Carbon fiber

Assess

Techniques

A high-strength, low-weight composite material used to build a rigid throwing arm.

Why it's here

Placed in Assess: 1 article(s) of evidence from 1 source(s), led by research-stage coverage, with 1 in the last 30 days. Confidence 24%. Low accumulated evidence, so it defaults conservatively pending more signal.

Evidence (1)

7Hacker News·8/9/2026research
Gravity-powered trebuchet breaks the sound barrier
Tom Stanton built a gravity-powered trebuchet that reportedly launched a 4-gram projectile at supersonic speed, becoming the first such machine to cross the sound barrier using only gravity. The design used a pulley ratio, a lightweight carbon-fiber arm, and iterative stress testing to increase rotational speed and efficiency before the final successful run.