Has the secret to Starlite been lost forever?

reply to post by Druscilla


I agree.

He reminds me of Edward Leedskalnin.

Knew something great, but didn't share his secret.

reply to post by sonnny1


Maybe he just didnt want Starlite being used for military applications. Theres been many great inventor / scientist in the past that has regretted selling their ideas to the military. I really think he just wanted to keep control of his baby.

reply to post by PhoenixOD


I feel if he gave it away "freely" EVERYONE would benefit.

Our species is way too greedy.

reply to post by sonnny1


The guy was an inventor and not a rich man, there is no shame in wanting to make some money in this life. Even if he had given it away for free other people would have then made money from it by using it in their products. Why should they make money and he stay poor after he invented the stuff? You say we are all greedy but even if starlite was given away it would still cost money to put it to use. Nothing is free in this life , no one works for nothing.

Its a true loss that this product never made it to market but rather than blaming Maurice why not go and blame all the other people and companies who had the resources to get this to market but refused accept the deal offered by the inventor?

reply to post by PhoenixOD


What a jerk.

This is what I am talking about. The slave mind...though this man was probably brilliant. He was an ass. A fool. A slave in the truest sense of the word.

He could have advanced his species....but because the WEALTH was not sufficient or the ego boost was not to this standard....he let humanity go along as it was.

It would have been better if he never existed.

Lets forget this idiot.

reply to post by PhoenixOD
I remember discussing his work with the inventor of the carbon carbon process back in the 90's. Lots of speculation was going around in classified circles about the process, and most people used his background as a hairdresser as an excuse to ignore his findings. Best guess is a lanthanum silica mix, impregnating and an organic fiber, probably made from readily available from monazite.

Science, like music, belongs to everyone; patents and copyrights stem from the lust for wealth. Of the few truly great "inventors" I have met, none of them have a taste for secrecy.

AX
FTNWO

reply to post by tadaman

He could have advanced his species....but because the WEALTH was not sufficient or the ego boost was not to this standard....he let humanity go along as it was.

What part of 51% ownership dont you understand?

It wasn't a high price he was after at all, Maurice simply wanted to keep the controlling interest of his own invention. he would have settled for any deal that would have got his product to market as long as it was used for good and remained his product. Which as an inventor he has every right to expect. At one point he was simply going to team up with a fire door manufacture but it fell through. He wouldn't have made much doing that in the grand scheme of things if it had gone ahead. he wanted to make sure his product was used for good. Money was not the goal.

The real people to blame are the manufactures of this world that refused to manufacture his product unless they could buy the controlling interest and cut him out of any decision making regarding its use. They are the true greedy ones, the people who already have millions but just wanted more. They were not interested in simply making something that would benefit humanity they HAD to own it and cut out the person clever enough to do what they couldn't do and invent it in the first place. if they had had their way poor Maurice would have ended up like Tessler, ripped off with everyone else making money from his ideas apart from himself. Why should the already fat cats, TPTB control everything?

Who knows they could have bought the formula from him and then buried it just like so many car companies have with fuel saving car engine parts. They might have kept it just for the military. Its clear he fully understood the implications of starlite being able to resist nuclear type heat.

I think Maurice was brave to stand up to the corporate bullies and not let them take control of his invention. He had integrity and money was not his goal.

If someone invents a groundbreaking product, it's totally normal for them to want to own the majority steak in that invention. Why the hell should an already huge and powerful corporation be allowed to simply become even more powerful by taking the majority share????
people forget this point..its not always about the greedy inventor.The inventor came up with the idea and wants to profit from it but more importantly he/she wants to protect his invention and see it used for the purposes he/she invented it. We shouldnt sit back and expect inventors to relinquish their controlling steaks in their own inventions..Id rather have a million great inventions controlled by the inventors who created them than a million great inventions sucked up by Locheed or the likes.
But this is the status qoa. Whats wrong with these companies anyhow, having to insit that they basically own everything? isnt that a much bigger danger? One or two major corps holding all the cards.

reply to post by PhoenixOD


A controlling interest? How about he isnt God to think he can control something like that. That is like giving a dying person the cure to his illness with the condition that he never smoke or drink or eat bacon afterwards because his ass is yours now.

He could have given humanity a heat shield that would have saved countless lives. He instead took it to his grave.

Spread that how you will but it is what it is.

Now what does he control?....nothing. And humanity is the same.

Thanks for being born and wasting your talents...jerk.

If every great talent was wasted on the lives of petty men trying to make their little moment on this world last as they wanted...we woulnt have a thing....

You give and die...or you take and die. You die either way. You decide what you leave behind is all.

He left nothing.

reply to post by tadaman


As the inventor Maurice has the right to make sure his invention was only used for good. Starlite could have been used for many weapon related applications and Maurice didn't want that.

All the fat cats and 'the powers that be' had to do was not try to control and own everything in the world and the invention could have saved countless lives like you say. The fat cats control enough as it is. They wasted a great opportunity just because they couldn't beat down the smaller man.

reply to post by tadaman


You act like you haven't seen enough cartoons and movies of bad things getting into the wrong hands. Or perhaps just the opposite because it always ends well. Interestingly that never seems to happen in real life.

Like model airplanes for example. We see flying toy airplane while our darling govt sees unmanned drones with hellfire missiles.

Damn, they even know how to make it sound hot.

reply to post by Rosinitiate


There is no getting around that. You might as well NOT invent anything since everything can be used in war.

There is an old chinese story about a fisherman who made a mixture of oils and lard for his hands, being that he worked in the winter on fishing vessels. He made the admixture to stop his hands from getting raw and exposed from the cold. His idea was to help fishermen and all their efforts for bringing food to the table, since consequently it helped ropes and other instruments from getting frayed by ice and cold.

