@@nathanb3273 Actually, roman concrete got solved. They used SEAWATER. Historians were just so dense they assumed by "water" in documents, that they meant "fresh water". It's an entertaining issue that still could happen again in the future. (for example, recipes call for X amount of eggs, but they never specify chicken eggs.)
3rd option - He made starlite using commercially available materials that were already patented and therefore couldn't patent it himself. Let's say, for instance, that his formula contained named products like Elmer's glue and Heinz 57 sauce and it's the chemical interactions between those 2 named products that created Starlite. He would not have been able to patent his "invention" without first owning the patents to both Elmer's glue and Heinz 57, or at the very least having both companies agree to allow him to use their patents. Being a hairdresser and playing with products and chemicals all day led him to create an amazing material but one who's chemistry he could never own and therefore never monetize.
Elmer's glue and Heinz 57 sauce are little else than recipes, which cannot be patented. Coca-Cola and KFC have capitalized on their "secret" recipes, quite successfully, but, these products cannot be protected, with exclusive rights, once revealed. His formula produced an insulating carbon foam with limited uses, (which has been done before); but, without a novel process, nor an understanding of its chemistry, he could only sell his own hype about it.
I saw Maurice Ward when I was about 7 years old. In second grade (1987) he came to our elementary school and did a demonstration on Starlite. One of the things I remember is that he did the demonstration with the egg and the torch and he mentioned that his granddaughter had named the substance Starlite. She was there with him at the time. I'd guess she'd be about my age (38 now). I always wondered why something so revolutionary didn't end up in fire gear for firemen, as I ended up as a volunteer fire-fighter when I was 16 and never forgot the presentation Maurice gave when I was a kid.
Unless Starlite had a specific vulnerability, or chemical "Achilles' Heel," that could be used to remove or destroy it. Like gold, which only dissolves in aqua regia.
Aerogel can do that and more. We even have strengthened opaque Aerogel now. The problem with it is that it is resource intensive to make not all that much of it. So it's a very expensive material. If someone can work out the figurative Bessemer process for Aerogel (Being able to cheaply, effectively, and quickly mass produce it). It's application would leave starlite in the dust.
Another big disadvantage of aerogels is their brittleness. Starlite was flexible and could be spread almost as play doh, while aerogels are fairly thick and have to be on a flat plane
Aerogel is crap. Use your own cheap starlight mix. Corn starch, then 10% baking soda. Mix in PVA glue until a putty. Flatten, press twist around anything. Allow it to dry for a while before flames since the thermal conductive nature of the glue before drying will affect it slightly. You are welcome.
There's a pretty recent claim that Starlite's formula-really, Maurice's notes and lab-was acquired by Thermashield LLC. They said the problem was that it's a real finicky formula, and it's taking a real long while before it can be turned into a marketable product. I assume what happened is that while Maurice discovered it, he really didn't understand how the raw materials actually interact to do what Starlite does. Without prior knowledge of the stuff he's working with, he definitely won't have a clue on how to make it in industrial or even practical quantities. Really, for a long time Starlite is like the Fallout 4 of materials science: *it just works.*
They straight up confirm on their website that they "purchased and have since updated Maurice Ward’s (the material’s inventor) original formula to today’s material availability and created new ones, while retaining the invention’s remarkable high-temperature resistance characteristic"
My father is the plant operations manager at a sawmill with gas and sawdust fueled furnaces to dry the lumber (called a dry kiln).... A few years ago, a sales person came by with a demonstration of a brass strip approx 1" by 4", painted on one side on one half of the length with a white material. The strip was held in hand while being heated for over a minute with a propane torch, until the white paint was glowing red. He then used an infrared thermometer, and touching to the skin to show that the backside of the strip where painted was barely above ambient temperature. I will try to find out the company and product name, but apparently Maurice Wards invention was indeed commercialized, as salespersons are going around to industrial facilities to try and sell it today.
@@TheGrinningViking Hey there! Thanks for the help! People should know it more, so appreciates your help (even though it takes 2 months to get such a reply) 😄👍
I just watched a video from nighthawk making a Starlite like material and explains how it probably works. he doesn't claim it's the exact formula but close-ish.
Lol, I saved a copy of that video in the event that it's real, I'm replicating the experiment sometime next week, here's hoping I'm not getting trolled.
@@Hexfury i have tested his formula using flour instead of cornstarch though,and atleast in dough form it does pretty well but im currently trying to dry some out to test when its dry. I too have seen how resilient carbon foam from burnt sugar is to heat but i guess i have not put its use potential together till i saw nighthawks video.....
After years of speculation, it would seem more likely that the invention was real and was some of the most easily reproducible materials on the market right now. The concept of Starlite is way older than the experiments done by Maurice, as such his idea would have most likely been difficult to sell as the concept itself is public domain.
man, you deserve million of subscribers. the sheer amount of effort and thoroughness put into your videos is astounding and your channel is just awesome
but i'm not a grammar nazi and don't give 2 shits how someone conveys useful information. it's the people that think they're better than everyone else, mumble nonsense, and contribute no value to society that irk me
@@Handle423 Could be the raw sample shown on TV looks like teflon flakes. Teflon does have a high melting point at 620 F so its possible. And he was working in creating a plastic that could withstand the heat so highly possible if this is real that it did contain teflon. But i have also heard that it was supposedly a ceramic. Although i guess you could incorporate teflon into a ceramic.
@@joshua.snyder I had no idea that was cody when i made my reply lol. I done some digging and it seemed people who done any testing on it say when it was under high heat it turned into a carbon foam and expanded to push the heat away could give some insight to how it was made if it was not a hoax. Also someone who done testing said you could put your hand right on it and it wouldn't burn you after delivering 1200f heat.
The theory I find most plausible is that while it is real, it isn't actually as miraculous as it seems and there actually are no practical applications due to there being no way to make a long lasting coating. There are many useful sounding things that can be demonstrated in a lab experiment that unfortunately can't be made practically useful - if it fundamentally relied on a compound that degrades and loses the heat resistant properties within weeks or months of application that's eliminating a lot of defense, aerospace and engineering uses of such a material. He understandably wanted to retain final ownership of such a technology. After all, if it did turn out to be a miracle material after all, why should Boeing or whichever other company solely benefit from controlling it? Combined with the apparent lack of potential and therefore presumably poorer offers than he wanted, a deal was simply never reached and it died with him.
