Site: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111117154643.htm
Date of publication: November 17th, 2011
A team of scientists from the California Institute of Technology have found a newly developed material that is the lightest on Earth. This material has a density of 0.9 mg/cc, and is one hundred times lighter than Styrofoam. The architecture and the design of this material is very unique, and it is what scientists call the "micro-lattice" design. The micro-lattice design makes many hollow, tiny tubes, which are separated by "walls" that are 1,000 time thinner than one human hair. What is very interesting about this material is the fact that it is made up of 99.99% air, and 0.01% is metal. This metal has very high energy absorption, and all the other physical and chemical properties of a metal. Many architects are starting to become very excited about this unique metal, because by using this metal, more weight-efficient buildings could be designed. Nano and micro scales are starting to be used in science, as well as architecture.
I personally think that this is fascinating, and that it is amazing that such a light material could be found. However, I am a little bit skeptical about whether they build any actual models of buildings out of such a light material. After all, it is made up of mostly air, and that could be quite difficult to handle. What was especially interesting, in my opinion, was the fact that this metal could be placed on top of dandelion fluff, and not damage it in any way. However, I am wondering whether they would be able to create this metal to a larger scale, and be able to use it for anything efficient. When I read this article, I immediately thought about what type of metal they used, because there are some metals that are not very light, at all. Also, if this light metal was created out of an alkali metal, I wondered what would happen to all the air within the material if it was dropped into water. The metal would combust, but I do not know what would happen to 99.9% of air.
Date of publication: November 17th, 2011
A team of scientists from the California Institute of Technology have found a newly developed material that is the lightest on Earth. This material has a density of 0.9 mg/cc, and is one hundred times lighter than Styrofoam. The architecture and the design of this material is very unique, and it is what scientists call the "micro-lattice" design. The micro-lattice design makes many hollow, tiny tubes, which are separated by "walls" that are 1,000 time thinner than one human hair. What is very interesting about this material is the fact that it is made up of 99.99% air, and 0.01% is metal. This metal has very high energy absorption, and all the other physical and chemical properties of a metal. Many architects are starting to become very excited about this unique metal, because by using this metal, more weight-efficient buildings could be designed. Nano and micro scales are starting to be used in science, as well as architecture.
I personally think that this is fascinating, and that it is amazing that such a light material could be found. However, I am a little bit skeptical about whether they build any actual models of buildings out of such a light material. After all, it is made up of mostly air, and that could be quite difficult to handle. What was especially interesting, in my opinion, was the fact that this metal could be placed on top of dandelion fluff, and not damage it in any way. However, I am wondering whether they would be able to create this metal to a larger scale, and be able to use it for anything efficient. When I read this article, I immediately thought about what type of metal they used, because there are some metals that are not very light, at all. Also, if this light metal was created out of an alkali metal, I wondered what would happen to all the air within the material if it was dropped into water. The metal would combust, but I do not know what would happen to 99.9% of air.
But if you think about it, an atom is 99% air! Isn't that crazy? I love this new matrix of materials. Nanotechnology is very fascinating to me and how useful it can be. :)
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