Boeing is an American multi-national corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rockets, and satellites. On Oct. 15, the company announced that it created the world’s lightest metal. This metal has a micro-lattice structure, each with a wall that is 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. The metal is mostly hollow, and because 99.99 percent of its volume is made up of air, the metal is light enough to sit on a dandelion or reed. But, the metal is also as strong as carbon fiber, and has a high elasticity, which means it is flexible. The lightweight feature of the material hopefully will contribute to new innovation in manufacturing aircrafts. Boeing will use this new metal as a structural material, such as for the walls or floor panels of commercial jets. The company plans to use the metal for a rocket that will be launched into space in about five years. It also plans to utilize it in commercial airplanes about five years after that.
Boeing is an American multi-national corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rockets, and satellites. On Oct. 15, the company announced that it created the world’s lightest metal. This metal has a micro-lattice structure, each with a wall that is 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. The metal is mostly hollow, and because 99.99 percent of its volume is made up of air, the metal is light enough to sit on a dandelion or reed. But, the metal is also as strong as carbon fiber, and has a high elasticity, which means it is flexible.
The lightweight feature of the material hopefully will contribute to new innovation in manufacturing aircrafts. Boeing will use this new metal as a structural material, such as for the walls or floor panels of commercial jets. The company plans to use the metal for a rocket that will be launched into space in about five years. It also plans to utilize it in commercial airplanes about five years after that.