Scientists hail ‘frozen smoke’ as material that will change world

The Sunday Times ^ | August 19, 2007 | Abul Taher

[marvlus]

A MIRACLE material for the 21st century could protect your home against bomb blasts, mop up oil spillages and even help man to fly to Mars.

Aerogel, one of the world’s lightest solids, can withstand a direct blast of 1kg of dynamite and protect against heat from a blowtorch at more than 1,300C.

[marvlus]

Interesting stuff...

[MNJohnnie]

But will it do the dishs and babysit the kids?

[KenHorse]

How long before the Libs seek monies from Big Frozen Smoke in order to pay for the health costs they attribute to 2nd hand frozen smoke....

[marvlus]

But will it do the dishs and babysit the kids?

No, but it may make it more bearable.

[Jewels1091]

hope they use it to protect our military and SOON!

[Bender2]

Amazing stuff!!!

[Not now, Not ever!]

Well, if it consumes carbon dioxide in it's manufacture, there goes global warming.

Looks like owlgore will need to find another racket.

[Recovering_Democrat]

AL GORE SAYS IT WILL CREATE GLOBAL WARMING! THE SUBSTANCE WILL BE BANNED! AL GORE MUST BE OBEYED!

[RightWhale]

This material is used in spacecraft to capture particles such as from the tail of a comet. There is hardly anything more fragile than aerogel.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

In the laboratory, a metal plate coated in 6mm of aerogel was left almost unscathed by a direct dynamite blast.
one quarter of an inch protected the metal plate.

The uses seem very valuable!

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

[ In the laboratory, a metal plate coated in 6mm of aerogel was left almost unscathed by a direct dynamite blast.]

Interesting stuff.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

[Pontiac]

But will it do the dishs and babysit the kids?

Well it won’t do dishes but immerse your kids in the stuff and I am sure they will come to no harm and you won’t hear any noise or back talk from the little varmints.

[flashbunny]

Did you actually bother to read the article?

[Larry Lucido]

I hate green crayons. Let the bastard melt!

[ReignOfError]

I've handled a small piece, and it really is amazing stuff. The photo above is not doctored; it really does look like that.

How well does it insulate?

[OCC]

Weird, wild stuff.

[the invisib1e hand]

and if you rub it on sore joints....

[gcruse]

“Earlier this year Bob Stoker, 66, from Nottingham, became the first Briton to have his property insulated with aerogel. “The heating has improved significantly. I turned the thermostat down five degrees. It’s been a remarkable transformation,” he said.”

As a commentor to the original article says, insulation doesn’t mean you can set your thermostat lower...

[Politicalmom]

Is it hard or squishy?

I want to pump this stuff into my walls. :)