THE WEIRD properties of a mysterious foam have been measured for the first
time. The US Air Force researchers who did the job say the foam could replace
several different types of material, including glass fibre and aluminium
honeycomb, in planes and spacecraft.
Called graphitic foam, it was first made at the US Air Force Research
Laboratory at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. They melted a liquid
crystal polymer under pressure in an inert gas atmosphere, forcing the gas to
dissolve in the melt. When the pressure was released, bubbles of gas formed
inside the material, creating foam.…
