Unexplained Mysteries Discussion Forums

Help - Search - Members - Calendar

Full Version: Frozen Smoke

Unexplained Mysteries Discussion Forums > Science > Science & Technology

ships-cat

Aug 21 2007, 02:55 PM

This report from the Times of London
I had to read it a couple of times to check that it wasn't some sort of hoax...

QUOTE("The Times of London")

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

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.

Scientists are working to discover new applications for the substance, ranging from the next generation of tennis rackets to super-insulated space suits for a manned mission to Mars.
story continues

Remarkable

Meow Purr.

questionmark

Aug 21 2007, 02:56 PM

QUOTE(ships-cat @ Aug 21 2007, 05:55 PM)

This report from the Times of London
I had to read it a couple of times to check that it wasn't some sort of hoax...
Remarkable

Meow Purr.

Ehm, yes, but where is the catch?

Lotus Flower

Aug 21 2007, 02:59 PM

Wow that is one weird looking piece of frozen smoke!

Quite fascinating really, I couldn't stop looking at it lol

Ghost Ship

Aug 21 2007, 03:05 PM

Awesome.

Leonardo

Aug 21 2007, 03:06 PM

Holy Smoke!!!!

The Silver Thong

Aug 21 2007, 03:12 PM

Wow this sounds like amazing stuff. They put 6mm of this stuff on a metel plate and blew it up with dynamite and it was virtualy undamaged WOW.

EmpressStarXVII

Aug 21 2007, 03:25 PM

That is amazing

chemical-licker

Aug 21 2007, 03:37 PM

april is long off

i'll wait to see it for myself, i need tangible proof.

ships-cat

Aug 21 2007, 06:06 PM

QUOTE(chemical-licker @ Aug 21 2007, 04:37 PM)

april is long off

i'll wait to see it for myself, i need tangible proof.

That was my instinct as well Chemical' .. but have a gander at the article. The Times is a pretty reputable newspaper, and it seems to quote a number of sources.

Apparantly a variant of this substance has been around since 1931, but only as a curiousity. It's only recently that someone has refined the manufacturing process and made it commercialy viable.

Meow Purr.

Spurious George

Aug 21 2007, 06:24 PM

Very cool. The pic looked photoshopped to me... but I found a story about it from 2002 which was referred to in the above article...

NASA's 'frozen smoke' named lightest solid

... and another pic of this 'frozen smoke'....

linked-image

and a pic of George Bush eating a lion cub...

linked-image

MoonPrincess

Aug 21 2007, 06:28 PM

That's pretty cool. The pictures are even cooler.

Lord Umbarger

Aug 21 2007, 07:45 PM

Hey, I bet that they find a way to use it as a scaffold for growing replacement organs. It seems like a logical extention of the technology.

swtp

Aug 22 2007, 01:06 AM

Sounds pretty amazing! I can,t wait to see all the ways it can be used!

ninjadude

Aug 22 2007, 02:30 AM

I'm stilll trying to figure out why this has hit the airwaves now. It's been around a while now. Someone is trying to drum up some business.

KyrusRose

Aug 22 2007, 02:49 AM

Photos

Video

Jake13

Aug 22 2007, 10:51 AM

Thats... Weird. o_o.

jesspy

Aug 22 2007, 12:33 PM

frozen smoke how cool

you could set fire to things and freeze the smoke lol

i wonder if you can eat it

bigdog112

Aug 22 2007, 02:22 PM

If you guys go on youtoob or google some videos theres some random guys who buy small pieces and exparement on them.

one guy found when you drop it on wood it makes a very metallic sound like it is very solid keep in mined its a jelly type of meteral. This same guy squeezed a small piece of the areogel and it disintegrated in to very small pieces like sand.

Mars

Aug 22 2007, 02:22 PM

I want some.

