There's an interesting article in
Wired
about the aerogel that was used on the recently returned
Stardust spacecraft
for collecting samples of comet dust.
Aerogel is really neat stuff. Developed in 1931 by
Steven Kistler, it's only about 3 times heavier than air, so holding it feels like holding a cloud. It's quite strong, but not very flexible. It's also one of the best thermal insulators in existence, which has led to applications in deep sea drilling and even snowboard clothing (you can embed it into fabric).
I'd like to see it's production cost get down to the point where it could be used for e.g, refrigerator insulation - to increase efficiency and/or storage volume for the same cabinet size.
Anybody have other ideas?
Factoids
