The MIT group found a pair of modes that resemble a sort of breathing motion of the condensate. Both teams found these excitations to be analogous to those in superfluid helium, and indeed the observed oscillation frequencies agree with those that emerge from theories that predict superfluidity for BECs. However, the researchers emphasize that more comprehensive studies of the fluid properties and excitation modes of BECs are needed to establish superfluidity. Because of their nanometer diameters and micron lengths, nanotubes are difficult to study singly. This extreme stiffness, along with low density, might make carbon nanotubes an excellent ingredient in building materials.
Electrical properties are potentially no less important.
This affords a more controlled study of conductivity than was possible in previous two-probe experiments. The four-probe tests have yielded nanotubes with a wide range of properties, from metallic to semiconducting. The researchers conclude that a tube's conductivity depends greatly on its diameter and on the helicity of carbon atoms making up the layers of the tubes. The Galileo spacecraft, now patrolling Jupiter's neighborhood, recently swung past Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system.