Chinese scientists say they have the key to building a space elevator

Chinese scientists have developed a carbon nanotube fibre they say is strong enough to be used to build a space elevator. The Tsinghua University research team patented the technology and published part of their research in the journal Nature Nanotechnology earlier this year.

They said the fibre would be “in great demand in many high-end fields such as sports equipment, ballistic armour, aeronautics, astronautics and even space elevators”. But is a lift that could travel from the Earth into space actually possible, or is this just the stuff of science fiction?