Flying Blade
Names: Flying Bladenanofilaments
First appears in Book 1: The Three-Body Problem, chapter 6 (6)
Appearances
B1
B2
B3
What you know
Book 1: The Three-Body Problem
- Ch 6Flying Blade is a new ultrastrong nanomaterial, so far made only in tiny precious quantities by stacking molecules one at a time with nanoprobes.
- Ch 31Nanomaterial developed by Wang Miao; it can only be made as filaments about one-hundredth the thickness of a human hair, and is extremely sharp.
Book 3: Death's End
- Ch 10A nanomaterial about a tenth the thickness of spider silk; eight grams stretch into a hundred-kilometer cable, strong and radiation-resistant.
Connections
- led byWang Miaolead scientist on the project
- created byWang Miao
- part ofStaircase ProgramMaterial of the cables connecting sail to payload
Key moments
- Book 3 · Ch 10Staircase Program described
A retrospective account explains how the Staircase Program accelerated a probe to 1 percent of lightspeed using timed nuclear explosions behind a radiation sail, with a payload on very long Flying Blade cables.