Aerogel

Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters:

"'We all know NASA is using a substance called 'aerogel' in the Stardust spacecraft to catch pieces of the Wild-2 comet. The NYT is running an article about some other amazing aerogel properties. My favorite quote: 'It's the lowest density of any solid, and it has the highest thermoinsulation properties. Though it would be very expensive, you could take a two- or three-bedroom house, insulate it with aerogel, and you could heat the house with a candle. But eventually the house would become too hot.'' We've looked at Aerogel before."

this is what nasa's about. coming up w/ new technologies and new materials for their flashy fandangled space machines. and then bringing them back to earth at insanely inflated prices, a la tempur material.