A general saw his invention and used it to coat the swords of his soldiers and their armour. The result was that he could now attack in winter when others could not. The swords would not stick to their sheaths and his troops could attack in the bitter cold without much more protective layers that would inhibit their movement.

Was the fisherman evil. or his invention, or was the general?

None were.

The invention was made for one purpose, but once it is made all other purposes can be met by it. It is the purpose which is evil or not.

Steel is used for weapons and building, chemicals for everyday products and warfare, arrows for hunting and war, ect.

If you have such a problem trusting mankind, dont do anything. Dont make a single thing.

Nietzsche was an author looking for deeper meaning. The Nazis took his ideas and proposed a real Uberman, which led to Eugenics. Marx a thinker, which spawned a movement that has killed untold millions,

Christ was a freeman trying to liberate others, but his message has caused countless wars....

The original purpose is served by the creators, but if any alternate purpose can be served it will. If that is a problem then nothing should be made.

Human kind was supposedly made by god so as to know himself. We instead have done...what ever the hell you call this.

You cant control things past your own intended purpose. That is foolish.

If this man wanted to save people from burning to death, he could have. He was too full of his Ego to let things be as they will.

Space exploration has revealed more about the universe and ourselves then anything we have done before. The militarization of space sucks, but does that outweigh the benefits to mankind?

If you are so sensitive and frail so as to not take a risk for the good of mankind, then you really have no place in her.

We arent going forward by every brilliant mind hoarding its gifts for itself.

You know the first MODERN personal computer wasnt made for the world. It was going to be the hobby of a single sad man in his living room. Steve Jobs convinced him to show it off and look for investors.

The internet was originally made for military networks to communicate. We found an alternate purpose and hence we have a new library of Alexandria.

It works both ways too.

It is selfish to squander the talents and gifts you have on your own personal and limited view of what life should be.

Life is what it is and we are all just part of it like it or not.

This guy could have made us that much better, but his own petty insecurities and doubts in his fellow man kept him from truly giving.

He loved getting wined and dined by the elites he was prepared to sell this too (which were openly going to use it for warfare) and he knew that.

He just had this one thing and didnt want to be forgotten. He wanted people to focus on him forever. Ask his permission and his consideration.

Jesus complex.

A jerk.

reply to post by tadaman


Thank you for your very thoughtful and detailed response. I love that parable and I get where you're coming from. From my point of view, EVERYTHING happens for a reason but i would settle if most can accept sometimes.

I am not judging this mans merits and if I were, I'd say this. Whether or not you believe his reasoning or his decision, his decision "officially"' doesn't appear self serving and i get that you are stating otherwise. But what I can say is there are countless thousands of inventions and patents currently suppressed that can make any average jaw drop. These patents are suppressed for trivial reasons such as the patenter was unable to produce the device and shelved to the criminal, to undermine humanity to maximize profits.

Whether we like it or not, it just happens. If this was created by a backyard chemist then surely if we're meant to have it (for the greater good) then we shall have it. Perhaps a better time.

reply to post by Rosinitiate


agreed.

I do believe in fate and destiny. It was fate that this man and his talents coalesced to make this material. It was his destiny to reveal it to the world. A destiny that he denied, as it is that he is in control of that much.

In the end it is a loss, but not a permanent one.

Like you said. If we are to have it we will. Everything was set into motion already long ago, and nothing can change that.

All things will be eventually.

Have a good one.

AlphaExray
reply to post by PhoenixOD

 

I remember discussing his work with the inventor of the carbon carbon process back in the 90's. Lots of speculation was going around in classified circles about the process, and most people used his background as a hairdresser as an excuse to ignore his findings. Best guess is a lanthanum silica mix, impregnating and an organic fiber, probably made from readily available from monazite.

Science, like music, belongs to everyone; patents and copyrights stem from the lust for wealth. Of the few truly great "inventors" I have met, none of them have a taste for secrecy.

AX
FTNWO

Good Guess...Add some Aluminum Oxide, molybdenum and POSSIBLY Boron Nitride
which would LIKELY stabilize the mixture.

...BUT...on a technical basis...Starlite is NO LONGER lost forever but now has been
co-opted by some rather expensive materials from BASF and 3M based on research
done on heat-shielding materiel done in the 1960's and 1970's!

What a wonderful thread and especially the thought provoking recent additions. Thank you for sharing.

And if I may add a request, if anyone finds or reinvents this, there is this rather deadly nuclear plant in triple meltdown with enough stockpile laying around to...well you know the place...Fukushima. It would be real nice to wrap that mess in this. Real nice.

Amazing discovery and thanks for the thread. Something to hope for at least.

reply to post by StargateSG7


I think one of the most amazing things about Maurice's formula was that he didnt have a massive lab with expensive materials and equipment. Its said he use to mix his stuff together with a food mixer.

Heres a story that has similarities to starlight...www.theguardian.com...
Now when I heard the full story of this case it didnt add up to me...but maybe I just didnt understand all the facts properly. In a nut shell a man living the millionair lifestyle ends up killing his family and himslef.
The story was that the man in question (Christopher Foster) was the inventor of a revolutionairy heat insulating material that ened up being used on oil riggs, if I recall it helped prevent blow outs..Now I have not read the Guardian link, so I am going off memory here..so you can read the Guardian stroy to get abetter idea of the facts.
Anyway the story went something like, even though he invented this insuator, somehow he eneded up not benefiting from it financially and instead got into massive depts, even though the invention was worth billions. See it doesnt make any sense...Im sure another thread could be dedicated to this story..if anyone wants to do that feel free.