Comments on: Watch This: Super-Strong New Gel is Also Super-Stretchy

By: Stephen W. Anderle

Stephen W. Anderle — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 04:49:17 +0000

George, think of underground salt domes. salt creeps and deforms without shattering under pressure,,depends on how tthe pressure is applied. Salt being actually a very strong compound has been used in construction since B.C. It is used today in many different applications.

By: xCory

xCory — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 16:34:05 +0000

What really surprises me is that seaweed alginate and polyacrylamide have both individually been around for quite some time, but this seems to be the first time that these compounds have been mixed. Look at what we get, truly alchemy in action!

By: Pat Montana

Pat Montana — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 04:18:34 +0000

@ George… table salt is not a valid comparison since NaCl is a crystalline structure with many shear lines.
Question in general…is this bio-inert and does it have potential as a cartelidge replacement since they referenced cartelidge in the article?

By: Grumiester

Grumiester — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 19:23:12 +0000

That was a very cool demonstration. I have the same question as Decline. Why wasn’t the ball allowed to bounce more than once? I’d rather have seen numerous bounces than just one. Ought to give this to Myth Busters and see what they could do with it.

By: Georg

Georg — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 10:07:36 +0000

“”Ionic bonds are very flexible, “”
Oh, yes indeed!
That’s what makes sodium chloride (table salt)
so hard brittle.

By: ets_spoon

ets_spoon — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 21:35:58 +0000

Add an adhesive and some sort of compressed gas delivery system and it seems like a cousin to the Spider-Man’s web fluid. Thwiiiiip!

By: Decline

Decline — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 20:32:16 +0000

Interesting. Wonder that the recover time is. That is, in the video, the ball is bounced back but does not fall back down again. If it were, would the gel have recovered enough to be able to stop it again? What is the damping factor? How much internal heating occurs and does that effect the recovery time and ionic bond strength (I am not a chemist).

Cool stuff!