Raptor

Aug 22 2007, 02:26 PM

QUOTE(jesspy @ Aug 22 2007, 01:33 PM)

frozen smoke how cool

you could set fire to things and freeze the smoke lol

i wonder if you can eat it

It's only called "frozen smoke" because of its appearance. Smoke is made up of solid particles to begin with, so you can't freeze it anyway.

QUOTE

april is long off i'll wait to see it for myself, i need tangible proof.

What's so difficult to believe about it?

They've been around for decades.

ninjadude

Aug 22 2007, 02:34 PM

again you all must have just crawled out into the sunshine. The page posted from Nasa was last updated THREE years ago. This is old news. It is a very cool compound. But not new.

Luvkittys7

Aug 22 2007, 04:07 PM

I want some. It's pretty! LOL @ the peeps who think it's actually frozen smoke!!

Legatus Legionis

Aug 22 2007, 05:25 PM

QUOTE

Aerogel is nicknamed “frozen smoke” and is made by extracting water from a silica gel, then replacing it with gas such as carbon dioxide. The result is a substance that is capable of insulating against extreme temperatures and of absorbing pollutants such as crude oil.

now a new and better way to get rid of carbon dioxide.

KyrusRose

Aug 22 2007, 05:40 PM

QUOTE(ninjadude @ Aug 22 2007, 10:34 AM)

again you all must have just crawled out into the sunshine. The page posted from Nasa was last updated THREE years ago. This is old news. It is a very cool compound. But not new.

So because its not new everyone in the world should know about it and no ones allowed to talk about it.. real mature.

Rocket88

Aug 22 2007, 05:46 PM

QUOTE(LiGhTyAgAmi @ Aug 22 2007, 06:25 PM)

now a new and better way to get rid of carbon dioxide.

Nice one "LiGhTyAgAmi". That was my first thought.
How about carbon monoxide ? If this stuff could keep it contained.......................................thinking

Edit: I can see it as a building material, with many benefits, BUT, how much will it cost ?

Jiatao

Aug 22 2007, 06:47 PM

QUOTE(Rocket88 @ Aug 22 2007, 11:46 AM)

Nice one "LiGhTyAgAmi". That was my first thought.
How about carbon monoxide ? If this stuff could keep it contained.......................................thinking

Edit: I can see it as a building material, with many benefits, BUT, how much will it cost ?

about $159

Raptor

Aug 22 2007, 11:57 PM

QUOTE(Jiatao @ Aug 22 2007, 07:47 PM)

about $159

You watched that YouTube video too, huh?

It was $159 for just under two cubic inches. If I was that rich, I'd probably decide to save a bit of money and build a house made of gold instead.

Chokmah

Aug 23 2007, 12:07 AM

QUOTE(Raptor X7 @ Aug 23 2007, 12:57 AM)

You watched that YouTube video too, huh?

It was $159 for just under two cubic inches. If I was that rich, I'd probably decide to save a bit of money and build a house made of gold instead.

Dibs on the spare room!

Yeah, I heard about this stuff a while ago. But, I think it's more commercially available. Once technology evolves, making this stuff may become cheaper.

Raptor

Aug 23 2007, 12:26 AM

QUOTE(Chokmah @ Aug 23 2007, 01:07 AM)

Dibs on the spare room!

Well I suppose I can't argue with the law!

ninjadude

Aug 23 2007, 12:54 AM

QUOTE(KyrusRose @ Aug 22 2007, 12:40 PM)

So because its not new everyone in the world should know about it and no ones allowed to talk about it.. real mature.

I didn't say you couldn't talk about it. knock yourself out. It's just very old news and I'm curious why the big deal now.

dcman

Aug 28 2007, 02:49 PM

QUOTE(ships-cat @ Aug 21 2007, 02:55 PM)

This report from the Times of London
I had to read it a couple of times to check that it wasn't some sort of hoax...
Remarkable

Meow Purr.

Apparently you can buy aerogel (when they have it in stock) from http://www.unitednuclear.com/aerogel.htm ...I think it is kind of ironic that this site is owned and operated by Bob Lazar.

This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.