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Gnonthgol t1_j24whv9 wrote

Reply to comment by Ch3mee in ELI5: Is it theoretically possible to find new chemical elements? by wansifu2

The question was specifically about elements of the periodic table. But you are completely right that the concept of unobtainium comes from the research into alloys. Things like magnesium aluminium creating light but very strong metals, then titanium alloys with even better properties and so on. A lot of this research have faded from the spotlight after plastics took over most of the uses, for example in fiberglass. Currently things like kevlar and carbon fiber have taken over the spotlight from metal alloys so things like unobtainium is hard to imagine for most people.

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Ch3mee t1_j28fyku wrote

Eh, there's still a lot of interesting things going on in batteries. The new frontier is nano-materials, though. This is where shit can get wild and into real "unobtanium" type properties. Self repairing materials. Materials that can change properties depending on conditions. Molecular robots. A lot of work is being done around carbon, but there is still a wide open range of possibilities.

Oop. And ceramics. That's been a lot of the last 50 years. I keep saying batteries, but there's an increasing amount of money going into conductors and energy storage. But, ceramics have been hot for awhile.

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