It has some defense applications but the commercial ones sure if the substance is like that then it's not great for that. I'm sure the aerospace and defense applications are substantial enough to have it as something you'd want to use and have.
TheDMG45 the only application I can think of is to act as a heat shielding, most high temperature heat shields are ablative and degrade fast anyway, so this is a reasonable replacement if it can take re entry heating
1) The material must be found somewhere, so it must be possible to do chemical analysis in order to recreate it. 2) If the material degenerates so fast that it is already disintegrated, it could be used in food industry as alternative to plastics 3) All meterials are improveable. Many practical applications could be made from this material of only its basic composition would be known.
Reinis Trasūns - 1) Yes, every theoretical material must be found somewhere, no matter how impossible sounding. If only more chemical analysis was done? Scientists are so lazy. 2) Just because a material loses it's thermal properties and is easily destroyed by high temperatures after a period of time does not make it an environmental friendly alternative to plastics, or food safe; more likely, if there were any truth to this story, quite the opposite. 3) ALL materials are improvable? Is that so? None out there we have realized to their practical full potential based upon their composition and chemical limitations therein? There are not labs around the world heavily investing in research in materials science with some of the most brilliant minds on the planet and enormous budgets to push the limits of what is possible?
I enjoy how, after only 2 minutes, I have seen a reference to Hello Internet and the plane crash corner, and a comment by Wendover. Good job on being pop-culture-y and another great video Zepherus
Zepherus, I've been around since like 10k and wow. Your editing has vastly improved, you don't stutter or misspeak anymore, and that picture in picture editing there was downright impressive. You've taken all the constructive criticism given to you and ran with it, your channel is on par with anyone else in the explanation business. Keep it up dude, you'll be at 1mil in no time ;)
Btw, since this video is about lost technology, you could do one with "Jan Sloot" about data compression that was also lost since this reminded me about it too.
I have a sample that was given to me when an uncle passed. It still works (sorta) due to picking up carbon from the torches used on it over time and it extremely solid internal structure it's now full of microscopic diamond dust which transfers and retains the heat a good bit. I've considered giving it to someone to try and reverse engineer it but it's not likely to work and I would lose my sample.
these informative videos are the best thing on TH-cam, I greatly respect people who share interesting points in history like this. (even if it might just be theory)
Flew past 50k and you're almost at 100k. Your channel has really blown up from where it once was at 1.7k. Glad to see it, can't think of a more deserving youtuber. Keep making great content
So you're saying the only qualifications I need to become a materials engineer and defense contractor are 15 years of hairstyling experience and a stint as a forklift driver? Sweet. Terrific video as always, well worth the wait! Keep it up :)
Wow, this channel deserves more subs. I love the more realistic conspiracy theories, and your take on them is fair and balanced. I love to find channels like this that I missed so I can binge watch a lot of great content. Keep up the good work!
Using Starlite would be so awesome! So many useful applications for this material, such as fireproof jumpsuits and helmets for firefighters, exteriors such as walls and hulls, and ofcourse drinking glasses and mugs for hot tea and coffee, aswell as cooking pots and frying pans, which are cool on the outside and can be touched with bare hands.
Amazing video Zepherus. The effort put into this one is very noticeable, most definitely one of my favorites of yours. You always have the most interesting topics to discuss, most of which I have never heard of!That's why I love this channel, always happy to see you upload. :) Congratz on 100,000 subs man, I discovered this channel back when you were still under the radar, and it's so cool to see you getting the recognition you deserve. Keep it up :)
Glad you liked my video - it's a big compliment. Thanks also for the congratulations, even though it looks like I might not be hitting it so soon after all.
I remember reading a few articles about this stuff back then. It sounded fascinating and I was amazed by it. I'm sad that it's disappeared from the world, like so many other great inventions throughout history.
I only noticed the reference now! I didn't know about Captain Disillusion when I first discovered Zepherus. Two underrated channels, glad CD gained a lot of popularity since, Zepherus turn now :)
Heat goes somewhere, it must be sublimating with extreme efficiency. Plastic is made out of polymers... So it must be made out of polymers that sublimate with extreme efficiency and some sort of heat conductor. So the heat spreads put fast enough to sublimate... But that would still not work (egg)... It must have a sharp cut-off in the sublimation temperature of idk 70 degrees.
It does sublimate with extreme efficiency. A TH-camr made something similar, using very simple ingredients. Check it out. th-cam.com/video/aqR4_UoBIzY/w-d-xo.html
Your videos are getting so much better, your editing and your voice over have both improved dramatically in the few moths that I have been subscribed to your channel
I remember this. If I remember right it was only ever shown as a thick paste. The thought at the time, was that maybe it was surviving the heat by ablatively creating a surface plasma. It damaged a 240MW (not sure of the power) testing laser that was a couple of feet away, and it glowed when heated but never really got hot itself. There's every posiblity that they could never find a way of stabilising or solidifying the paste to be useful. So you could make up a batch, spread it on something and it would work but it'd fail when it effectively dried out/set. Maybe thats why he kept fiddling with that hard piece. Like it's a riddle he's trying to work out.
If the information to make such a composition was in the public domain, it would be one of THE greatest inventions known to man. The lives it could save, the improvements that other people could have made, even the science of the material itself would have been STAGGERING to see. Alas, sometimes things are not meant to be.
Awww I remember watching that episode of Tomorrow's World... I've never since considered what happened to that invention, although I reckon intumescent materials like Starlite have been long since figured out and there really isn't as much mystery to it as we'd like to think
Some dude just released a TH-cam video explaining this and shows the egg test etc. Search starlite to see the video. Its starch, baking powder and white school glue!!
I just came across your video by chance, BUT by chance, I did see this material demonstrated by 60 minutes after one of the Space Shuttle failures when they were talking about all the problems with the heat shield on the shuttle and in relation to the cost over runs on several other aerospace programs
its almost strange to see a new Zephyrus video, and I definitely enjoyed it! one little feedback thing, maybe put subtitles with audiofiles like this, especially with older people cuz non-natives like me could have some trouble understanding exactly what they are saying, thx! some questions: and where are you from? I just cant figure it out :/ how do you get your inspiration on what you want to make a video next? I mean, its not like you knew about all your subjects before you started making videos about them and thus conducting more research to those subjects?
Yeah, others have made the same suggestion - I intend to add subtitles at some point. 1). East Anglia. 2). I know about subjects usually for quite a while before I make a video on them. I knew about the Big Piece for years before it dawned on me to do a video. Usually it's a few months beforehand through looking up interesting stuff for fun.
