I am writing a story about a guy, Norman, from a parallel dimension who crosses over to ours for research, particularly about the roaming silicone deposits they have detected.

The crux and hook of the story is that he subsists on silicon-based foods, and will also require copious amounts of silicone gel to use as a buffer/conductor for his return trip by the electro-static travel device, or whatever.

So, I need some "laymen's' education" about silicones: their properties regarding electricity, what commercial products they are in, etc.

Thanks.

-Bill

I can't help with the electrical aspects of it, but, the gel is sort of easy. We call is "Spaz", but it's actually a silicone sealant that comes in a tube and you squeeze onto stuff you want to be sealed. it takes about 24 hours to set, then about a week to cure (from memory) and after that leaves a soft, but watertight seal on things like sinks.

Another use that it becoming common is cookware. 100% silicone muffin trays and baking sheets. Nothing sticks. They don't hold heat, and they are soft and pliable. Silpat is the name they go by I think. They also make hot pads out of silicone.

A third growing industry for silicone is, umm... adult novelty items. Since it can be formed in to any shape very easily, is non-porous, can be used at a wide range of temperatures, can be stretched to many times it normal size, and can be made in different grades of firmness, it is being used more and more to simulate "stuff" for that market.

Then there are computer chips.

__________________
I'm not evil.
An evil person would do the things I think up.

Not much silicone in chips. Lots of silicon, though.

icarus_bill, even your original post melded them, with the alien eating silicon (but the topic headline refers to "silicone foods") and looking for "silicone deposits" which must be artificial and probably don't exist in amounts suitable to be labeled "deposits".

So, I'm confused. What is Norman's lifetsyle about? How does it involve silicon -- in pure form or, say, in common silicon dioxide (quartz), or in silicone polymers?

For the science of silicone, why not start at, say, Wikipedia: Silicone or the Silicone Science website and ask about what you don't understand?

__________________
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...

Aren't silicones silicon-based?

The "roaming silicone deposits" are actually breast implants. So, when Herman discovers this, he must find alternative silicones to consume.

Sure they are. "Silicon-based foods" got me.

So when you said he ate silicon-based food, it was actually only silicones, silicon-based polymers, he was after? I thought he might have been a silicon-based rock eater.

Just wondering: would his ilk pursue silicon monomers, too, for instance a parallel to our carbon-based sugar?

There. That's about the extent of my chemistry dabbling. But, computer dude that I am, I've had my brushes with simpler silicon molecules, and, in fact, have a number of fairly pure hunks of it around the homestead as conversation pieces. Purty stuff. It's such a common element and so rarely ever seen in its pure state by folks.

__________________
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...

First thing, thanks for taking the time with this thread. I appreciate it.

Now, this story idea was presented to me with rather violent idea of ripping out silicone implants with teeth. So, the romantic I am, I gave the protagonist a reason for reluctantly pursuing breast augmentations... survival; sustenance and the return trip.

So that particular type of silicone is important to understand in contrast to the other sources, which poses the fundamental question, why silicone gels from implants instead of from other sources?

So, now I can start:

Rocks would be too hard to eat, maybe he sucks on them like jaw breakers? Or he can eat quarry rock powder like oatmeal.

Tog's suggestion of sealant would probably constipate Norman. That's funny.

The adult entertainment pieces would be like gummy bears. Chewy and not too nutritious. In fact, that could lead to his discovery of the breast implants.

Gels would probably metabolize easier.

What do you think?

And he eats silicon-based foods? Oh, could I get myself so banned.

__________________
At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

Bah.. silly mistake on my part anout the computer chips, but it should be mentioned here that most implants used today are saline, not silicone. A lot of women have the silicone ones replaced.

__________________
I'm not evil.
An evil person would do the things I think up.

would not a plastic surgeons office be such a deposit.

__________________
If it's just us, it seems like an awful waste of space.
Contact Carl Sagan

Yeah, Norman should forget the roaming mini-snacks and go for the smorgasbord mother load at the Dow-Corning warehouse. Wait. Dow-Corning's probably not making implants. Uh... FDA says: Allergan Corp., Irvine, California, and Mentor Corp., Santa Barbara, California.

And, not meaning to ruin your plot, but there might be much more massive quantities of other more industrial silicone products, like masses of silicone greases, oils, foams, resins, rubbers, on the size-order of railroad cars or chemical storage tanks or warehouses.

__________________
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...

icarus bill. There are native plants with high levels of silicon, not silicones that might fit the bill..(no pun intended)...horsetail rushes. Equisetum species grow in a variety of habitats, including streambeds, swamps, and some very droughty locations once established. Used by Pilgrims for cleaning pots because the vegetation is like a little whiskbroom and the silicon is mildly abrasive, they are an ancient plant..( I encourage gardeners to plant them as novelties, and as "dinosaurs" in the garden).Pete
Try this:
http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature...isetumhye.html

__________________
A third rate theory forbids
A second rate theory explains after the fact
A first rate theory predicts...A. Lomonosov

Oh, no plot ruin at all; the more accessible silicones will be for the transport device. The real drama is in the psychology of the character's journey. What y'all been helping me with is setting technical parameters and limitations for the plot complications.

My task here is to discover and differentiate a few grades of silicones -- let's say 10 -- and create a hierarchy for consumption, with implants necessarily being at the top. Then I'd say 5 grades for the transportation device, which he'll have to engineer a hybrid for, or they'll have different purposes, like the oil for coating the body, foam for filling the tub... complexities. With that information, I will discover which are more easily accessible, and which are not... plot complications.

I'll get to work with some of the information y'all given me.

Everyone, thanks again for your help; your input is always welcome. Maybe when I get some research done I can post it for scrutiny?

Well, your character will be happy to know that snack packages are available at all neighborhood hardware stores
Snack tube

__________________
At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

Yes indeeed, that's the spirit. However, this may cause terrible constipation.