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by ortusdux·10y ago·view on hn ↗
There is a chance that they are using a new aerogel made from cellulose that is prized for its strength and flexibility.

Article: http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2014/07/plant-material-ali...

Publication: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/anie.2014051...

One thing I find interesting is that 'aerogel' is a category of materials. I thought it was reserved for the silica based aerogel i've seen countless news stories about. The wiki definition is "Aerogel is a synthetic porous ultralight material derived from a gel, in which the liquid component of the gel has been replaced with a gas". Theoretically, you could market fiberglass insulation as 'Aerogel insulation' if you suspended the glass fibers in a gel and then replaced the gel with a gas. The result could have worse insulative properties that standard fiberglass and yet technically be an aerogel.