Polar bear fur-inspired sweater is thinner than a down jacket – and just as warm
nature.com
nature.com
"Biomimetic, knittable aerogel fiber for thermal insulation textile" (2023) https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj8013 https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=&journal=Sci....
If lab grown meat is possible, so should lab grown fur. A lab-grown fur with some sort of way to verify that it's lab-grown with a jeweler's scope or similar might be a viable product?
FWIU arctic survival folks can explain the types of fur, and why no synthetic is even really comparable.
From "xPrize Wildfire Competition" (2023) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35660231 re: airogels and hydrogels:
>> Problem: #airogel made of CO² is an excellent insulator that's useful for many applications; but it needs structure, so foam+airogel but that requires smelly foam
>> Possible solution: Cause structure to form in the airogel.
"Superelastic and Ultralight Aerogel Assembled from Hemp Microfibers" (2023) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adfm.202300... ; flax might be sufficient, too
"Are there any closed cell foam sleeping pads with an R-value of 3 to 4? Tips on hacking non-inflating pads to make them more winter proof?" (2023) r/Ultralight https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/16h19h1/are_the...
What is the difference in R-value of (sleeping pads) with these materials?
- Add high R-value reflective tape to the ground side
- Add a mylar emergency blanket -like windshield sunscreen below the pad
- Double the (closed cell foam) pads
- Add aerogel to the (closed cell foam) manufacturing process
- Add aerogel to XPS Extruded Polystyrene
Criteria: Recyclability, Washability, Waterproofness, Mass, R-Value,