Space Shuttle Thermal Tile Demonstration
Why Hacker News recommends it
Cited as a striking, counterintuitive example of extreme thermal insulation and hard materials science.
What it is
A two-minute clip recorded on a Kennedy Space Center tour showing a Space Shuttle thermal tile that can be held by hand while its surface is extremely hot. It demonstrates the tile's remarkable insulating properties.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2014 to 2023.
What Hacker News said
Recommends waste_monk · 2022-12 · on “US Air Force launches first operational hypersonic missile”
I would imagine they have an easier time of it since they don't have to worry about reusing the missile :) [1] More seriously, have a look at this video demonstrating insulating tiles as used on the space shuttle (which is IIRC some kind of aerogel): [this video] . Modern materials science is astounding, and while probably not aerogel (as I understand it is quite fragile), I'm sure whatever system the missile uses is more than sufficient for it's expected operational life post-launch. [1] similar to this classic story about memory leaks [LINK]
Cites bsamuels · 2014-03 · on “How a Light Saber Works”
Not necessarily, maybe the thermal properties of the lightsaber are modified to give them high thermal resistance that is lowered contextually (like when youre slashing up some guy) example of extremely high thermal resistance material: [this video]
Cites mozumder · 2016-03 · on “Hard Tech is Back”
To me, "Hard Tech" is more science oriented, like the Space Shuttle material that you can hand hold at 1500 degrees: [this video] Stuff that's non-obvious but amazing and makes you think sci-fi... DARPA does a lot of this kind of stuff. Definitely non-trivial problems, most likely hardware, maybe materials science or something in the other science fields. Maybe new math, or solvers that take days to run on thousands of CPUs. Stuff that might take thousands of man-hours to develop. Not sure how YC would be involved here, as this is expensive to develop, but DARPA has a funding model.
Cites DubiousPusher · 2023-03 · on “Tungsten Gold Plated Bar”
I think it's so interesting for people because so much of our concept of reality and how the world works is down to our experience. Then you encounter something contrary to that experience and it kind of forces you to realize, evem for just a minute that your understanding is largely a connecting of the dots of your own limited sampling of a much larger thing. This video gives me a similar vibe. [this video]