Zepherus alright, thank you! however... you just stumble upon topics in the cradles and ravines of the internet? is that how it works? bc that is quite funny actually
The explanation for what happened here could be very simple and not that mysterious. NASA used organic based polymers to coat both the space shuttle and the original Apollo command module. All the current Stealth aircraft use some kind of "special" coating. It is very likely that Mr. Ward came up with something similar to these compounds but just not as effective. (more expensive, more dangerous to make, less effective, etc..) In other words, he invented the Cassette Tape when the world was already using the CD. After investigation it was most likely discovered that his super ceramic/plastic just wasn't any better than what already existed. And the reason we don't know that is NASA, Boeing and Nuclear agencies don't go on TV to show off everything they have created. (and there is a reason, it is called the Chinese!)
@@Zepherus You should also put a reference to him in the videos description (like if anybody would read those) if you're "borrowing" his gear for the video ;)
Well, I came to learn more on Starlite after NightHawkInLight's video but I am more surprised by the fact that there is someone else using the name "Zepherus." Nice vid BTW
Since most of your viewers seem to not know what that is, oh man that cracked me up!! Definitely considering subscribing after seeing just this video, you've touched my cynical heart my new friend!!
There is another explanation, and that is that it does everything claimed of it, or at least does what we see in the _World of Tomorrow_ footage, but that, although out of the realm of every day experience, and surprising to most people, isn't in fact very remarkable in materials science. The phenolic impregnated paper they used as a heat shield for reentry from the earliest days of the space race for instance does precisely the same thing. Chars and insulates. Nighthawkinlight for instance came up with a 90% corn starch, 10% bicarbonate of soda mix, made to a paste with normal PVA glue, that was able to replicate the egg and the hand test. Perhaps this is the real reason that it didn't revolutionize anything, and the reason Maurice Ward held his cards so close to his chest, was because he realised how mundane it really was, so was loathe to tell anyone, because it was so straightforward. And on the company side perhaps eventually they also realised they also had available to them well known and publicly available materials that could do the same or nearly as good, such as phenolic compounds for ablative heat shields. And perhaps Starlite even shared the drawbacks of these well known preparations. That is limited shelf life and limited amount of heat they could protect against before failure. Perhaps in the final analysis Starlite wasn't as remarkable as it first appeared...
except, we shall never know if that is the same formula. I can't fathom how some people missed the disclaimer in the title, description, and video itself. Obviously like the guy stated, his formula works better when dried, but the egg was slightly cooked in his demonstration. You can see a bit of white falling out of the shells after a shorter amount of time.
Thermashield got the rights from his estate and are making it now. Right now. As of this year. I think the problem is that once you know the substances it's likely stupid easy to replicate: some random TH-camr (see comments) even made a 5%ish version of it. It's not that it was actually ever lost, just that negotiations are complicated and his daughter wasn't a showboat.
So, there are many paints on the market with this property. They're called "intumescent" paints. They're generally made with polyvinyl acetate, yes, yellow carpenter's glue, which tends to foam when heated, producing a high temperature resistant barrier. This is the most reasonable explanation for these properties. In fact, many salon products contain PVA and it's reasonable to assume that a hair dresser would be working with chemicals he had on hand.
8:00 That's what he means when he said "To be used right" He wanted it for the public and cheap and affordable to put in houses, cars, space missions, and everything in between but if a big company gets it then it'll be very very expensive and only the top tier class of people or organizations would have access to it
Zepherus oh Shit. Clicked on the notification right away. Didn't know TH-cam needs time for different solutions. Thanks for the quick response. Keep it up!
Id like to hypothesize. Its only useful if the material does not enclose a high temperature heat source. Maybe ok for vehicles, but the fact that its not hot to the touch already says the mechanism of why it can insulate really well is that it reflects/emits the heat as blackbody radiation back towards the source. If the material encloses something, the thermal energy wont just vanish, and the heat will probably flow through conduction
10 000C sounds way too much, currently there isnt anything thats even remotely close to withstanding such a temperature and thats without the insulation properties that this material had
The 10,000 degree test is what gets me. For the most part materials don't survive to that temperature, pretty much everything is vaporizing at that point. The topic of polymers is also likely a red herring, no organic material can withstand that temperature. As a materials engineer who works in thermal properties, its doubly curious.
Amazing! Truly amazing! Someone on the BBC sets up a blowtorch upon an unsuspecting egg, and no one protested their cruelty to an unhatched chicken??? Ward had a hare-brained idea that he could sell his formulation to a manufacturer or government agency, yet maintain absolute secrecy of its chemistry. He didn't understand it himself, beyond his claims that it worked. It was only a recipe, couldn't be patented, and only gave him bragging rights and infamy.
9:55 But seriously, that video has huge horrible inaccuracies and I feel guilty for spreading them - if you are going to use one of my videos to educate, check the facts are correct first That's what it says
I think it's a hoax. The guy complained about how it might be used, but the fact is no reasonable person would ever expect it to not be used wherever it would be suitable. If the guy really cared about how it would be used, he could have rationalized he was going to save millions of lives with it, and usher in a new era of advancement. And if his family members did know how to make it, you know damn well one of them would have sold it off by now rather than live normal poor lives in comparison to the billionaires they could be over night. As for how it was hoaxed, he could have used rigged burners that looked like they burn at high temperatures but don't actually burn at high temperatures. That egg could have been a fake egg, with chemicals inside of it that obviously wouldn't cook like an egg and stay liquid. I think at first he intended to make a scam out of it to get money, but once he realized he couldn't just blindly sell the snake oil and people wanted proof before forking over cash, not to mention the sheer volume of people interested, rather than admit it was a scam, he decided to make up excuses for not selling it and kept the hoax going. If it was real, someone would have definitely had it by now, even if they had to steal it. Even a pinch of the stuff would have been enough to figure out what it was. But I think no one wanted to call him out on it, out of fear that he might not sell it to them if they were wrong. So places like NASA kept quiet even though they felt strongly he was full of shit. If someone else had it by now, we would already see it widely used. There would be no need to hide it, they could just claim some government scientist was working on something and accidentally created it, they don't even have to admit it's the same thing since it would be impossible to prove since there is no chemical proof of it. Also the fact that when he burned the starlite and it turned black, indicates there's a reaction going on that's catalyzing and carbonizing the material, which would effectively make it useless. The gas fire itself would not leave residue like that on anything unless it was burning it. So whatever material it was, it was clearly degrading visibly, and as we all know, burnt carbon is not going to have the same properties that starlite claims to have.
