Sometimes it seems as if our entire lives are held together with sealants. Silicone sealant in particular shows up all the time. Without silicone, your life would not run very smoothly. It is what keeps our bathrooms from erupting into gardens of mold, stops concrete from cracking and even lowers our energy bills.But home improvement isn’t all silicone sealant is used for. It actually keeps our technological lives in order as well.

Satellites

One of the most far out applications of silicone sealant is space technologies. Silicone has a large range of temperatures it can handle, making it the best choice for anything subjected to the insane temperature fluctuationsbeyond our atmosphere. When it comes time to send another satellite up into orbit, silicone sealant is definitely in the budget.

So you can thank silicone for the accuracy of of your phone’s weather predictions, as satellites are the number one meteorological tool for tracking temperatures, precipitation and weather activities. And that latte you swiped your credit card for this morning? Also the result of a silicone-sealed satellite. And don’t forget the big game this weekend, transmitted to the comfort of your home by silicone-sealed satellite.

Cars

Modern cars are a far cry more advanced than their predecessors.They’re basically rolling computers at this point. Silicone sealant is used in cars of all makes and models because many of them are great for withstanding high temperatures, which is particularly useful when making gaskets.

Robots to Motherboards

Name an electronic device and it’s likely to have been sealed or even encapsulated in silicone.Printed circuit boards in particular nearly all use silicone sealants to bond their substrates. When devices are smothered in silicone to protect them from severe vibrations and other common sources of damage it is called “potting.”

There’s no limit to the electronic devices that can make use of silicone. Your video game console? Check. Your boss’s desktop computer? Absolutely. And that futuristic robot assisting your surgeon? Consider it laced with silicone.

Silicone is the support you don’t always notice

Most people are aware of how silicone sealants are used in building and construction projects, but that’s usually where the knowledge ends. Many people don’t realize that silicone sealant is all around them. So the next time you’re working with technology, take a pause to marvel that the same substance clogging up your landlord’s old caulk gun is also protecting your computer’s precious circuits.