Maybe he thinks the Wood case needs more aerogel too.
I know some guys at MIT who had been working on organized shape clusters for materials like this on the nanoscale. They'll be really interested in following exactly how the structures were arranged and patterned, though I'm sure they're already following this.
But ya know this gives me an idea for a sci-fi story about objects created out of exotic materials than can rearrange themselves when exposed to certain energy frequencies and which can shed mass when exposed to other energy frequencies so that in certain states the material is lighter than air, but in certain other states (or when brought into contact with certain other materials) their mass is transferable to the objects they are in contact with.
In other words inc certain states and in certain conditions all of their mass is potential rather than actual, and so in those states these materials would be incredibly light, but when brought into contacts with other matter, or when exposed to certain energy frequencies they can rearrange their structural pattern and their mass becomes greatly augmented (and so the materials become extremely dense, rather than light) and they can "interlock their mass with the mass of whatever matter they are contacting."
As an example, you would have a material of which you could build huge structures that you could basically float to wherever you wished. In the "potential mass state" they would be close to being massless and the molecules, although patternable, would not be dense enough or well structured enough to form truly force or shock resistant structures. However when these exotic materials are exposed to certain energy frequencies, and brought into contact with, let's say a building foundation with a properly alloyed latticework, then the object rearranges structure, forms incredibly resilient molecular bonds, and becomes immensely dense (mass becomes kinetic rather than potential) and it interlocks it's (kinetic and real) mass with the surrounding material it touches.
You could build a mammoth building of such materials, float it to a properly prepared foundation, then emplace it, and lock it into position and then it would instantly transfer it's mass from a potential to a kinetic form and would interlock mass with the surrounding materials. That is to say it would both absorb and transfer mass with the surrounding materials.
It would be near massless (and thereby have very little density, almost all mass would be potential) in constructed state, but at "set-state" it would have "inter-locking mass" which it shared with the materials it touched.
Actually it should have three mass-states. Free Mass (potential mass), Set Mass (as it reconfigures itself and it's own potential mass converts to kinetic mass), and Interlocking Mass (as it interlocks mass with the surrounding materials).
Yeah, an alien race armed with such matter could build impressive structures which nevertheless would be easily detachable from their foundations and then buildings could be entirely mobile. They would be earthquake and disaster resistant in two different settings (interlocked and free - they could resist earthquakes, or you could float them above the ground), easily reconfigurable and restructurable, and be mobile even to the point that you could create structures very easy to put into orbit or to build in orbit when all mass is potential. And if you could neutralize mass by conversion of objects into Free Mass states while in motion then you could go a long way towards mitigating the forces involved in high acceleration and deceleration in space.
This is just a sci-fi concept of course, but if you could develop materials exotic enough I can see mass being transferable. Don't know about mass being rendered potential, but I can seeing it being interlocked (that's natural anyways depending on the structure of the matter) and transferable.
It also makes me wonder about "interactive mass." Is it possible to share and transfer (whole) mass (and density) states between interconnected but separate objects?
Well, I'm going to bed. Been very busy all week and I'm tired. Interesting article Dan. Thanks for posting.
