In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, candles made from spermaceti were used as standard photometric illuminants. They burned more brightly than even

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, candles made from spermaceti were used as standard photometric illuminants. They burned more brightly than even today’s paraffin candles, and could be made in a reproducible way [1]. NASA used spermaceti as a binder for joining iron particles to acetate for longer-lasting data storage tapes [2], and one author indicates that it was used more recently as a lubricant on the Voyager probe and the Hubble Space Telescope[3]. It's a sad story about our (over) exploitation of the seas, but very interesting history. I wonder if any research has been done on producing cetyl palmitate via recombinant DNA synthesis. Imagine having a vat of E. coli or yeast producing it. As the article mentions, jojoba oil is a decent substitute. I use jojoba around the house to fix squeaky hinges, etc. 1. http://books.google.com/books?id=DI4AAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA183&lpg=PA183&dq=spermaceti+candle+of+photometric&source=bl&ots=yiUz8ijAo5&sig=BykhaviaR_BKIMKhMXwZC_q4GH4&hl=en&ei=qMi9Tq_qFYHb0QH25dS2BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=spermaceti%20candle%20of%20photometric&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=DI4AAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA183&#... 2. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/327/5971/1322.full http://www.sciencemag.org/content/327/5971/1322.full 3. http://books.google.com/books?id=y2zXTivayCQC&pg=PA344#v=onepage&q&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=y2zXTivayCQC&pg=PA344#v...