

Ten-Year-Old Makes His Own Aerogels - edw519
http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2008/03/ten-year-old-ma.html

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Xichekolas
I thought the nickname for aerogel given in Michael Flynn's Firestar series
was better... Solid Smoke.

(The article in the Times linked to by Wired keeps calling it Frozen Smoke,
which just isn't as catchy to me... in case you you were wondering why I was
bringing this up.)

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Prrometheus
So, how can we commercialize this?

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mixmax
Find a production method that is cheap...

The properties of aerogel include:

\- The lowest density material known to man

\- The best thermal insulator known to man

\- Structurally extremely strong (but brittle)

If you can produce this stuff cheaply you would have to be an extremely poor
entrepreneur not to make bundles of money.

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Shooter
I brought a (semi-novelty) product to market that used aerogels. We were
slightly profitable, but the fact that aerogels are irritants derailed our
plans for millions. [Our product lost essentially all of its appeal because
you either had to handle it with gloves or encase it in another material for
safety reasons. Fortunately, we weren't sued before we realized the error of
our ways.]

I agree, however, that if you can figure out a way to produce it very cheaply,
you can easily make millions. Just the insulation properties alone...it's
really an amazing material. And its uses are almost limitless. I have a friend
that is working on an aerogel application in the medical field (diabetes-
related.)

~~~
mixmax
The yachting business might be interesting.

You need insulation on your yacht, have very little space so normal methods
won't work, and you can encapsulate it in between the hull and a layer of
fibreglass, which is what most yachts are made of nowadays. And often price is
a secondary issue in this market.

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Shooter
I like the way you think :-)

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mixmax
If it's something you want to pursue you're welcome to shoot me a mail, it's
in my profile. I might be able to help out. I live on a boat, so I know a
little about the business.

I actually drew up a yacht in 3D the way I would have built it, just as
something to do on sundays. You can see it here if you have nothing better to
do: <http://www.maximise.dk/yacht/>

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wmeredith
The article referenced here by WIRED is 5 years old...

~~~
webframp
it is? the date on the one i read was march 27 2008.

