From the Aerogel wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel"Aerogels are good http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_insulation because they almost nullify two of the three methods of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_transfer (convection, conduction, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_radiation). They are good http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_conduction insulators because they are composed almost entirely from a gas, and gases are very poor heat conductors. Silica aerogel is especially good because silica is also a poor conductor of heat (a metallic aerogel, on the other hand, would be less effective). They are good http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convective_heat_transfer inhibitors because air cannot circulate through the lattice. Aerogels are poor radiative insulators because infrared radiation (which transfers heat) passes right through silica aerogel."

So since this doesn't conduct heat well it will keep the hot air away from the intake and hopefully not trap any in. There might be something to this.