Boeing Says It's Made the Lightest Metal Material in the World

You folks remember Solid Smoke, Aerogel and all the other 'Almost Lighter Than Air" inventions? Well, now there is something even more spectacular. Enter the "Microlattice"

A new material developed by Boeing is made of metal, but it’s so light it can balance delicately on top of a dandelion.

This stuff is light. It's SUPER light. 99.9% air kind of light!

The product, called microlattice, is 100 times lighter than styrofoam, according to Boeing, and is made with interconnected hollow tubes. Its structure is similar to that of a bone, in which the outside is rigid but the inside is mostly hollow, making it lightweight but not easily crushed.

It's super strong as well. You can bend it, you can twist it. Hell, you could probably brush your teeth with it.



So it looks like Boeing did something really cool here. I mean... of course... If our government didn't have this since, say... 1942. But that would be crazy, right? Right...?

Either way. Imagine the possibilities! I would like to see where we are with this in say, 10 years. Even 5. But 10 years would be a nice slip of time to see all the other new stuff we probably wouldn't have imagined today.



Everything is happening so FAST! It makes me happy to be around to witness this day and age. Well, as far as technology is concerned, anyways.

I wonder if this stuff could make mechanical wings that really work for humans?

originally posted by: FormOfTheLord
I wonder if this stuff could make mechanical wings that really work for humans?

Yeah? I wonder if it can make hovering, quiet, rotating discs.

originally posted by: FormOfTheLord
I wonder if this stuff could make mechanical wings that really work for humans?

No. It's not lighter than air. It would not lower human weight, it would only slightly make you heavier.

No doubt this will be used for some kind of war technology rather than advancements for the human race as a whole.

I love science... I hope we can build spaceships for space tourism soon. Maybe we can then - once it's cheap to bring to stuff to space - even get rid of all the plastic trash and nuclear waste on Earth and leave it in space or send it to some lonely planet lol.

a reply to: StallionDuck

Hmmm, I wonder where they got the idea on how to manufacture such "thin strong metal." Maybe reverse engineering debris from the Roswell crash?

"There was a slightly curved piece of metal, real light. It was about six inches by twelve or fourteen inches. Very light. I crouched down and tried to snap it. My boss [Cavitt] laughs and said, 'Smart guy. He's trying to do what we couldn't do.' I asked, 'what in the hell is this stuff made out of?' It didn't feel like plastic and I never saw a piece of metal this thin that you couldn't break."

a reply to: StallionDuck


www.bbc.co.uk...

Seems like it's been out for a few years though. This article is from 2011

a reply to: madmick

Good catch. First I hear of it. Maybe they're putting it out again because it didn't catch enough attention the first time

Hm, I wonder if it could be used to make safer "airbags".

The lighter and stronger the airframe the more payload and fuel Boeing aircraft can carry to their target.

Bigger bang for the buck.

"We now return you to your regular scientific mind set."

a reply to: StallionDuck

The vid hints that you could wrap a little of this around an egg and drop it from 25 stories (app. 250 feet) and the egg would be safe. If so, why isn't this being used in cars right now (bumpers, auto body, etc.)? That's just one use for it, among many. Hmmmm, wonder if they can make golf balls or golf clubs out of this, or one of those metal baseball bats, or......

originally posted by: WeRpeons
a reply to: StallionDuck

Hmmm, I wonder where they got the idea on how to manufacture such "thin strong metal." Maybe reverse engineering debris from the Roswell crash?

My guess it comes from the same place as velcro. From research and sometimes dumb luck!

Motorcycle jackets. Guaranteed no road rash, light, cool.

a reply to: Misterlondon

It already has been used for war. You won't hear about something useful for war until after it's been used for war.

Being that you are hearing about this invention, there is either no or limited military application.

originally posted by: Aleister
a reply to: StallionDuck

The vid hints that you could wrap a little of this around an egg and drop it from 25 stories (app. 250 feet) and the egg would be safe. If so, why isn't this being used in cars right now (bumpers, auto body, etc.)? That's just one use for it, among many. Hmmmm, wonder if they can make golf balls or golf clubs out of this, or one of those metal baseball bats, or......

The bumpers and autobody are already designed to crumple so that they absorb as much impact energy from the colliding object as possible. That colliding object might be a child, but it might also be a road object. But the bodywork must be strong enough not to dent and buckle with the smallest objects.

originally posted by: Rosinitiate

originally posted by: FormOfTheLord
I wonder if this stuff could make mechanical wings that really work for humans?

Yeah? I wonder if it can make hovering, quiet, rotating discs.

For 2 cents , apparently steel undergoes another seven processes ,
all as complicated as the initial one we 'know' about.
The end product is super thin , light and has memory.
This involves exotic alloys and when complete ,the moulded pieces
are gaffer taped together , then energised , resulting in a weld/fastener free
'object' that is almost indestructable.

.... just saying

Something similar to this is being used in current aircraft manufacturing called Tech Lam... It is used mostly for interior walls and partitions on commercial aircraft.. I work with it,,

This new material seems a bit different though.

a reply to: StallionDuck

Neat... I was hoping to hear something about the tinsel strength of the product.

A feather is light and strong too but it is only mostly great for birds, certain hats/head dresses, and pillows..

Now if this stuff had the rigidity of aluminum or better yet steel while remaining super lite then it really would be a game changer.. Anyway thanks for the info I had not heard about this product before....S&F

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

Engineering ideas are always triggered by something they have been in contact with or observed. The idea for Velcro came from the idea when an engineer was taking a walk in the woods and was intrigued by burrs clinging to his trousers.

It's nice to think that humanity is at the top of the food chain when it comes to technology. However, if you've ever done research on UFO crashes and the multitude of abduction cases, you'll find out quickly that a lot of the emerging technology since the start of the 90's was observed years ago. I posted the correlation of these new technologies with photos of current research. I know a lot of members found it rather interesting and plausible. Some pictures were removed due to copy rights. Here's the post if your interested.

Eyewitness accounts of ET technology are now emerging in government research and in the marketplace.Eyeitness accounts of ET technology are now emerging in government research and in the marketplace.