to describe real materials that are unavailable due to extreme rarity or cost. Less commonly, it can mean a device with desirable engineering properties for an application that are exceedingly difficult or impossible to achieve.

The properties of any particular example of unobtainium depend on the intended use. For example, apulleymade of unobtainium might be massless and frictionless. But for anuclear rocket,unobtainium might have the needed qualities of lightness, strength at high temperatures, and resistance to radiation damage; a combination of all three qualities is impossible with today's materials. The concept of unobtainium is often appliedhand-wavingly,flippantly, or humorously.

The wordunobtainiumderives humorously fromunobtainable,with-ium,a suffix forchemical elementnames. It predates the similar-soundingsystematic element names,such asununennium,unbinilium,unbiunium,andunbiquadium.An alternative spelling,unobtanium,is sometimes used, by analogy to the names of real elements liketitaniumanduranium.

Engineering origin

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Since the late 1950s, aerospace engineers have used the term "unobtainium" when referring to unusual or costly materials, or when theoretically considering a material perfect for their needs in all respects, except that it does not exist.

Unobtainium, n. A substance having the exact high test properties required for a piece of hardware or other item of use, but not obtainable either because it theoretically cannot exist or because technology is insufficiently advanced to produce it. Humorous or ironical.

— Listed in "Interim Glossary, Aero-Space Terms," as compiled by Woodford Heflin and published in February 1958 by the Air University of the US Air Force.[1]

By the 1990s, the term was in wide use, even in formal engineering papers such as "Towards unobtainium [new composite materials for space applications]."[2][3]

The term may well have been coined in the aerospace industry to refer to materials capable of withstanding the extreme temperatures expected inre-entry.[1]Aerospace engineersare frequently tempted to design aircraft which require parts with strength or resilience beyond that of currently available materials.

Later, unobtainium became an engineering term for practical materials that really exist, but are difficult to get.[4]For example, during the development of theSR-71 Blackbirdspy plane,Lockheedengineers at the "Skunk Works"underClarence "Kelly" Johnsonused unobtainium to refer totitanium.Titanium allowed a higher strength-to-weight ratio at the high temperatures the Blackbird would reach, but its availability was restricted because theSoviet Unioncontrolled its supply. This created a problem for the U.S. during theCold Warbecause the Blackbird required huge amounts of titanium; subsequent U.S. military aircraft such as theB-1 Lancer,F-15 Eagle,F/A-18 Hornet,andF-22 Raptorrequired relatively large amounts of it as well.

Contemporary popularization

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Unobtainium began to be used among people who are neither science fiction fans nor engineers to denote an object that actually exists, but which is very hard to obtain either because of high price (sometimes referred to as "unaffordium" ) or limited availability. It usually refers to a veryhigh-endand desirable product. By the 1970s, the term had migrated from the aerospace industry to the Southern California automobile and motorcycle cultures and, began to appear in industry publications such as early advertisements forOakleymotorcycle handgrips.[5]

Other examples are rear cassettes in themountain bikingcommunity,[6]parts that are no longer available for old-car enthusiasts,[7][8]parts for reel-to-reel audio-tape recorders, and rare vacuum tubes such as the1L6orWD-11that can now cost more than the equipment in which they were fitted.[9]The eyewear and fashion wear companyOakley, Inc.also frequently denotes the material used for many of their eyeglass nosepieces and earpieces, which has the unusual property of increasing tackiness and thus grip when wet, as unobtanium.[10]

By 2010, the term had been used in mainstream news reports to describe the commercially usefulrare earth elements(particularlyterbium,erbium,dysprosium,yttrium,andneodymium), which are essential to the performance of consumer electronics andgreen technology,but whose projected demand far outstrips their current supply.[11][12][13]

There have been repeated attempts to attribute the name to a real material.Space elevatorresearch has long used "unobtainium" to describe a material with the necessary characteristics,[14][15]butcarbon nanotubesmight have these characteristics.[16]

Science fiction

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A piece of the valuable "unobtanium" fromAvatar

Unobtainium was mentioned briefly in David Brin's 1983 bookStartide Rising,[17]as a material that could be used in making weapons[18]and comprising 1% of the core of one of theexomoonsof the Kthsemenee system.[19]

Unobtainium is briefly mentioned in Wil McCarthy'sThe Collapsium(2000), where a programmable quantum-technology material called "wellstone" can simulate any conceivable element, including "imaginary substances like unobtainium, impossibilium, and rainbowkryptonite".[20]

In the 2003 filmThe Core,[21]"Unobtainium" is the nickname of a 37-syllable long tungsten-titanium crystal alloy developed by Dr. Edward "Braz" Brazzelton that is able to absorb the extreme pressure and heat of theEarth's molten coreand then convert these into usable energy; it's used in building the super resistant outer shell of the shipVirgil.[22]

In the 2009 filmAvatar,Unobtanium is the common name of a rare-earth mineral found exclusively on theexomoonPandora, highly prized (and priced) because of its application as a powerful superconductor material.[23]Because of its unusual magnetic properties, entire mountains with high concentrations of unobtanium levitate in the atmosphere of Pandora.

Similar terms

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The term eludium has been used to describe a material which has "eluded" attempts to develop it, with the variant spelling illudium derived from "illusion". This was mentioned in severalLooney Tunescartoons, whereMarvin the Martiantried (unsuccessfully) to use his "Eludium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator" to blow up the Earth.[24]

Another largely synonymous term is wishalloy,[25]although the sense is often subtly different in that a wishalloy usually does not exist at all, whereas unobtainium may merely be unavailable.

