Take a Load Off Metal


Photo by Dan Little, HRL Laboratories LLC

Researchers at UC Irvine, HRL Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology have introduced a new metal material that is “about one hundred times lighter than Styrofoam,” thanks to its “’micro-lattice’ cellular architecture.”

To prove just how light 100 times lighter than Styrofoam is, the researchers included the nifty photo above of the stuff resting on the top of a dandelion fluff.

The scientists are all abuzz over the possible uses for micro-lattice, which was developed for DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), including “battery electrodes and acoustic, vibration or shock energy absorption.”

Sure, sure. But there are more practical, pressing—and, dare I say, potentially profitable, applications (if I may alliterate all over my monitor). Like this:

These bad boys are available at Bakers Shoes, but not in the super-light micro-lattice material.