Jason Wells got to toy around with a few blocks of Aerogel, the fantastically light (and fantastically expensive) material made famous by its use as insulation in NASA spacecraft like the Mars Rover. Using just everyday materials from his house, he managed to test the futuristic product's strength, optical properties, reaction to different liquids and temperatures, and electrical conductivity. He concludes from the experiments that it should work really well as a fire retardant or insulation, as well as pulling moisture out of pretty much anything (including his finger!). Aerogel weighs only three times as much as air, but is even more effective than your everyday pink insulation. It may only be the world's coolest insulation material, but are you the world's coolest anything? Didn't think so. [Jason Wells via Crunchgear]

Professor Tomiki Ikeda, along with his research team at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have developed a plastic motor that runs on direct light. Unlike solar power, there is no need for storing energy before conversion. The motor can achieve this feat thanks to a plastic compound containing azobenzene which contracts when exposed to ultraviolet light and returns to its original shape when exposed to visible light. By making this material into a belt and wrapping it around two wheels of different sizes, movement can be generated when the larger wheel is exposed to ultraviolet light and the smaller one to visible light.

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In another entry into our series of posts on dangerous-yet-awesome science experiments involving fire, we have a badass and simple video of a guy lighting a ring of hair mousse on fire. Yes, yes, we know it's flammable, but the results probably aren't what you're expecting. If you decide to try this for yourself I recommend doing it in your driveway rather than on your kitchen table, but hell, I'm no doctor. Do it on your carpet for all I care. [Spluch]

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Scientists have injected a mouse with a chemical that makes its brain glow where there's activity, and implanted a tiny camera directly inside the hippocampus to watch what's going on. The team at Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan are using the 0.1-inch-long camera to look for information on brain activity that causes tremors. They hope the results may lead to better treatments for Parkinson's disease, and if successful they may also experiment with humans. We can't imagine how strange it would be to know your brain's being watched from inside your head. [Fareastgizmos]

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Google has just unveiled a handful of new experimental search result views that you can make your new default, delivering you search results in timeline or map form, with new, more robust keyboard shortcuts, with a more detailed left-hand navigation menu or a number of others views.

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We don't normally go driving around with helium balloons in our cars, so we weren't aware of this strange phenomenon: The dang things go the wrong way when you accelerate and turn! Besides that, we find something likable about the explainer, Robert Krampf, the friendly scientist who seems like the kind of guy from whom you wouldn't mind receiving a balloon or two. [Experiment of the Week]

Thanks to the enthusiastic response of thousands of Gizmodo readers, Bill Shackelford's interactive art installation at The Ohio State University entitled "Blogged" was a huge success yesterday. With each page view, a compressor turned on for one second, inflating a huge balloon seen by the world via live streaming video.

"Thanks, Charlie, for posting my installation yesterday. Your readers popped the balloon! I first turned everything on at noon and it finally popped at around 5:30. I have posted new pictures on the site and will have additional video later."

I'd like to add my thanks to you, the best readers in the world! We'll be looking for Bill's exploding balloon video. Meanwhile, let's give Bill some suggestions for his next interactive art installation. What should he make happen with each page view? Give doggy treats to adorable puppies? Apply electric shocks to a hapless but comely test subject? – Charlie White Blogged [Bill Shackelford]