Posted on 04/21/2015 8:48:47 AM PDT by stickandrudder
Researchers in Poland have developed a liquid that’s super-light and flexible... until you shoot a bullet at it that is. Upon impact, their specially designed 'shear-thickening fluid', or STF, turns into a solid that's reportedly not just more comfortable than Kevlar - the most widely used material in bulletproof armour - but also offers even better protection against bullets and other projectiles.
Created by the Moratex Institute of Security Technologies, the liquid is what's known as a non-Newtonian fluid. Unlike regular Newtonian fluids like water, which only change their structure according to temperature or pressure fluctuations, non-Newtonian fluids change their viscosity under stress. In other words, they can quickly change from liquid to rock-hard solid when they're hit with something forceful, like a stray bullet, for example.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencealert.com ...
Interesting....
I saw a video of this stuff and it’s pretty neat. Who wants to volunteer to put on a vest and test it out? :>} Bullet “proof” vest don’t protect you from head shots.
But if you spill it on the floor it becomes a bad-guy assassin cop.
If I have the time and opportunity, I always inform that I aim for the crotch.
Thanks for the article and science news site.
The Russians put a bug inside the Polish lab that invented the material. Here’s what they heard:
“Engineer 1: Ketchup is a non-Newtonian fluid. So is toothpaste.
Engineer 2: Good. I’m using that stuff.
Engineer 3: Hey, can you point this .50 cal Desert Eagle at my chest and pull the trigger while I test this thing?”
NUTS !
Karatands
For all you older Sci-fi fans out there.
Aiming at the crotch, is something out of Robo-Cop. If you have that much time to determine where ‘’center mass’’ is, you have time to empty your pistola
I remember hearing about this years back. The minor problem is, if I recall correctly, once it’s hit, it goes solid and stays solid. So, if you got hit by one or two impacts, that’s not a problem. But if you got lots of impacts or one big impact, the body armor would become inflexible.
Like the corn starch/ water experiment. Neat.
I believe this technology exists for quite some time already, they aren’t first who have come with it.
Yet I haven’t seen any end product utilizing it.
Note that I “inform” that I aim for the crotch. :)
Doesn’t seem like an insurmountable problem, from an engineering standpoint.
For example, I imagine you could just separate the liquid into individual packets and layer them like scalemail, so you would get flexibility even after the liquid goes solid, and you could also get some redundant coverage as a bonus with an arrangement like that.
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