Aerogel - coming to a space suit near you...

[Gekko71]

...Freaky stuff! Check it out...

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=288928

[Neo]

o_o

r0xx0r ^_~

[Blue]

this could do a LOT to revolutionize everything from weaponry to household appliances. Question is.. is it biodegradable?

Last thing we need is to create another \"plastic\" crisis by utilizing a material which takes millions of years to biodegrade or expells toxic pollutants when melted down...

If this is a recyclable material, it very well COULD revolutionize the world.

[Lothar]

I have much lurb for aerogel. It's amazing stuff.

[Gekko71]

I have much lurb for aerogel. It's amazing stuff.

It sounds like you're familar with the stuff Lothar - do you know it from your work or something - and if so, in what capacity?

[roid]

i think i wrote some ZZZonline articles about Aerogel back in the day. It's been out a looooooongcat time.

seeing it in action is pretty spectacular.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=aerogel


I wouldn't worry Blue, it's easily crushed, it's like 99.999999% nothing. IIRC the latest aerogels are nothing but Carbon and um.... methanol or air or vacuum or something (i forget).

it pings & rings just like glass when you tap it.

[Lothar]

do you know it from your work or something

I taught at an air and space museum, so I heard a lot about it in conjunction with Stardust.

[JMEaT]

Wow that's some cool stuff.

[roid]

something i've always wondered: If the space between the fibers of Aerogel is vacuum - would it be possible to make an Aerogel solid that is lighter than air? that would be amazing, i'd pay $50 for that

[TIGERassault]

something i've always wondered: If the space between the fibers of Aerogel is vacuum - would it be possible to make an Aerogel solid that is lighter than air? that would be amazing, i'd pay $50 for that

Dude! I'd pay $500 for that! Even $5,000! I mean, you could pretty much fly using it!
Wait, is it a vacuum?
Oh, and according to Wikipedia:
"The world's lowest-density solid is a silica nanofoam at 1 mg/cm3, which is the evacuated version of the record-aerogel of 1.9 mg/cm3. The density of air is 1.2 mg/cm3."

Also, it's worth remembering that Aerogel is very absorbent and don't last very long before disintegrating. Which makes it pretty incompatible as building material.

[roid]

well thar you go!

evacuated silica nanofoam, 20% lighter than air itself

[Genghis]

well thar you go!

evacuated silica nanofoam, 20% lighter than air itself

Then why doesn't it float up like an He2 balloon? At least, not in the video posted above.

[roid]

coz it's not evacuated in those videos, it's probabaly full of air or aids or something.

btw helium is about 10% the weight of air, this EVACUATED aerogel is only 80% the weight of air. It's not gonna shoot anywhere too fast

[Genghis]

Heh, caveat emptor! Dude spent $150 on non-evacuated aerogel. Or maybe he should have bought some evacugel?

[Tunnelcat]

If the aerogel was evacuated of all air, wouldn't the surrounding air pressure crush it flat when it was exposed to the atmosphere?

[Ferno]

nope. It's like a thermos bottle, only without the glass.