A similar conceptual material inalchemyis thephilosopher's stone,a mythical substance with the ability to turnleadintogold,or bestowimmortalityandyouth.While the search to find such a substance was not successful, it did lead to discovery of a new element:phosphorus.[26]

Inarchitecture,the termrenderitehas been used to describe the use of unrealistic materials in concept renders.[27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abSince at least the 1950s:Hansen, James R. (1987) "Engineer in Charge: A History of the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, 1917–1958". The NASA History Series, sp-4305.Chapter 12, recounting an October 1957 meeting, mentions the problems caused by "the lack of a superior high-temperature material (which the Langley structures people dubbed 'unobtainium')" This paragraph in turn cites Becker, John V. "The Development of Winged Reentry Vehicles, 1952–1963",unpublished, dated 23 May 1983.
  2. ^Misra, Mohan (Nov–Dec 1990)."Towards unobtainium [new composite materials for space applications]".Aerospace Composites and Materials.2:29–32. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-04-24.
  3. ^Dean, Edwin B. (1989). "Parametric cost analysis: a design function".American Association of Cost Engineers 33rd Annual Meeting.Vol. 25. p. 28.CiteSeerX10.1.1.45.5018.
  4. ^"Unobtainium".Metal Suppliers Online.Retrieved2010-06-04.We can loosely define it as any metal that is specified by Engineering and unavailable to Purchasing
  5. ^"Oakely Terminology".eyewearthese. 2023-08-13.
  6. ^Mat Brett (Jan 5, 2012)."Spin Unobtanium Monobloc Cassette".Road.cc.
  7. ^Jay Ramey (Dec 10, 2019)."Hey, Lancia Delta Integrale owners, FCA found some unobtainium-level stuff you might be interested in".autoWeek.
  8. ^Chris Petris,How to Restore Your Corvette, 1963-1967,p. 13, CarTech Inc, 2012ISBN193470976X.
  9. ^Rob Squire (Jul 18, 2018)."On the Bench #65"(PDF).AudioTechnology.
  10. ^Graham Cottingham (Jun 21, 2019)."Oakley Cycling Sunglasses".Cycling News.
  11. ^Jeremy Hsu (Sep 20, 2010)."Boeing launches search for crucial rare earth elements".NBC.
  12. ^Hodge, Nathan (2010-03-16)."Congress Holds Hearings on Unobtainium".wired.Retrieved2010-06-04.The House Committee on Science and Technology's investigations and oversight panel is holding a hearing today on rare-earth metal supplies, focusing onChina's near-monopoly on the stuff.
  13. ^Kosich, Dorothy (2010-01-13)."The Rare Earth Revolution has investors stampeding".Mineweb. Archived fromthe originalon 2014-02-01.Retrieved2010-06-04.Metals analyst Christopher Ecclestone suggests the hunt for Unobtainium storyline reminds him 'of some of the talk surrounding Rare Earths (REE) these days'
  14. ^Arnold, James R.; Thompson, William B. (1992)."Advanced propulsion for LEO-Moon transport: II. Tether configurations in the LEO-Moon system: The Role of" Unobtainium "".Nasa. Johnson Space Center, the Second Conference on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century, Volume 1.Lunar and Planetary Institute: 57.Bibcode:1992lbsa.conf...55A.
  15. ^"Going Up? Private Group Begins Work on Space Elevator".Space.Archived fromthe originalon 2010-04-06.Retrieved2010-05-19.
  16. ^DAVID APPELL (Jun 14, 2017)."BUILDING AN ELEVATOR TO SPACE".Pacific Standard.
  17. ^Brin, David (1983).Startide Rising.Internet Archive. Toronto; New York: Bantam. p. 95.ISBN978-0-553-23495-4.
  18. ^"Elementary, My Dear Watson".ansible.uk.Retrieved2024-04-08.
  19. ^"Unobtainium by David Brin from Startide Rising".technovelgy.Retrieved2024-04-08.
  20. ^"SFE: Unobtainium".sf-encyclopedia.Retrieved2024-04-08.
  21. ^"At its center, 'The Core' is a fun ride - Los Angeles Times".Los Angeles Times.28 March 2003.Archivedfrom the original on 2013-12-03.
  22. ^"What scientists love and lament when Hollywood journeys to Earth's core".NPR Short Wave.July 7, 2023.
  23. ^Wilhelm, Maria; Dirk Mathison (November 2009).James Cameron's Avatar: A Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora.HarperCollins.p.4.ISBN978-0-06-189675-0.
  24. ^Differences of opinion exist regarding the correct pronunciation; Chuck Jones rendered the modulator's name as Q-36 in print inChuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist(New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1989;ISBN0-374-12348-9), p. 213
  25. ^Heppenheimer, Thomas A. (1999)."NASA SP-4221: The Space Shuttle Decision – NASA's Search for a Reusable Space Vehicle".Chapter 8
  26. ^"Experts Warn of Impending Phosphorus Crisis",by Hilmar Schmundt,Spiegel,21 April 2010
  27. ^"Lake Mononoa Waterfront Design Challenge"(PDF).cityofmadison. 2024-12-12.
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