Spacesuit aerogel to warm toes this winter

Filed in archive Products on December 22, 2005

The introduction of nanoproducts with remarkable attributes into your local department store is becoming almost commonplace these days. Consider the latest case, ToastyFeet, the superinsulating insoles that have worked their way out of the NASA labs and into Walmart.

They use the same flexible aerogel technology used in NASA spacesuits, and can keep your feet a cozy 72F while you' re standing on a surface registering colder than -100 F. Unlike many insulating materials that lose their thermal resistance when compressed, aerogel maintains its Extraordinary R-value even when you' re standing on it. As one testimonial, just in time for Christmas, claims, "Just walked in the snow to my daughter's house for Christmas dinner. My feet were as warm as the turkey. "

No doubt about it, this is an exciting time for nanotechnology. Materials like this are making their way from the labs to stores on a daily basis, each offering a leap in performance over traditional materials. The question may soon be, at what point does nanotechnology lose its novelty and become taken for granted as the ordinary way of making things?