[mikhael]

A cookie to the person that recognizes the quote.

So, take some nifty polyethylene-glycol, mix in some silica compounds and you get some nifty goo that pours, bends, drips and flows if you manipulate it slowly, but reacts like a brick wall when you try to get forceful--like trying to put a bullet through it.

Ob.Link

[Corsair]

Tough stuff.

[Bobboau]

hey, this stuff could be used in cars, like that one sceen in Demolition Man

[mikhael]

You can make a version of this stuff with cornstarch and water. Materials like this at the right density (well molecular weight) will crack when you hit a mass of it with a hammer, and then flow back together. Truly great stuff.

[Ghostavo]

Nice... but wouldn't rapid movements from a person, like running or quickly moving an arm harden the material?

*steals cookie, eats it and leaves crums*

[Bobboau]

not unless there swinging there arms at mach 3

[Ghostavo]

And a knife goes mach 3?

[an0n]

A knife can be stopped by a dodge or even a quick fore-arm defence.


And I'm going to assume that whole article is about non-newtonian liquids and not even bother clicking it.

[Ghostavo]

Not if it's close-quarters or by surprise that you are going to be hit.

[Aspa]

Weren't there something like this in the first Dune book, only with forcefields? In a knifefight, you had to stab people slowly so the shield wouldn't stop the knife?

[mikhael]

Originally posted by Ghostavo
And a knife goes mach 3?

It isn't REALLY the speed of the knife. ITs the force-applied-over-area thing. A knife concentrates a hell of a lot of force at the point during a stab.

Think of it more in terms of bullets. This stuff is nice and pliable to the kind of forces you can extert with your body. But its like "a stack of phonebooks" when it gets hit by a Desert Eagle. You're looking at 392 foot-pounds of force concentrated at the head of the bullet. You're looking at 56500 pounds of force per square inch. At this point, the armor plast goes rigid, protecting the wearer like he was wearing a thick steel plate. Yeah, he'll have a bruise, and maybe a broken rib or three, but that bullet isn't entering his flesh.

And yes, Dune style shields were exactly like this.

[an0n]

I think the easiest way of explaining it is: Think of sticking your hand into a packed tub of marbles.

If you try to push your fingers in quickly, you'll snap them because the marbles bat against each other and effectively form a solid block. But if you work them around and rattle the marbles, you slowly create a gap in the marbles that your fingers can go into.

[mikhael]

Good point. A bucket of sand is probably an even better analogy.

[Setekh]

Dude, this is silly putty! I played with this stuff when I was a kid in science class.

Well, not quite, the principle is similar. I hope this prevents more death than it causes.

[Grey Wolf]

So if it acts like Dune shields, does it explode when shot with a laser

On a more serious note, this seems rather interesting. I wonder how long it will be before it goes into full use.

[Thorn]

Originally posted by Ghostavo
And a knife goes mach 3?

Well, wouldnt they use this stuff along with the kevlar and the metal plate?

[Rictor]

Cool technology. I wonder how long it takes the Russians to make this armour a very expensive piece of obsolete trash :D Before it goes into service I'm betting...

[Bobboau]

do you mean by makeing a better armour, a better gun, or both?

[mikhael]

Originally posted by Grey Wolf 2009
So if it acts like Dune shields, does it explode when shot with a laser

Weren't those "lase guns" not "laser guns"?

[phreak]

so basically this is made using some antifreeze, sand and magic

w00t12 arm0r 4 m3 !!~1!~1