AerGel - incredible substance

[MTAtech]

http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/tech/aerogel.html

This is the lightest solid, made up of 99.8% air.
It has remarkable insulation ability for both sound and heat. In fact, if one could afford to insulate a 3-4 bedroom home with it (it's about $1/sq inch) a single candle would all that would be necessary to provide heat (except that the house will eventually get too hot.)

The problem is cost. If that can be overcome, all building heating would become unnecessary.

[osprey4]

The space program always seems to get criticized for the lack of ROI, but here's a good example of potential benefit from such "pure research".

I should add that any married person can tell you building heating will never be unnecessary.

[MTAtech]

Unless the couple makes enough of its own

[osprey4]

[MTAtech]

Originally posted by osprey4
The space program always seems to get criticized for the lack of ROI, but here's a good example of potential benefit from such "pure research".

Yup. It was worth it just for Telflon, those pens that write upsidedown and Tang.

[Blazer06]

wow ironic.. i was reading about this earlier.. and suddenly its posted here. (do ing project for nuclear fusion)



Blaze

Hm. I thought teflon was done at Bell labs or the DoD, not NASA.

[MTAtech]

What can I say, Blaze, we're on the cutting edge.

[Epidemic]

Tang I consider arising from a darker day at NASA. They should use that stuff for something other than drinking. Perhaps something to do with smell controll of toilets

Tang rocks! Now I need to go find some.