If aerogel can suspend a brick, and does not burn or conduct heat, hell make an ashtray out of it. (crap, I'm gonna get nailed for this one)
-- TonyJaguar, May 23 2006

Aerogel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel
I'd never heard of the stuff before - looks very interesting indeed. [zen_tom, May 24 2006]

Aerogel is very porous. It would get filthy instantly and be all but impossible to clean.
-- Galbinus_Caeli, May 23 2006


I like it. Clever, appropriate and possible. +

It gets dirty? Well, it would make a nice impractical gift. Could you bake it clean?
-- baconbrain, May 23 2006


You could just coat it with a thin layer of resin to make it easy to clean. I likes.
//(crap, I'm gonna get nailed for this one)// That's wooden-spooners' talk.
-- methinksnot, May 23 2006


If *hell* makes an ashtray, it just might be HOT.
-- xandram, May 24 2006


If the ashtray is very light, it might blow away given any small drafts. Best to weigh down the aerogel with something heavy to stop that. Perhaps you could leave a brick laying on top of it?
-- zen_tom, May 24 2006


Does this qualify as an invention? "Make an X out of Y"?
-- phundug, May 24 2006


Surely yes, [phundug], provided that the resulting X is somehow superior to (or more fun than?) the more conventional X made out of Z.

<Must... resist... urge to make weak puns based on the sounds of letter names.>
-- pertinax, May 25 2006


F. U. N. E. X?
-- zen_tom, May 25 2006


Crap I did not think about wind blowing it away.
-- TonyJaguar, May 25 2006


Come to recall, I've never seen an ashtray made from spun glass wool.
-- reensure, May 25 2006


A tiny one of these, shaped like a cube, but with an orifice in one end - like a block of snooker chalk, would allow you to stub out your fag (snooker style) and once it's been starved of air, knock out the contents into the bin. The aerogel would save burning your fingers.
-- zen_tom, Mar 06 2007



random, halfbakery