Although this does make sense the flame in the burner was violet-blue, which means it was around temperature they stated in the show. Also I'm not aware of any chemical that could be able to stop an egg from coagulating at temperatures that high for so long. Yes the scilence was suspicious and he deffinitely has something to hide but if it was fake methods used to fake it are arguably as impressive as inventing the real thing.
I think the reason Maurice didn't ever sell or patent his material, has something to do with the simplicity of his recipe. I know pretty much nothing about patenting, but I have a feeling that if you just mixed corn starch, water, flour, etc together and it made 'starlite' it wouldn't be possible to patent it? Someone feel free to correct me or point me in the right direction.
It is most unlikely to be in itself a semiconductor, so is no use there. The material does not get rid of heat, it is just a very good insulator, so simply reflects it. That property can't contribute to cooling a semiconductor either. However, its outstanding insulating properties would have wide-ranging applications elsewhere.
His invention was reel and has been shown in TV and tested by companies. He was not a business man, he wanted that companies would do good with. But world wide business would be interested big time. This is a great product that will bring billions into a bank account. Used it as insulation in cars, mobile homes, yacht, gloves, jackets, refrigerator, freezer, insulation for the shuttle, space station, insulation of houses, insulation of barracks where scientists at Antarctica lives and for their transport vehicles, suit astronaut, deep sea diver, submarines.......... the list goes on.
Maurice Ward really reminds me of Dr. Galén from the play "The White Plague" by Karel Čapek. He wants his invention to only be used for good causes, and so when he dies, the invention gets lost and no one can use it, not even for good causes.
"Invented a material to save lives."
"Kept it to himself and doesn't save anyone."
I know right, what a tool
@Omega2064 he could have gone about it a lot differently, hopefully his family knows the process in making it 👍
@Omega2064 yeah Roman concrete being one of them
@@nathanb3273 Actually, roman concrete got solved. They used SEAWATER. Historians were just so dense they assumed by "water" in documents, that they meant "fresh water". It's an entertaining issue that still could happen again in the future. (for example, recipes call for X amount of eggs, but they never specify chicken eggs.)
@@chatboss000 that actually makes a lot of sense, I'll look into that. Thanks chat boss. Every day's a school day 😊👍
"its not like he could just burn them all"
I mean... that's why it was invented...
Tests did say a 10 year old sample could burn easily too
@@ProfessorSyndicateFranklai Or, that's what they want you to think!
maybe he froze it
th-cam.com/video/aqR4_UoBIzY/w-d-xo.html
3rd option - He made starlite using commercially available materials that were already patented and therefore couldn't patent it himself. Let's say, for instance, that his formula contained named products like Elmer's glue and Heinz 57 sauce and it's the chemical interactions between those 2 named products that created Starlite. He would not have been able to patent his "invention" without first owning the patents to both Elmer's glue and Heinz 57, or at the very least having both companies agree to allow him to use their patents. Being a hairdresser and playing with products and chemicals all day led him to create an amazing material but one who's chemistry he could never own and therefore never monetize.
I believe this is it
he would have just had to figured out which chemicals were reacting and ni longer would have had to use the patented products. this is unlikely.
Elmer's glue and Heinz 57 sauce are little else than recipes, which cannot be patented. Coca-Cola and KFC have capitalized on their "secret" recipes, quite successfully, but, these products cannot be protected, with exclusive rights, once revealed. His formula produced an insulating carbon foam with limited uses, (which has been done before); but, without a novel process, nor an understanding of its chemistry, he could only sell his own hype about it.
You can patent your ideas even if it needs other patents.
@@horusreloaded6387 Not without permission. That's the point of a patent and more than likely the reason he never revealed the starlite recipe.
I see you're also a fellow admirer of Caption Disillusion
Researching?
Hehe ahh yeah you're right
"Caption"
I saw Maurice Ward when I was about 7 years old. In second grade (1987) he came to our elementary school and did a demonstration on Starlite. One of the things I remember is that he did the demonstration with the egg and the torch and he mentioned that his granddaughter had named the substance Starlite. She was there with him at the time. I'd guess she'd be about my age (38 now). I always wondered why something so revolutionary didn't end up in fire gear for firemen, as I ended up as a volunteer fire-fighter when I was 16 and never forgot the presentation Maurice gave when I was a kid.
"It's not like he could quickly burn them all" I spit tea all over when I heard that.
I hope your keyboard is okay. Glad you liked the joke.
HighFlyer no you didn't
HighFlyer I
Unless Starlite had a specific vulnerability, or chemical "Achilles' Heel," that could be used to remove or destroy it. Like gold, which only dissolves in aqua regia.
But can it survive a 1000 degree knife?!
Zepherus ...not
No, a room temperature knife cut right through that egg.
No. It's only impenetrable to heat not a sharp object like a knife.
I was gonna like the OP comment, but there's 333 likes and I don't wanna break up that beautiful number!
Does it matter? It could be coated over a hard surface like metal, rather than an egg.
Most horrifying part of this is. I watched that episode of tomorrow's world when it was broadcast... I'm so old.
Same here......way past best before date
hey guys u still alive?
@@barupens8141 I am, and I remember it well. I've got it written down in a note book to buy some! Long before he died, that was.
Its was broadcast on April first too, that doomed the invention to be considered a TW prank.
Aerogel can do that and more. We even have strengthened opaque Aerogel now. The problem with it is that it is resource intensive to make not all that much of it. So it's a very expensive material. If someone can work out the figurative Bessemer process for Aerogel (Being able to cheaply, effectively, and quickly mass produce it). It's application would leave starlite in the dust.
@David Parry have you seen areogell?
David Parry haha, no. th-cam.com/video/aqR4_UoBIzY/w-d-xo.html
I just saw someone recreate a similar substance with household materials. Freaking amazing.
Another big disadvantage of aerogels is their brittleness. Starlite was flexible and could be spread almost as play doh, while aerogels are fairly thick and have to be on a flat plane
Aerogel is crap. Use your own cheap starlight mix. Corn starch, then 10% baking soda. Mix in PVA glue until a putty. Flatten, press twist around anything. Allow it to dry for a while before flames since the thermal conductive nature of the glue before drying will affect it slightly. You are welcome.
