/oss/taxonomy/term/984/all en /oss/article/history-quirky-science/what-common-link-between-neil-armstrong-and-colored-trumpet-mouthpieces <p style="text-align:justify">The helmet that Neil Armstrong wore when landing on the moon in 1969 and coloured trumpet mouthpieces are made of the same plastic, Lexan. In 1953 Daniel Fox at General Electric was looking for better insulating materials for wires when he mixed together a couple of ingredients that he hoped would yield a polymer with suitable properties. What he got was a goop that hardened to an extent that he couldn’t even remove his stirring rod. Banging the curious new material against a hard surface had no effect; it just couldn’t be broken.</p> Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:39:15 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1921 at /oss