AS LIGHT AS AIR.

The article focuses on the development of aerogel insulation. Developed in the late 1920s by Samuel Stephens Kistler, aerogel is deemed to be realizing its commercial potential with the announcement by BASF that it is investing in Aspen Aerogels, one of the only two companies that commercially manufacture aerogel and a 60% increase in the aerogel sales of Cabot Corp. in fiscal year 2010. Considered the lightest and best-insulating solid in the world, aerogel manufacture was hindered by the danger and cost associated with it.