Free Republic

Scientists have proposed a method to connect the Earth and the moon with a cable that will allow us to travel between them, but the European Space Agency isn't convinced Two astronomers from the University of Cambridge and the University of Columbia have proposed a plan for a kind of elevator between the moon and the Earth. Have you ever thought about what it would be like if we could just hop in an elevator, press a button, and head up to the moon? According to the scientists' calculations, it would be possible to construct such a structure using existing...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Justice Department investigation into the use of defective Zylon fiber in bulletproof vests has led to a settlement with a Japanese importer. The body armor company now will cooperate in the probe of the faulty material's manufacturer, Toyobo Co. Ltd. of Japan. The United States will collect $1.5 million from N.I Teijin Shoji Co. Ltd and an American subsidiary. The Justice Department says the two Teijin companies were aware that the Zylon fiber would degrade quickly, rendering bulletproof vests unfit for use.

WASHINGTON - May 2002: President Bush attends a memorial for police officers killed in the line of duty. Under his jacket, he's wearing a Second Chance bulletproof vest, according to a company insider critical of the vest. A year later, a California police officer wearing the same model vest is killed when a bullet penetrates his vest. Sources involved in the case say the Justice Department now is conducting a criminal investigation into whether the company — Second Chance Body Armor — knowingly sold defective vests to the Secret Service, military and police. The company denies the allegation. "It means...

WESTBURY, N.Y., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DHB Industries Inc. (Amex: DHB - News), DHB Industries, Inc., operating principally in the field of body armor, announced that, since September 16, 2005, it has been served with a number of lawsuits, all of which contain similar allegations. One of the lawsuits is filed as a derivative action and names the Company and all of its directors as defendants. All of the other lawsuits are purported class actions and name the Company and all or some of its directors as defendants. The lawsuits allege violations of the federal securities laws and/or state law...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 - A type of lightweight police vest used by tens of thousands of officers failed to stop a bullet in nearly 6 of every 10 tests, according to a Justice Department study released on Wednesday, and the study resulted in immediate changes in federal safety guidelines. Ballistic tests on 103 vests containing a fiber known as Zylon produced acceptable safety results for just four vests, department researchers said. "This confirms that these vests simply don't do what they claim to do, which is to stop bullets," said Ed Balzarini Jr., a lawyer from the Pittsburgh metropolitan region...