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The Arctic’s extreme cold is no match for a polar bear’s super-insulating fur. Humans could one day benefit from a similar material, thanks to a new fiber that mimics the bears’ porous hairs. A sweater knit from the fiber is about one-fifth the thickness of a down coat but similarly warm, researchers report in the Dec. 22 Science.
Like polar bear hair, the fiber’s core is filled with thousands of pores — tiny pockets of air that help prevent heat loss — and surrounded by a flexible, waterproof sheath. But unlike hair, which is made of keratin, the core is built from a synthetic material called an aerogel.
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