There's a pretty recent claim that Starlite's formula-really, Maurice's notes and lab-was acquired by Thermashield LLC. They said the problem was that it's a real finicky formula, and it's taking a real long while before it can be turned into a marketable product.
I assume what happened is that while Maurice discovered it, he really didn't understand how the raw materials actually interact to do what Starlite does. Without prior knowledge of the stuff he's working with, he definitely won't have a clue on how to make it in industrial or even practical quantities.
Really, for a long time Starlite is like the Fallout 4 of materials science: *it just works.*
They straight up confirm on their website that they "purchased and have since updated Maurice Ward’s (the material’s inventor) original formula to today’s material availability and created new ones, while retaining the invention’s remarkable high-temperature resistance characteristic"
Damn I'm so early they're only 360 p's
lol when you see it on phone notifications so you know to watch it right away. Anyway love your content also cheers!
Oh hey, great to see you here! Hope you enjoy the video.
p's?
Make more videos
Wendover Productions YOOOO!! Love your videos!
My father is the plant operations manager at a sawmill with gas and sawdust fueled furnaces to dry the lumber (called a dry kiln).... A few years ago, a sales person came by with a demonstration of a brass strip approx 1" by 4", painted on one side on one half of the length with a white material. The strip was held in hand while being heated for over a minute with a propane torch, until the white paint was glowing red. He then used an infrared thermometer, and touching to the skin to show that the backside of the strip where painted was barely above ambient temperature. I will try to find out the company and product name, but apparently Maurice Wards invention was indeed commercialized, as salespersons are going around to industrial facilities to try and sell it today.
Did you find out the company and the product? It's been 5 months since then and I would love to know.
Thermashield 👍🏽
@@TheGrinningViking Hey there! Thanks for the help! People should know it more, so appreciates your help (even though it takes 2 months to get such a reply) 😄👍
there's loads of diffrent insulators, doesn't have to be starlite.
I just watched a video from nighthawk making a Starlite like material and explains how it probably works. he doesn't claim it's the exact formula but close-ish.
same xD
Lol, I saved a copy of that video in the event that it's real, I'm replicating the experiment sometime next week, here's hoping I'm not getting trolled.
@@Hexfury i have tested his formula using flour instead of cornstarch though,and atleast in dough form it does pretty well but im currently trying to dry some out to test when its dry. I too have seen how resilient carbon foam from burnt sugar is to heat but i guess i have not put its use potential together till i saw nighthawks video.....
@@Chris47368 Please upload videos of your tests!
@@Chris47368 th-cam.com/video/LCR5-mrlNHU/w-d-xo.html
After years of speculation, it would seem more likely that the invention was real and was some of the most easily reproducible materials on the market right now.
The concept of Starlite is way older than the experiments done by Maurice, as such his idea would have most likely been difficult to sell as the concept itself is public domain.
man, you deserve million of subscribers. the sheer amount of effort and thoroughness put into your videos is astounding and your channel is just awesome
You don't know how much I appreciate your videos m8. Also congratulations in advance on 100k
Well, I'm glad you like them.
ThisCarmella your*
Eric Bowling another spelling nazi
NIGGA WE MADE IT
but i'm not a grammar nazi and don't give 2 shits how someone conveys useful information. it's the people that think they're better than everyone else, mumble nonsense, and contribute no value to society that irk me
Looks rather similar to Teflon.
Well, do you think that teflon may be part of the recipe?
@@Handle423 Could be the raw sample shown on TV looks like teflon flakes. Teflon does have a high melting point at 620 F so its possible. And he was working in creating a plastic that could withstand the heat so highly possible if this is real that it did contain teflon. But i have also heard that it was supposedly a ceramic. Although i guess you could incorporate teflon into a ceramic.
Pretty cool, eh Cody? I'd love to line it in my company's plasma arc furnace!
@@joshua.snyder I had no idea that was cody when i made my reply lol. I done some digging and it seemed people who done any testing on it say when it was under high heat it turned into a carbon foam and expanded to push the heat away could give some insight to how it was made if it was not a hoax. Also someone who done testing said you could put your hand right on it and it wouldn't burn you after delivering 1200f heat.
Hey cody do some stuff with fireproofing!
This was a fascinating video. Awesome work! This is my first time hearing of Starlite.
The theory I find most plausible is that while it is real, it isn't actually as miraculous as it seems and there actually are no practical applications due to there being no way to make a long lasting coating. There are many useful sounding things that can be demonstrated in a lab experiment that unfortunately can't be made practically useful - if it fundamentally relied on a compound that degrades and loses the heat resistant properties within weeks or months of application that's eliminating a lot of defense, aerospace and engineering uses of such a material.
He understandably wanted to retain final ownership of such a technology. After all, if it did turn out to be a miracle material after all, why should Boeing or whichever other company solely benefit from controlling it? Combined with the apparent lack of potential and therefore presumably poorer offers than he wanted, a deal was simply never reached and it died with him.
That's what I heard too.
It has some defense applications but the commercial ones sure if the substance is like that then it's not great for that. I'm sure the aerospace and defense applications are substantial enough to have it as something you'd want to use and have.
TheDMG45 the only application I can think of is to act as a heat shielding, most high temperature heat shields are ablative and degrade fast anyway, so this is a reasonable replacement if it can take re entry heating
1) The material must be found somewhere, so it must be possible to do chemical analysis in order to recreate it.
2) If the material degenerates so fast that it is already disintegrated, it could be used in food industry as alternative to plastics
3) All meterials are improveable. Many practical applications could be made from this material of only its basic composition would be known.
Reinis Trasūns - 1) Yes, every theoretical material must be found somewhere, no matter how impossible sounding. If only more chemical analysis was done? Scientists are so lazy.
2) Just because a material loses it's thermal properties and is easily destroyed by high temperatures after a period of time does not make it an environmental friendly alternative to plastics, or food safe; more likely, if there were any truth to this story, quite the opposite.
3) ALL materials are improvable? Is that so? None out there we have realized to their practical full potential based upon their composition and chemical limitations therein? There are not labs around the world heavily investing in research in materials science with some of the most brilliant minds on the planet and enormous budgets to push the limits of what is possible?
