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This is pretty much just rambling about how amazing aluminium foil is because it's so thin and that might enable all sorts of wonderful imaginary applications.

This is pretty much just rambling about how amazing aluminium foil is because it's so thin and that might enable all sorts of wonderful imaginary applications. Very HN. It's aluminium foil.

post-it 4mo ago
That's the neat part though, isn't it? It's a product that's so good that there's no everyday alternatives to it. I was researching cat litter options recently and cat owners do a lot of thinking and talking about litter, because there's a variety of different materials, none of which are solidly better than all others in all situations. But aluminium foil is so good that we don't even think about it, because it's by far the best product for every application that we use it for.
Forgeties79 4mo ago
You sound like someone who hasn't explored the upper limits of what aluminum foil can solve!
- whynotmaybe 4mo ago
  Has a kid, my mom used to pack my lunch in aluminium foil and everyday was a challenge of trying to make the perfect aluminium ball and throw it in the trashcan[1] on the first try! 1. Recycling was a vague concept in the 80s & 90s
  - bluGill 4mo ago
    Your local recycler probably doesn't want al foil even today when recycling is a big thing.
- IshKebab 4mo ago
  Read this guy's ramblings and give me one cool application that he has found. Lots of "maybe it could do this!" and "it can do <completely useless thing>!"
  - Forgeties79 4mo ago
    Aluminum foil makes a great, cheap light bounce for photography on the fly. Your photos will instantly look better either reflecting to the back of their head 180 from shot, or as a fill for their face.
  - roughly 4mo ago
    The trick to being a good hacker is acquiring a sufficient supply of useless information, such that when that information is suddenly not useless, you have it at hand. Which is to say, it's your job to figure out what the cool applications are.
    - IshKebab 4mo ago
      Yeah fine, take notes. Why post them here?
      - roughly 4mo ago
        To share with a community of like-minded individuals, many of whom found it interesting enough to both upvote and comment? You understand the rest of us do actually exist, right? That we’re, you know, real people with thoughts and opinions and feelings, right? This isn’t pinboard or something.
      - kragen 4mo ago
        By "here" do you mean "the internet"? Are you trying to discourage people from sharing their calculations and observations with one another if they don't personally interest you? If so, what is wrong with you? I didn't post my notes on HN; in fact, I didn't even post them on dernocua.github.io.
nyeah 4mo ago
What's really thin is the oxide layer on the surface https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodizing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodizing When exposed to air at room temperature, or any other gas containing oxygen, pure aluminium self-passivates by forming a surface layer of amorphous aluminium oxide 2 to 3 nm thick,[4] which provides very effective protection against corrosion. Aluminium alloys typically form a thicker oxide layer, 5–15 nm thick, but tend to be more susceptible to corrosion.
- wolfi1 4mo ago
  it usually is not only aluminium oxide but a mixture of aluminium oxide and aluminium hydroxide if it is normal (read: moist) air

This is pretty much just rambling about how amazing aluminium foil is because it's so thin and that might enable all sorts of wonderful imaginary applications. Very HN. It's aluminium foil.

post-it 4mo ago

That's the neat part though, isn't it? It's a product that's so good that there's no everyday alternatives to it. I was researching cat litter options recently and cat owners do a lot of thinking and talking about litter, because there's a variety of different materials, none of which are solidly better than all others in all situations. But aluminium foil is so good that we don't even think about it, because it's by far the best product for every application that we use it for.

Forgeties79 4mo ago

You sound like someone who hasn't explored the upper limits of what aluminum foil can solve!

whynotmaybe 4mo ago
Has a kid, my mom used to pack my lunch in aluminium foil and everyday was a challenge of trying to make the perfect aluminium ball and throw it in the trashcan[1] on the first try! 1. Recycling was a vague concept in the 80s & 90s
- bluGill 4mo ago
  Your local recycler probably doesn't want al foil even today when recycling is a big thing.
IshKebab 4mo ago
Read this guy's ramblings and give me one cool application that he has found. Lots of "maybe it could do this!" and "it can do <completely useless thing>!"
- Forgeties79 4mo ago
  Aluminum foil makes a great, cheap light bounce for photography on the fly. Your photos will instantly look better either reflecting to the back of their head 180 from shot, or as a fill for their face.
- roughly 4mo ago
  The trick to being a good hacker is acquiring a sufficient supply of useless information, such that when that information is suddenly not useless, you have it at hand. Which is to say, it's your job to figure out what the cool applications are.
  - IshKebab 4mo ago
    Yeah fine, take notes. Why post them here?
    - roughly 4mo ago
      To share with a community of like-minded individuals, many of whom found it interesting enough to both upvote and comment? You understand the rest of us do actually exist, right? That we’re, you know, real people with thoughts and opinions and feelings, right? This isn’t pinboard or something.
    - kragen 4mo ago
      By "here" do you mean "the internet"? Are you trying to discourage people from sharing their calculations and observations with one another if they don't personally interest you? If so, what is wrong with you? I didn't post my notes on HN; in fact, I didn't even post them on dernocua.github.io.

nyeah 4mo ago

What's really thin is the oxide layer on the surface https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodizing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodizing When exposed to air at room temperature, or any other gas containing oxygen, pure aluminium self-passivates by forming a surface layer of amorphous aluminium oxide 2 to 3 nm thick,[4] which provides very effective protection against corrosion. Aluminium alloys typically form a thicker oxide layer, 5–15 nm thick, but tend to be more susceptible to corrosion.

wolfi1 4mo ago
it usually is not only aluminium oxide but a mixture of aluminium oxide and aluminium hydroxide if it is normal (read: moist) air