Until now the lightest solid in the world was an aerogel, which had a density around 1 mg per cubic centimeter, making it less dense even than air at certain temperatures and pressures. Aerogels have been called "solid smoke" or "frozen smoke" because of their cloudy amorphous appearance. However, a new material has been developed that is even lighter than an aerogel. Would it surprise you to learn the new "lightest solid" is a metal?
The new material, developed by researchers at HRL Laboratories in Malibu, California, consists of a lattice of hair-thin nickel-phosphorus alloy tubes. The tubes are made by polymerizing a photopolymer into a lattice, coating the array with the alloy and then dissolving the polymer using sodium hydroxide to leave hollow metal tubes.
Be sure to check out the photo of the material at Yahoo News, which shows the material resting on top of a dandelion. I do wonder, however, why the dandelion is compressed if the material is less dense than air. Shouldn't it float?
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