I just went through the same power failure, and came to a different conclusion:

Install a natural gas generator with an automatic switchover when the power goes out. The cost wouldn't be too different, I think, but this way you wouldn't even notice a power outage.

Someone was showing off, but didn't bother to confirm the spelling/punctuation. ;-)

Dommage.

FTFY

She inflicted COBOL on the world. She is the antichrist. Were she hired today, she would do similarly nefarious work.

Beware: Anyone supporting her work must also be one of her dark minions... Has Slashdot truly gone over to the dark side...?

As a mechanical engineer, I have only ever needed integral calculus outside of school work (including tutoring) three times:
1. With a friend, for fun, to win a bet. Yay, free beer!
2. To answer a particular question for work. Yay, happy boss!
3. Just now, for fun, to determine the required material stiffness for a cable hanging down from geostationary orbit (i.e. a space elevator cable) to support its own weight. Yay, Science!

Calculated minimum required material stiffness for space elevator cable: 4.9x10^7 N*m/kg.

This jives with what the 10x10^7 N*m/kg quoted on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator (referencing: Edwards, Bradley Carl. The NIAC Space Elevator Program. NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts). This would make perfect sense that he is assuming a safety factor of 2 (safety margin of 100%)

So, assuming that the nano-scale cross-linking issues mentioned previously in this thread do not reduce the tensile strength too much, and assuming we're okay with a safety factor of only 1.5 (50% safety margin), then we're finally in the ballpark with Carbyne having a material stiffness of about 7.5x10^7 N*m/kg.

We have the material; we can build it. So now, it's no longer a question of can the physics work, but rather a question of the political and business will to put in the engineering work to make this a reality.

Very, very cool.