World's Lightest Material Is a Metal 100 Times Lighter Than Styrofoam

99.9% air? WOW, it should be cheap then... right?

This is so incredibly cool. Well done to those guys involved with it.

The article talks about compression recovery ability and being used for shock absorption, so I guess it's not rigid. More like a very light foam, but I can be wrong.

A demonstration of the ultra-light, low-density material described by Schaedler et al. recovering from compression, narrated by Brandon Bryn of the Science press package team. Read more at Chemistry World magazine:

A team of researchers from UC Irvine, HRL Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology have developed the world's lightest material -- with a density of 0.9 mg/cc -- about one hundred times lighter than Styrofoam™.

New metal - which is 99.9 percent air - is so light that it can sit atop dandelion fluff without damaging it. (Credit: Dan Little, HRL Laboratories LLC)

Developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the novel material could be used for battery electrodes and acoustic, vibration or shock energy absorption. William Carter, manager of the architected materials group at HRL, compared the new material to larger, more familiar edifices: "Modern buildings, exemplified by the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge, are incredibly light and weight-efficient by virtue of their architecture. We are revolutionizing lightweight materials by bringing this concept to the nano and micro scales."

Source

So what molecules where they using or is this structure applicable to different basis materials? They just state that this is metal.

Nice.

PS: Did not find it here so, sorry if this was posted before.

It won't be long before the military comes along and says this doesn't exist.

reply to post by RUSSO


Nothing weighs less.

Maybe this metal is reverse engineered from the alien crash site at Roswell, it matches the description of metal that was allegedly recovered there.

Well, wow!!! A single hair might weigh more than that! Pretty impressive, I'd say! I hope scientists and engineers could find as many uses as possible for this material, in order to facilitate our lives. Great piece of news OP, S&F!

Originally posted by chrismicha77
It won't be long before the military comes along and says this doesn't exist.

edit on 18-11-2011 by chrismicha77 because: Haven't had my coffee yet.

I think now is too late to make this move

Originally posted by Imogene72
Well, wow!!! A single hair might weigh more than that! Pretty impressive, I'd say! I hope scientists and engineers could find as many uses as possible for this material, in order to facilitate our lives. Great piece of news OP, S&F!

Imagine a material like this bullet resistent... This would be wonderful.

Dont know why mythril comes to my mind

Originally posted by RUSSO

Imagine a material like this bullet resistent... This would be wonderful.

I was wondering how strong the material was and how it would withstand cosmic radiation. If its durable and radio protected it would make good material for space craft. Kind of makes you think could the Roswell weather balloon material of been this type of material. good find

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13


Yes, that Roswell weather balloon material was reported to be very light and very strong (100X stronger than steel perhaps?) and was reported to have the ability to return to it's original shape when a thin sheet of it was screwed up into a ball. (returning to it's former shape after compression is also mentioned in this article)..so yeah, i'd say it's description is very like that of the Roswell..ah..weather balloon.



So this metal lattice is the next step up from Aerogel then? Aerogel was formally touted as the lightest and strongest material on Earth, (silica based) and was recently used as a 'capture matrix' in the 'stardust' spacecraft to catch meteoric dust particles and return them to Earth.

Awesome stuff..

Here's another article on the material

news.cnet.com

The research was conducted for the United States' Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

I am no Sci Tech authority but this seems to be a game changer for a wide variety of applications?

reply to post by JacKatMtn

I am no Sci Tech authority but this seems to be a game changer for a wide variety of applications?

I agree with you JacKatMtn. Lets see where this will gonna lead us. It seems we are becoming some of our scientific fictions.

And, if DARPA is in the game Im sure some of the Sci Tech should be "scary" too.

Ps. Thanks for your help and everything.

Originally posted by chrismicha77
It won't be long before the military comes along and says this doesn't exist.

edit on 18-11-2011 by chrismicha77 because: Haven't had my coffee yet.

Or they put in in a weapon.

AKA Super light drones!

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13

Kind of makes you think could the Roswell weather balloon material of been this type of material. good find

If I remember right, the story was that material was some how "inteligent". Like if could sense the touch.

I hope they make some earrings out of it. My head is so full of holes - weightless plugs would be awesome.

For some reason I'm picturing my ears just blowing in the wind.

looks like an extremely fine chain maile.
think knights of the round table or similar.

Originally posted by Ophiuchus 13

Originally posted by RUSSO

Imagine a material like this bullet resistent... This would be wonderful.

I was wondering how strong the material was and how it would withstand cosmic radiation. If its durable and radio protected it would make good material for space craft. Kind of makes you think could the Roswell weather balloon material of been this type of material. good find

Indeed. I was wondering how conducive it can become, or what happens when sealed with other things besides "air"... and what a current or electrical field ran through it with air or other particles could accomplish... bullet resistant under the right conditions seems plausible to me.

Originally posted by spikey
reply to post by Ophiuchus 13

 

Yes, that Roswell weather balloon material was reported to be very light and very strong (100X stronger than steel perhaps?) and was reported to have the ability to return to it's original shape when a thin sheet of it was screwed up into a ball. (returning to it's former shape after compression is also mentioned in this article)..so yeah, i'd say it's description is very like that of the Roswell..ah..weather balloon.

So this metal lattice is the next step up from Aerogel then? Aerogel was formally touted as the lightest and strongest material on Earth, (silica based) and was recently used as a 'capture matrix' in the 'stardust' spacecraft to catch meteoric dust particles and return them to Earth.

edit on 18/11/2011 by spikey because: Added info

1 more reason for disclosure =P

I'm surprised that I haven't seen any comments about Philip Corso and his information regarding metals of this type being recovered from the crash at Roswell. Remember the video of the guy crushing that "tinfoil" like material and it unfolded again?

Add to the fact that this was funded by the DARPA and all of a sudden maybe Corso doesn't sound like a complete loon? Just sayin'.

That's so COOL, can I weld it?

I wonder how many jobs there are for fabricating microlattice??

It is probably a palladium glass or similar alloy. Saying it is the lightest METAL is a mistake, as it is technically a composite with one material being air and the other being microtubes. Nanostructured stuff is definitely the tech of the future.