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Originally posted by Tom Bedlam
They were small, blindingly intense, and good for 20 years or so. There was a project between EG&G, Sandia and LLNL to pump little lasers with them that didn't need any electrical power. You can find the gubmint's patents on that all over the place.
Originally posted by watch_the_rocks
It's a pity it is so expensive, as it would be perfect for making surfboards.
Originally posted by Beachcoma
Originally posted by watch_the_rocks
It's a pity it is so expensive, as it would be perfect for making surfboards.
Wait, I just watched a documentary on Discovery yesterday and the scientist they were interviewing showed that it was pretty easy and cheap to make. But then you'd need an industrial strength pressure cooker to produce the final product...
homepages.cae.wisc.edu...
Aerogel starts out as a gel, called alcogel. For you scientists--Alcogels are made by polymerizing a silicon alkoxide (Si(OR)4, where the R is an alkyl group) with water in a mixing solvent (such as ethanol). The reaction occurs by hydrolysis and water condensation, joining together the alkoxide molecules making silicon-oxygen bonds to form oligomers (mini-polymers). The oligomers join together and form one giant molecule, which is the solid part of a gel. Easy, right? The silica matrix in the alcogel is filled with ethanol, having tiny little pockets 5 to 150 nanometers across. These tiny pockets of ethanol in the gel are called nanopores. Nano is the metric prefix for one billionth, and a nanometer (abbreviated nm) is one billionth of a meter--close to the size of some atoms.
Originally posted by ninthaxis
Is this more alien technology that has been reverse engineered by the government?
It was invented by an American chemist for a bet in 1931, but early versions were so brittle and costly that it was largely consigned to laboratories. It was not until a decade ago that Nasa started taking an interest in the substance and putting it to a more practical use.
www.timesonline.co.uk...
Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
Originally posted by ninthaxis
Is this more alien technology that has been reverse engineered by the government?
It was invented by an American chemist for a bet in 1931, but early versions were so brittle and costly that it was largely consigned to laboratories. It was not until a decade ago that Nasa started taking an interest in the substance and putting it to a more practical use.
www.timesonline.co.uk...
What other alien technology do you know of?
Originally posted by ninthaxis
Is this more alien technology that has been reverse engineered by the government?