I enjoy how, after only 2 minutes, I have seen a reference to Hello Internet and the plane crash corner, and a comment by Wendover. Good job on being pop-culture-y and another great video Zepherus
Zepherus, I've been around since like 10k and wow. Your editing has vastly improved, you don't stutter or misspeak anymore, and that picture in picture editing there was downright impressive. You've taken all the constructive criticism given to you and ran with it, your channel is on par with anyone else in the explanation business. Keep it up dude, you'll be at 1mil in no time ;)
I still think my stuff is meh - there's still much more room for improvement.
There always is! I'm excited to see where you take the channel
Btw, since this video is about lost technology, you could do one with "Jan Sloot" about data compression that was also lost since this reminded me about it too.
yes, he's as interesting as ever but far smoother and more professional.
Way to take a compliment ;-P
Your videos are some of the most entertaining I've ever seen on youtube. Thank you so much for making them.
Hey, no problem, I enjoy making them for the most part.
Your finally back man, I have been waiting for this moment for along time. Now lets watch this masterpiece. Cheers!
*But will it blend? That is the question.*
**Inhales** *Whew. Starlite dust. Don't breathe this!*
sounds like a new fancy drug
@@jamiekrutzfeldt3522 Hey little boy,Want some starlite dust?
How vintage
Love this reference
I have a sample that was given to me when an uncle passed. It still works (sorta) due to picking up carbon from the torches used on it over time and it extremely solid internal structure it's now full of microscopic diamond dust which transfers and retains the heat a good bit. I've considered giving it to someone to try and reverse engineer it but it's not likely to work and I would lose my sample.
these informative videos are the best thing on TH-cam, I greatly respect people who share interesting points in history like this. (even if it might just be theory)
Glad you like them!
Flew past 50k and you're almost at 100k. Your channel has really blown up from where it once was at 1.7k. Glad to see it, can't think of a more deserving youtuber. Keep making great content
Thanks man.
So you're saying the only qualifications I need to become a materials engineer and defense contractor are 15 years of hairstyling experience and a stint as a forklift driver? Sweet.
Terrific video as always, well worth the wait! Keep it up :)
Glad you like it - there is probably a bit of luck involved too. :D
You just have the right mind for it, many of the greatest minds in history didn't finish school..
Wow, this channel deserves more subs. I love the more realistic conspiracy theories, and your take on them is fair and balanced. I love to find channels like this that I missed so I can binge watch a lot of great content. Keep up the good work!
Using Starlite would be so awesome! So many useful applications for this material, such as fireproof jumpsuits and helmets for firefighters, exteriors such as walls and hulls, and ofcourse drinking glasses and mugs for hot tea and coffee, aswell as cooking pots and frying pans, which are cool on the outside and can be touched with bare hands.
Amazing video Zepherus. The effort put into this one is very noticeable, most definitely one of my favorites of yours.
You always have the most interesting topics to discuss, most of which I have never heard of!That's why I love this channel, always happy to see you upload. :)
Congratz on 100,000 subs man, I discovered this channel back when you were still under the radar, and it's so cool to see you getting the recognition you deserve. Keep it up :)
Glad you liked my video - it's a big compliment. Thanks also for the congratulations, even though it looks like I might not be hitting it so soon after all.
I remember reading a few articles about this stuff back then. It sounded fascinating and I was amazed by it. I'm sad that it's disappeared from the world, like so many other great inventions throughout history.
Never clicked a video so fast.
Never made a video so slow.
Zepherus The wait was worth it.
Zepherus savage
AH! First H.I and then telsion, who shrunk youtube?!?
search some more and find me a multitude :)
“You thought you’d found a video where I don’t talk about the horrific death of hundreds of people, that’s a funny joke” subscribed right there
Very subtle CD reference :-)
Long live the Captain!
I only noticed the reference now! I didn't know about Captain Disillusion when I first discovered Zepherus. Two underrated channels, glad CD gained a lot of popularity since, Zepherus turn now :)
Zepherus is a Tim!
how can starlit be real if our eyes aren't real?
Most Wards Are Blue.
My shirt is wrinkled, ..............or IS it?
Jaden pls
You Forgot To Capitalize Every Word You Intelligent Baby
Heat goes somewhere, it must be sublimating with extreme efficiency. Plastic is made out of polymers... So it must be made out of polymers that sublimate with extreme efficiency and some sort of heat conductor. So the heat spreads put fast enough to sublimate... But that would still not work (egg)... It must have a sharp cut-off in the sublimation temperature of idk 70 degrees.
It does sublimate with extreme efficiency. A TH-camr made something similar, using very simple ingredients. Check it out. th-cam.com/video/aqR4_UoBIzY/w-d-xo.html
The burning of it or at least nighthawkinglight produces a carbon foam (I definitely spelt the name wrong)
No you twat, do you know how insulation works? monogoloid
More Videos lad! They're too good to keep us waiting this long!
Your videos are getting so much better, your editing and your voice over have both improved dramatically in the few moths that I have been subscribed to your channel
Well, thank you! Hopefully I will continue to improve.
382 likes 0 dislikes
Maybe you should up your uploads to gain a larger fanbase...
I love your videos!
Maybe I should, but they usually take long because I spend time working on them.
Yeah I can tell! Keep up the good work!
Upload MOAR videos!!!!!! Do something creepy.
I swear Zepherus makes the best videos on youtube.
Why thank you!
You're welcome :)
Haven't heard about plane crash corner for a really long time, thx Brady lite. Btw great video.
Haven't heard of plane crash corner in about 14 months
I remember this. If I remember right it was only ever shown as a thick paste.
The thought at the time, was that maybe it was surviving the heat by ablatively creating a surface plasma. It damaged a 240MW (not sure of the power) testing laser that was a couple of feet away, and it glowed when heated but never really got hot itself.
There's every posiblity that they could never find a way of stabilising or solidifying the paste to be useful. So you could make up a batch, spread it on something and it would work but it'd fail when it effectively dried out/set.
Maybe thats why he kept fiddling with that hard piece. Like it's a riddle he's trying to work out.
about a year later another youtube inventor figured it out, well at least partially.
do you know who he/she was? i'd like to see the videos :)
@@damianoferrario4330 nighthawkinlight if you still dont know
When the egoism of one person cost the whole humanity something so useful.
Baking soda, corn starch, white glue. Ezpz.
" .. useful applications .." , while showing a tank and war images .
Hey Zepherus, can you become a robot and output 20 videos a day. Thanks, I will be waiting for them tomorrow.
