Wild substance - Aerogel

[sparkyclarky]

I just thought that you folks might find this to be an interesting read.

NASA Aerogel

 

[Spoooon]

Isn't this stuff kind of old? I think I remember reading about it years ago.

Still, pretty cool stuff.

 

[Eli]

Yeah, it's an old repost.

It's cool stuff though.

 

[CrazyPerson]

its cool

 

[Kadarin]

Anyone know if you can buy a small cube of the stuff? Just as a novelty? My dad would love it... (he collects junk like that)

 

[OulOat]

Unbelievable. Can't see why Americans lost interest in space exploration.

 

[Heisenberg]

I knew a guy who interned at Oak Ridge and he brought back a sample of a carbon-based material that conducted heat extremely well. Much better than metal. I put a two inch thick piece of it in the palm of my hand, and then put an ice cube on top, and I cold feel the cold from it immediately, and it started to melt. Materials like that are one day going to replace metal heat sinks.

 

[Yossarian]

it is pretty neat stuff. i went to an open house at jpl a few years back, they had a guy hitting a piece with a blow torch and you could feel it right afterwards.

 

[sharkeeper]

Tritiated aerogels will provide enough light to make a true zero power backlight for TFT panels. They should provide a 15+ year(!) useable life! Currently producing full spectrum output and (of course) NRC allowance remain primary obstacles.

Currently, increasing efficiency and safety of betaphotovoltaic sources are the primary objectives of tritiated aerogels.

Cheers!

 

[kazeakuma]

That stuff is just amazing. If it ever became cheap enough it could be used to make some cool art too.

aerogel & matches

Aerogel Cube

 

[SpiderX]

Some of this stuff was in a Spider-Man novel I read a few years ago. =)

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: shuttleteam
Tritiated aerogels will provide enough light to make a true zero power backlight for TFT panels. They should provide a 15+ year(!) useable life! Currently producing full spectrum output and (of course) NRC allowance remain primary obstacles.

Currently, increasing efficiency and safety of betaphotovoltaic sources are the primary objectives of tritiated aerogels.

Cheers!

Pardon my ignorance, but WTF did you just say?

 

[bpctech]

this stuff really is a marvel of engineering.

I actually work at JPL, where it was invented and used in the Stardust project. I was at a meeting earlier in the summer where they were discussing it's other possible future uses such as house insulation, strengthening cars while making them much lighter, etc.

And yes, I have seen pictures of it used to make some very cool art.

 

[Miramonti]

a whole lot of that stuff will come in handy whenever a meteor is scheduled to hit earth.