Aerogel — finally, you can have what NASA used to capture stardust*

From reader dc3 comes news that aerogel — the world's lowest density solid, the real deal, the stuff Scientific American got all misty-eyed writing about when it first appeared on the scene years ago — is now available to anyone who can fog a mirror (and provide a valid credit card number).

From Wikipedia: "Aerogel was first created by Samuel Stephens Kistler in 1931, as a result of a bet with Charles Learned over who could replace the liquid in 'jellies' with gas without causing shrinkage."

26mm x 7mm aerogel disc: $35.

*NASA's Stardust mission was launched on February 7, 1999 and returned to Earth with stardust captured in aerogel on January 15, 2006.