If the information to make such a composition was in the public domain, it would be one of THE greatest inventions known to man. The lives it could save, the improvements that other people could have made, even the science of the material itself would have been STAGGERING to see.
Alas, sometimes things are not meant to be.
Awww I remember watching that episode of Tomorrow's World... I've never since considered what happened to that invention, although I reckon intumescent materials like Starlite have been long since figured out and there really isn't as much mystery to it as we'd like to think
Some dude just released a TH-cam video explaining this and shows the egg test etc. Search starlite to see the video. Its starch, baking powder and white school glue!!
loved the video as usual and the editing trickery at 9:00 was awesome
Glad you liked it - it was a pain to do.
+madattaktube His logo was in the background of that bit for that very reason.
Brady would be very proud!
I honestly would hope so.
I just came across your video by chance, BUT by chance, I did see this material demonstrated by 60 minutes after one of the Space Shuttle failures when they were talking about all the problems with the heat shield on the shuttle and in relation to the cost over runs on several other aerospace programs
Your channel is brilliant. Great editing and even better stories. Never subbed so fast.
Wow, your videos just keep getting better and better. Keep up the work!
BTW how did you come across this topic?
Internet browsing.
its almost strange to see a new Zephyrus video, and I definitely enjoyed it!
one little feedback thing, maybe put subtitles with audiofiles like this, especially with older people cuz non-natives like me could have some trouble understanding exactly what they are saying, thx!
some questions:
and where are you from? I just cant figure it out :/
how do you get your inspiration on what you want to make a video next? I mean, its not like you knew about all your subjects before you started making videos about them and thus conducting more research to those subjects?
Yeah, others have made the same suggestion - I intend to add subtitles at some point.
1). East Anglia.
2). I know about subjects usually for quite a while before I make a video on them. I knew about the Big Piece for years before it dawned on me to do a video. Usually it's a few months beforehand through looking up interesting stuff for fun.
Zepherus alright, thank you!
however... you just stumble upon topics in the cradles and ravines of the internet? is that how it works? bc that is quite funny actually
Yeah, I just stumble across topics on the expanse that is the internet, and if I become fascinated then I have a video right there.
gasp he has returned
And a CD reference, really cool, I'm surprised I only just found your quality channel.
Or option 3 starlight is so ridiculously easy to make that Maurice never wanted people to figure it out.
History of the invention of the intermittent windshield wiper and Ford, GM and Chrysler explains exactly what this inventor was trying to avoid.
0.1 Mill subs! Congrats! You make great video's, Keep it up!
Thanks!
The explanation for what happened here could be very simple and not that mysterious. NASA used organic based polymers to coat both the space shuttle and the original Apollo command module. All the current Stealth aircraft use some kind of "special" coating.
It is very likely that Mr. Ward came up with something similar to these compounds but just not as effective. (more expensive, more dangerous to make, less effective, etc..) In other words, he invented the Cassette Tape when the world was already using the CD. After investigation it was most likely discovered that his super ceramic/plastic just wasn't any better than what already existed. And the reason we don't know that is NASA, Boeing and Nuclear agencies don't go on TV to show off everything they have created. (and there is a reason, it is called the Chinese!)
Keith Gray
Be careful.
" civil discussion, like that's going to happen." Wow, what great faith in humanity you have...
I love that you had a little small captain disillusion icon Easter egg!!
forgot to double the mono tv segment
KeithShizuo I only had the left ear bud in and I was wondering why the audio cut out
Captain Disillusion reference?
Of course.
@@Zepherus You should also put a reference to him in the videos description (like if anybody would read those) if you're "borrowing" his gear for the video ;)
@@LeeeHack It wouldn't be an Easter Egg if he outright advertised it in the description. Besides, the Captain is doing well enough on his own.
Well, where's the hello internet squad at??? BTW flagy-flag is still the best!!!!!
CZ Frank 👌🏼
CZ Frank also I think grey & Brady should claim the unclaimed piece of Antarctica 🇦🇶
Rebel scum - Nail and Gear will fly victorious!
Zepherus Flagy flag forever!
Zepherus fight fight fight fight
Well, I came to learn more on Starlite after NightHawkInLight's video but I am more surprised by the fact that there is someone else using the name "Zepherus."
Nice vid BTW
Since most of your viewers seem to not know what that is, oh man that cracked me up!! Definitely considering subscribing after seeing just this video, you've touched my cynical heart my new friend!!
Plane Crash Corner. Nice reference!
Hello Internet and Captain Disillusion reference
Did captain dissolution sneak his logo into the video. Or is it just me?
Mmmmaybe.
Zepherus sneaky
Can I just say I loved the nod to good ole Captain Disillusion? You just made my day!
Wait, where?
There is another explanation, and that is that it does everything claimed of it, or at least does what we see in the _World of Tomorrow_ footage, but that, although out of the realm of every day experience, and surprising to most people, isn't in fact very remarkable in materials science.
The phenolic impregnated paper they used as a heat shield for reentry from the earliest days of the space race for instance does precisely the same thing. Chars and insulates.
Nighthawkinlight for instance came up with a 90% corn starch, 10% bicarbonate of soda mix, made to a paste with normal PVA glue, that was able to replicate the egg and the hand test.
Perhaps this is the real reason that it didn't revolutionize anything, and the reason Maurice Ward held his cards so close to his chest, was because he realised how mundane it really was, so was loathe to tell anyone, because it was so straightforward.
And on the company side perhaps eventually they also realised they also had available to them well known and publicly available materials that could do the same or nearly as good, such as phenolic compounds for ablative heat shields.
And perhaps Starlite even shared the drawbacks of these well known preparations. That is limited shelf life and limited amount of heat they could protect against before failure.
Perhaps in the final analysis Starlite wasn't as remarkable as it first appeared...
My number one favourite channel.... why? ... because I just love Zepherus's sense of humour ❤️
"imaginewhat it could be used for"
*shows tank*
yeah I wonder why he might've been hesitant to give it to the british empire...
What empire?
Just watched a video where a guy made it. Super simple, which is why he didnt want to leave samples. Glue, baking soda, and baking powder I think.
came to post this
except, we shall never know if that is the same formula. I can't fathom how some people missed the disclaimer in the title, description, and video itself.
Obviously like the guy stated, his formula works better when dried, but the egg was slightly cooked in his demonstration. You can see a bit of white falling out of the shells after a shorter amount of time.
So simple you can’t seem to remember the three ingredients?....
Thermashield got the rights from his estate and are making it now. Right now. As of this year.
