# "Frozen Smoke": Precursor to Star Trek-style "transparent aluminum"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 23, 2007, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-smoke-precursor-to-star-trek-style-transparent-aluminum/416673 "2007-08-23T18:59:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-smoke-precursor-to-star-trek-style-transparent-aluminum/416673/1 "2007-08-23T18:59:56Z")
> **[Latest news & breaking headlines](https://www.thetimes.com/)** > > The latest breaking UK, US, world, business and sport news from The Times and The Sunday Times. Go beyond today's headlines with in-depth analysis and comment. If this stuff is all they say it is, can we be seeing the early stages of something leading up to the “transparent aluminum” described in the Star Trek universe? > [@](#): > > 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. > [@](#): > > Aerogel is also being tested for future bombproof housing and armour for military vehicles. In the laboratory, a metal plate coated in 6mm of aerogel was left almost unscathed by a direct dynamite blast. I’m also thinking, as a bicyclist … ultra-light bicycle frames: > [@](#): > > Aerogel is also being used for everyday applications. Dunlop, the sports equipment company, has developed a range of squash and tennis rackets strengthened with aerogel, which are said to deliver more power. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-smoke-precursor-to-star-trek-style-transparent-aluminum/416673/2 "2007-08-23T19:57:28Z")
They already invented transparent “alumina”. See [here.](http://www.rense.com/general20/transparentalum.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-smoke-precursor-to-star-trek-style-transparent-aluminum/416673/3 "2007-08-23T20:15:58Z")
I _waant_ some. Last I heard, though, it crumbled on exposure to water. Have they fixed this? I’d love to sandwich it between two sheets of glass. I would live with a milky view in order to have windows that insulate as much as the walls around them… ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-smoke-precursor-to-star-trek-style-transparent-aluminum/416673/4 "2007-08-23T20:57:18Z")
I’ve been hearing about aerogels for decades now, and we’re still not seeing it widely used. I’d like to know if they’ve found a way to keep it from disintegrating when it gets wet. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-smoke-precursor-to-star-trek-style-transparent-aluminum/416673/5 "2007-08-23T20:59:01Z")
From the link > [@](#): > > It was invented by an American chemist for a bet in 1931, Brings to mind that great quote: “Never bet against a chemist when something is on the line.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-smoke-precursor-to-star-trek-style-transparent-aluminum/416673/6 "2007-08-23T21:27:37Z")
[QUOTE=Lightnin’] I’d like to know if they’ve found a way to keep it from disintegrating when it gets wet. [/QUOTE] Which is why the quote about “unaffected by dynamite” doesn’t impress much. “Look out! They’ve got a squirtgun!” ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-smoke-precursor-to-star-trek-style-transparent-aluminum/416673/7 "2007-08-23T21:42:08Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > They already invented transparent “alumina”. Your link says it’s not exactly aluminum, though: > [@](#): > > According to a post at Slashdot (News for Nerds) this is not transparent aluminum but transparent Alumina, which is aluminum oxide - Al2-O3. However, the aerogel: > [@](#): > > Researchers believe that some versions of aerogel which are made from **platinum** … (Emphasis mine) [QUOTE=Lightnin’] I’ve been hearing about aerogels for decades now, and we’re still not seeing it widely used. I’d like to know if they’ve found a way to keep it from disintegrating when it gets wet. [/QUOTE] Well, from the article: > [@](#): > > It also has green credentials. Aerogel is described by scientists as the “ultimate sponge”, with millions of tiny pores on its surface making it ideal for absorbing pollutants in water. > > Kanatzidis has created a new version of aerogel designed to mop up lead and mercury from water. Other versions are designed to absorb oil spills. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-smoke-precursor-to-star-trek-style-transparent-aluminum/416673/8 "2007-08-23T22:25:55Z")
I love the readers’ comments that follow. Paranoid much? I would truely like to know the consequences of inhaling or breathing this substance…Chemtrails, America! What happens when this substance is combined with Barium, Dyethylene Bromide or Aluminum salts? No paranoia here, just curious. bert, san diego, ca., USA Hmmm. I guess it’s just a matter of time before the oil companies buy out the technology and bury it in the basement so we never get to use it. I’m sure the Republicans will be happy to help kill it. Keith, Fremont, California, USA ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-smoke-precursor-to-star-trek-style-transparent-aluminum/416673/9 "2007-08-24T15:32:51Z")
Aerogels are only slightly sturdier than smoke itself. It is hard to imagine something practical that you can make out of them, other than curiosities that you handle very carefully for the short while that they last, or fillers that you put inside something else to give the assembly practical strength. If you are underwater, you can think of gelatin as being a pretty close analogy to aerogel, though gelatins tend to be much sturdier than aerogels. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-smoke-precursor-to-star-trek-style-transparent-aluminum/416673/10 "2007-08-24T16:43:03Z")
[QUOTE=Napier] …It is hard to imagine something practical that you can make out of them, other than curiosities that you handle very carefully for the short while that they last, or fillers that you put inside something else to give the assembly practical strength… [/QUOTE] I would work best as insulation, such as in a lightweight but warm jacket or wrapped around garbage cans for explosives protection. Should one be able to shrink-wrap it in water-proof plastic? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-smoke-precursor-to-star-trek-style-transparent-aluminum/416673/11 "2007-08-24T19:42:28Z")
It’s great for thermal insulation, in which application one typically contains the aerogel inside something else, like the structural skin over an oven. I don’t know if you could contain it in something that would protect it and fit comfortably into a jacket. I think aerogel strengths can be as weak as, say, a clump of sand on the beach that you can only lift without breaking if you are very careful. Of course, the density is way lower. Aerogels offer high thermal resistance in part because they have pore structure that is small compared to the mean free path length of air molecules, which is around 70 nm. Therefore their pores are in the Knudsen regime, in which the air molecules don’t collide with each other usually, but just with the pore walls. This lets aerogels conduct less than air does (and I don’t just mean interrupting free convection, which most insulations do). ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-smoke-precursor-to-star-trek-style-transparent-aluminum/416673/12 "2007-08-24T19:44:07Z")
There’s another amusing stunt with aerogels. You can bake them in a vacuum for a long time, which drives the air out. Then, when you pull it out of the oven, if it’s a light aerogel to begin with it may now be lighter than air, and the chunk of aerogel will float up to the ceiling, and stay there until enough air diffuses back in to weigh it down.