Boeing's 'lightest metal ever' is 99.99% air, must be seen to be believed.
I wonder if this is the closest that we could be to what we may imagine as being Alien Technology..(for certain properties in the material)
(https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/_Be6gELl9Yhxu4tXkiSKIg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODAwO2lsPXBsYW5l/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/BGR_News/microlattice.png.cf.jpg)
We live in an age of technological marvels, from the computers we carry around in our pockets to the connected homes we live in, but there's hardly time to sit back and admire our achievements when another one is just around the corner.
Earlier this month, Boeing released a video highlighting "the world's lightest material," a metal which consists of 99.99% air. Known as microlattice, the material shares a great deal in common with human bones, which are solid on the outside but hollow on the inside, so that they will remain light while simultaneously being able to withstand significant pressure.
The material was initially developed in 2011 by researchers at HRL Laboratories, currently owned in part by Boeing. According to one of the first reports, "[the] metal-based microlattice structures are significantly less dense than the rarest aerogels and other ultralight foams, while exhibiting high strength and an unexpectedly high ability to absorb energy and recover shape after compression."
One of the primary applications of the material will be structural components in aerospace engineering. By utilizing microlattice, Boeing could find ways to cut down on the weight of its jets and save substantially on fuel costs.
"It's really exciting to be able to work with things that we make that can eventually go into a real product that a lot of users can interact with," says HRL Laboratories research scientist Sophia Yang.
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/boeing-lightest-metal-ever-99-99-air-must-030032588.html
I saw the news of this "lightest metal ever" but didn't read them, so only when I saw and recognized the image posted above did I take the time to read it and saw that this the same material from 2011, so I wonder why so much publicity around it 4 years later.
Quote from: ArMaP on October 14, 2015, 07:08:58 PM
so I wonder why so much publicity around it 4 years later.
Because the world is to busy messing with the Middle East :P Takes time to notice anything useful :D
I thought that I may have seen something about this in the past year or so ago, before this article came out, but was not fully sure...
Something may have even been posted already about it on PRC.
I think there have been previous posts made on the more recent high tech metals..
But the article I posted ,seemed to refer as if it only came more known about this month, even though it indicates that the material was developed in 2011.
The Image certainly suggests that it is almost as light as air !
Quote from: ArMaP on October 14, 2015, 07:08:58 PM
I saw the news of this "lightest metal ever" but didn't read them, so only when I saw and recognized the image posted above did I take the time to read it and saw that this the same material from 2011, so I wonder why so much publicity around it 4 years later.
Quote from: astr0144 on October 14, 2015, 09:17:43 PM
Something may have even been posted already about it on PRC.
It was. :)
http://www.thelivingmoon.com/forum/index.php?topic=370.0
Obviously it is way different, but from a general technology standpoint, isn't it somewhat like an exponential improvement from the past to lightweight honeycomb structural materials. The shaping of the metallic structure maybe is different, but end target of this kind of stuff is to always make it lighter and yet stronger!!
"99.9% air"- I wonder about the accuracy of that percentage, and I do wonder whether it can be 3D printed? :) :)
For a little comparison here is a 30 year ago New York Times news release of a similar nature about a company, Hexcel, who has had much success in the area of honeycomb products for many years. A comparative statement in this article relative to this OP discussion shows actual application use of lightweight materials to ensure success (more than 90% air) - SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 14 (1986)— If the Voyager, an experimental airplane, succeeds in its attempt to fly around the world on a single tank of fuel, it will be an accomplishment not only for the plane's designer and crew, but also for a little-known San Francisco company, the Hexcel Corporation.
Hexcel makes much of the material used in the fuselage and wings of the Voyager. The substance is more than 90 percent air, with the rest a fibrous material no thicker than paper. Yet, in some ways it is many times stronger than steel.
The substance is a honeycomb, a structure made of closely spaced hexagonal cells as in a beehive. Except perhaps for bees themselves, Hexcel has become the world's master of honeycomb, which is now widely used in wing flaps, floors and furniture in aircraft.
''Everything that flies in the free world with two engines or more has our material,'' said Robert L. Witt, the president and chief executive of the company. Materials Replacing Metal
So in 1986, a honeycomb material was made up of more than 90% air, and now with this microlattice new technology we are up to a composition of metal material that is 99.9% air? Does not that almost equate to being "all air"??
http://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/15/business/hexcel-s-honeycomb-success.html