Boeing Says It's Made the Lightest Metal Material in the World

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Boeing Says It's Made the Lightest Metal Material in the World

Boeing has created a structure that is 99.99 percent air.

A new material developed by Boeing is made of metal, but it's so light it can balance delicately on top of a dandelion.

The product, called microlattice, is 100 times lighter than styrofoam, according to Boeing, and is made with interconnected hollow tubes. Its structure is similar to that of a bone, in which the outside is rigid but the inside is mostly hollow, making it lightweight but not easily crushed.

Sophia Yang, research scientist at HRL Laboratories, said that the open-cell polymer structure is "the world's lightest material." One example she gave of its potential functions is the egg drop challenge common in schools. If you wrapped an egg in this instead of a roll of bubble wrap, for example, you could easily crush the competition, she said.

For Boeing's use, a more likely potential application for the material is on aircraft, allowing the company to save weight and be more fuel efficient.

Update: A reader noted that this research was first published by HRL Laboratories in 2011.