I think the problem is that once you know the substances it's likely stupid easy to replicate: some random TH-camr (see comments) even made a 5%ish version of it.
It's not that it was actually ever lost, just that negotiations are complicated and his daughter wasn't a showboat.
So, there are many paints on the market with this property. They're called "intumescent" paints. They're generally made with polyvinyl acetate, yes, yellow carpenter's glue, which tends to foam when heated, producing a high temperature resistant barrier.
This is the most reasonable explanation for these properties. In fact, many salon products contain PVA and it's reasonable to assume that a hair dresser would be working with chemicals he had on hand.
never stop never stopping!
8:00
That's what he means when he said
"To be used right"
He wanted it for the public and cheap and affordable to put in houses, cars, space missions, and everything in between but if a big company gets it then it'll be very very expensive and only the top tier class of people or organizations would have access to it
Was that... The nail and gear? HELLO INTERNET!
But why 360p?
Still really good video. Hope to see more content soon. :D
Give it time to process - I have 1080 on my end.
Zepherus oh Shit. Clicked on the notification right away. Didn't know TH-cam needs time for different solutions. Thanks for the quick response.
Keep it up!
omg I remember watching this guy on the news years ago. Fascinated me to no end
Id like to hypothesize. Its only useful if the material does not enclose a high temperature heat source. Maybe ok for vehicles, but the fact that its not hot to the touch already says the mechanism of why it can insulate really well is that it reflects/emits the heat as blackbody radiation back towards the source. If the material encloses something, the thermal energy wont just vanish, and the heat will probably flow through conduction
10 000C sounds way too much, currently there isnt anything thats even remotely close to withstanding such a temperature and thats without the insulation properties that this material had
There is some documents proving this is true. I think it was the British
who's the guy in the picture at 8:33
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Kitchener,_1st_Earl_Kitchener
Nice captain disillusion reference
Everyone's talking about the HI reference, and missing my CD one. Thanks for noticing.
Should have added a lens flare to the lamp
I didn't want to make it that obvious, but I probably might do in future.
The 10,000 degree test is what gets me. For the most part materials don't survive to that temperature, pretty much everything is vaporizing at that point. The topic of polymers is also likely a red herring, no organic material can withstand that temperature. As a materials engineer who works in thermal properties, its doubly curious.
Amazing! Truly amazing! Someone on the BBC sets up a blowtorch upon an unsuspecting egg, and no one protested their cruelty to an unhatched chicken???
Ward had a hare-brained idea that he could sell his formulation to a manufacturer or government agency, yet maintain absolute secrecy of its chemistry. He didn't understand it himself, beyond his claims that it worked. It was only a recipe, couldn't be patented, and only gave him bragging rights and infamy.
The HI reference :)
9:55 But seriously, that video has huge horrible inaccuracies and I feel guilty for spreading them - if you are going to use one of my videos to educate, check the facts are correct first
That's what it says
I think it's a hoax. The guy complained about how it might be used, but the fact is no reasonable person would ever expect it to not be used wherever it would be suitable. If the guy really cared about how it would be used, he could have rationalized he was going to save millions of lives with it, and usher in a new era of advancement. And if his family members did know how to make it, you know damn well one of them would have sold it off by now rather than live normal poor lives in comparison to the billionaires they could be over night.
As for how it was hoaxed, he could have used rigged burners that looked like they burn at high temperatures but don't actually burn at high temperatures. That egg could have been a fake egg, with chemicals inside of it that obviously wouldn't cook like an egg and stay liquid.
I think at first he intended to make a scam out of it to get money, but once he realized he couldn't just blindly sell the snake oil and people wanted proof before forking over cash, not to mention the sheer volume of people interested, rather than admit it was a scam, he decided to make up excuses for not selling it and kept the hoax going.
If it was real, someone would have definitely had it by now, even if they had to steal it. Even a pinch of the stuff would have been enough to figure out what it was. But I think no one wanted to call him out on it, out of fear that he might not sell it to them if they were wrong. So places like NASA kept quiet even though they felt strongly he was full of shit. If someone else had it by now, we would already see it widely used. There would be no need to hide it, they could just claim some government scientist was working on something and accidentally created it, they don't even have to admit it's the same thing since it would be impossible to prove since there is no chemical proof of it.
Also the fact that when he burned the starlite and it turned black, indicates there's a reaction going on that's catalyzing and carbonizing the material, which would effectively make it useless. The gas fire itself would not leave residue like that on anything unless it was burning it. So whatever material it was, it was clearly degrading visibly, and as we all know, burnt carbon is not going to have the same properties that starlite claims to have.
Although this does make sense the flame in the burner was violet-blue, which means it was around temperature they stated in the show. Also I'm not aware of any chemical that could be able to stop an egg from coagulating at temperatures that high for so long. Yes the scilence was suspicious and he deffinitely has something to hide but if it was fake methods used to fake it are arguably as impressive as inventing the real thing.
I think the reason Maurice didn't ever sell or patent his material, has something to do with the simplicity of his recipe. I know pretty much nothing about patenting, but I have a feeling that if you just mixed corn starch, water, flour, etc together and it made 'starlite' it wouldn't be possible to patent it? Someone feel free to correct me or point me in the right direction.
You need to make more videos. Been here since 500
I found some Boeing reports on starlite
10:25 Ha!
A material like that may be amazing for semiconductors. Imagine overclocking without heat as a limit.
It is most unlikely to be in itself a semiconductor, so is no use there. The material does not get rid of heat, it is just a very good insulator, so simply reflects it. That property can't contribute to cooling a semiconductor either. However, its outstanding insulating properties would have wide-ranging applications elsewhere.
His invention was reel and has been shown in TV and tested by companies. He was not a business man, he wanted that companies would do good with. But world wide business would be interested big time. This is a great product that will bring billions into a bank account. Used it as insulation in cars, mobile homes, yacht, gloves, jackets, refrigerator, freezer, insulation for the shuttle, space station, insulation of houses, insulation of barracks where scientists at Antarctica lives and for their transport vehicles, suit astronaut, deep sea diver, submarines.......... the list goes on.
Sure, and nobody every used or worked out what it was. Just like UFOs and Big foot.
Maurice Ward really reminds me of Dr. Galén from the play "The White Plague" by Karel Čapek. He wants his invention to only be used for good causes, and so when he dies, the invention gets lost and no one can use it, not even for good causes.