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[MetalSlimeHunt]

I'm pretty sure you would literally be better off sending the warehouse to space and shooting goods back down to Earth than using any thrust-based hover system. A giant dirigible is the only way to go.

[Shadowlord]

That's why I jokingly suggested a nuclear powered helicarrier: The turbines would run off the power system instead of burning fuel. It'd still be wildly impractical, though. A helicopter is one thing. A big frakking metal carrier trying to stay airborne using turbines would be something else entirely.

I'm sure there's math that could be done to see how feasible it would be, but I'm sure a dirigible would be far more feasible.

[IcyTea31]

How about we power its flight by placing populist politicians from all over the world on it? After all, they're full of hot air!

[Sergarr]

When looking for subtances that expand when they solidify, one should probably look to ones that make crystals. After all, the expansion is because the rigid molecular lattice takes more space than the freely-moving liquid.

That's... not helpful, because nearly all inorganic substances make crystals. In fact, you have to deliberately try in order to make them non-crystallic, by freezing them fast enough that they don't have the time to reorganize into crystallic form.

[Rolan7]

In fact, you have to deliberately try in order to make them non-crystallic, by freezing them fast enough that they don't have the time to reorganize into crystallic form.

Ooh, is that actually a thing?  Chemistry is awesome!

[Neonivek]

Aren't blimps like, kinda vulnerable to adverse weather and not able to carry all that much cargo, though?

Like, you'd need a fuckhuge blimp in order to actualy use it as a warehouse of some sort, with products + workers + drones. Then one day God decides to practice his old zeus persona and throws a lightning at it, and suddenly you have a fuckhuge warehouse tier mass falling on top of unsuspecting consumers.

Well don't forget that around the time they were relatively popular... there wasn't much in the way of competition.

[Amperzand]

CAPITALISM HO!

But nah, I don't think anyone came up with any reactor design light and powerful enough to put on an airship. We won't be getting nuclear airships unless people can get one of those small fusion reactor designs working, not to mention stable fusion itself :U

No, you can do it. Airships can actually carry a remarkable amount, and they managed to get a safe, usable nuclear reactor into a bomber in the 50s. Never used it for anything, but they expected to be able to use it to propel the aircraft and got the mass down to about 30 tons, shielding included.

[ChairmanPoo]

No, you can do it. Airships can actually carry a remarkable amount, and they managed to get a safe, usable nuclear reactor into a bomber in the 50s. Never used it for anything, but they expected to be able to use it to propel the aircraft and got the mass down to about 30 tons, shielding included.

What for, though? I can't see why a blimp would need such a thing

[Amperzand]

Don't ask me man. That delicious atompunk flavor? The bombers would have used it because it let them fly supersonic for weeks, in theory.

[Sergarr]

In fact, you have to deliberately try in order to make them non-crystallic, by freezing them fast enough that they don't have the time to reorganize into crystallic form.

Ooh, is that actually a thing?  Chemistry is awesome!

It's technically called materials science, and the result of that process is called an amorphous solid. They (the metals, at least) have a lot of interesting properties different from the normal crystalline materials, like very high durability, resistance to breaking, corrosion resistance, and high magnetic permeability. Unfortunately, they tend to revert back to the polycrystalline state when subjected to high temperatures, and the process to get them is quite difficult (you have to cool the liquid metal extremely quickly, and it usually involves dropping it down on a rapidly rotating cooling surface) so their use is pretty limited.

There's another interesting application of very fast cooling, though, that can be used to create "materials with memory of form", which is not nearly as awesome as it sounds, because it's a one-time only trick, but it's still quite good.

[Yoink]

My brother and I have forgotten freezer beer at least a couple of times each...  The cleanup is a pain.

Happened to me for the first time about a week ago. Don't think I've ever learned the dangers of freezing tinnies before. Yikes.
At least it was only the ultra cheap stuff... wait, does this happen to glass bottles, too? That's terrifying.

[smjjames]

What hte hell.

Here's how it works. First, get a very large airship and float it above a city. Then attach a giant warehouse full of Amazon items to the bottom (actually, you should probably attach this before the floating, but the patent is vague on this point). This warehouse is constantly restocked by smaller airships, which bring personnel and supplies from the ground, as well as carrying away waste. People on the ground use their computers to browse items currently floating over their heads, and order whatever they want. Then drones grab the items, hurl themselves out of the airship, and engage their rotors as they approach the ground. The human receives his or her item from the drone, and the drone ascends back up to its floating palace of boxes and workers.

What is this, Blade Runner?!

I don't get the Blade Runner reference, but anyways, definetly ambitious.

[Furtuka]

What hte hell.

Here's how it works. First, get a very large airship and float it above a city. Then attach a giant warehouse full of Amazon items to the bottom (actually, you should probably attach this before the floating, but the patent is vague on this point). This warehouse is constantly restocked by smaller airships, which bring personnel and supplies from the ground, as well as carrying away waste. People on the ground use their computers to browse items currently floating over their heads, and order whatever they want. Then drones grab the items, hurl themselves out of the airship, and engage their rotors as they approach the ground. The human receives his or her item from the drone, and the drone ascends back up to its floating palace of boxes and workers.

What is this, Blade Runner?!

I don't get the Blade Runner reference, but anyways, definetly ambitious.

SKYPIRATES WHEN?!

[Egan_BW]

Oh hell yeah, time to hijack a plane and launch an aerial heist on amazon.

[IcyTea31]

I'm not sure if it's smart trying to assault a craft that is already planned to have a drone army under its command.