Post by auntym on Jun 14, 2011 23:57:22 GMT -6
www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/5158972/Starlite-the-nuclear-blast-defying-plastic-that-could-change-the-world.html
Technology
Starlite, the nuclear blast-defying plastic that could change the world
A square of the heat-resistant plastic Starlite, complete with charring from nuclear testing Photo: Chris Brooks
Two decades ago amateur scientist Maurice Ward invented a material that could resist the force of 75 Hiroshimas. So why haven't we all heard about it?
Maurice Ward, inventor of Starlite
By Rose George
2:58PM BST 15 Apr 2009
The gentleman feels for something in his jacket pocket. It's a nice suit, and it is accompanied by a suitably gentlemanly bow-tie. The effect is sartorially unusual but not too much. What will come out of the pocket, though, is more than unusual. It is unparalleled and almost unbelievable. 'Here,' says Maurice Ward, handing over a creamy small square. 'That's Starlite.' It's a piece of plastic that bends in all directions, with a charred mark the size of a coin on one side. 'That's from the nuclear blast,' says Ward. 'Don't worry, there's no nuclear stuff on it. I wouldn't have given it to you otherwise.'
Maurice Ward
Maurice Ward, inventor of Starlite
It feels and looks like nothing much, but holding this nondescript piece of plastic would be, to the world's defence and scientific community, somewhat of a privilege. Starlite, invented by the white-bearded, suited Ward, has been described as astonishing; impossible; miraculous. It has changed assumptions about thermodynamics and physics. It can resist temperatures that would melt diamonds, threefold. 'If it is what it seems,' says Toby Greenbury, a partner at law firm Mischon de Reya and Ward's lawyer for 20 years, 'it will be of enormous benefit to mankind. It's very difficult to think of another invention that is bigger in its implications.' As a fire-retardant, thermal barrier or heat-resistant coating, Starlite could change the world. Except that it hasn't, and that's as much of a mystery as the secret, unheard of properties of the material Ward invented 23 years ago.
At the time, Ward and his family – his wife Eileen and four daughters – ran a small plastics business. It was a departure from the family trade, which was ladies' hairdressing – with Ward mixing hair products and dyes himself. They'd come from all over the north for his colouring skills, he says. 'My heads couldn't be copied. What L'Oreal and Garnier are doing today, I was doing 50 years ago. And they still haven't got it right.'
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Technology
Starlite, the nuclear blast-defying plastic that could change the world
A square of the heat-resistant plastic Starlite, complete with charring from nuclear testing Photo: Chris Brooks
Two decades ago amateur scientist Maurice Ward invented a material that could resist the force of 75 Hiroshimas. So why haven't we all heard about it?
Maurice Ward, inventor of Starlite
By Rose George
2:58PM BST 15 Apr 2009
The gentleman feels for something in his jacket pocket. It's a nice suit, and it is accompanied by a suitably gentlemanly bow-tie. The effect is sartorially unusual but not too much. What will come out of the pocket, though, is more than unusual. It is unparalleled and almost unbelievable. 'Here,' says Maurice Ward, handing over a creamy small square. 'That's Starlite.' It's a piece of plastic that bends in all directions, with a charred mark the size of a coin on one side. 'That's from the nuclear blast,' says Ward. 'Don't worry, there's no nuclear stuff on it. I wouldn't have given it to you otherwise.'
Maurice Ward
Maurice Ward, inventor of Starlite
It feels and looks like nothing much, but holding this nondescript piece of plastic would be, to the world's defence and scientific community, somewhat of a privilege. Starlite, invented by the white-bearded, suited Ward, has been described as astonishing; impossible; miraculous. It has changed assumptions about thermodynamics and physics. It can resist temperatures that would melt diamonds, threefold. 'If it is what it seems,' says Toby Greenbury, a partner at law firm Mischon de Reya and Ward's lawyer for 20 years, 'it will be of enormous benefit to mankind. It's very difficult to think of another invention that is bigger in its implications.' As a fire-retardant, thermal barrier or heat-resistant coating, Starlite could change the world. Except that it hasn't, and that's as much of a mystery as the secret, unheard of properties of the material Ward invented 23 years ago.
At the time, Ward and his family – his wife Eileen and four daughters – ran a small plastics business. It was a departure from the family trade, which was ladies' hairdressing – with Ward mixing hair products and dyes himself. They'd come from all over the north for his colouring skills, he says. 'My heads couldn't be copied. What L'Oreal and Garnier are doing today, I was doing 50 years ago. And they still haven't got it right.'
TO CONTINUE READING CLICK ON ABOVE LINK