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Paper-thin material stops bullets

Posted on Sunday, 18 November, 2012 | Comment icon

42 comments

Image credit: sxc.hu

Scientists have developed a new nanomaterial that appears to be highly effective at stopping bullets.

The paper-thin material known as a "structured polymer composite" is comprised of alternating layers of glass and rubber. The nanomaterial is particularly effective at dissipating energy making it highly valuable in the development of bullet-proof clothing. In laboratory testing a 20 nanometer piece of the material was shown to stop a 9-millimetre bullet. Researchers are now conducting further experiments to improve its effectiveness in potential real-world scenarios.

"After the impact we can go in and cross-section the structure and see how deep the bullet got, and see what happened to these nice parallel layers," said scientist Ned Thomas.

"Researchers have designed a new paperthin bullet-proof super material which can self-assemble into alternating glassy and rubbery layers."

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Source: Times of India

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Recent comments on this story

#33 Posted by pallidin on 21 November, 2012, 22:40

I'll bet my super sharp, super-thin ice pick would get through that.

#34 Posted by OverSword on 21 November, 2012, 22:40

What a world we live in! instead of finding a way of getting rid of ammunition, scientists are spending time and money on inventing things to protect us more...there is only one protection from guns, and thats to abolish them completely. For crying out loud!! is this what our scientists have been asked to invent now? I`d have though something to protect humans from natural catastrophies and diseases would have been the first thing on the list. Oh sure, why don't we just uninvent the atomic bomb as well. Get real.

#35 Posted by freetoroam on 22 November, 2012, 23:13

Oh sure, why don't we just uninvent the atomic bomb as well. Get real. be nice if we could, before it uninvents us... before some power driven world leader gets too finger trigger happy.

#36 Posted by freetoroam on 22 November, 2012, 23:20

I'm sorry but invading army's even in our times still have individuals who plunder, pillage, rape. And yes I don't think we should be in afghanistan either but sometimes you need to make a stand against terrorism/oppression, or you can hide in your home and hope it all blows away. if they concentrated here instead of countries miles away, i may not have lost a friend in the London bombings. Its about time they start looking at the flourishing islamists who recide in England, i don`t care about the islamists living on the other side of the Earth.

#37 Posted by CRIPTIC CHAMELEON on 23 November, 2012, 6:53

if they concentrated here instead of countries miles away, i may not have lost a friend in the London bombings. Its about time they start looking at the flourishing islamists who recide in England, i don`t care about the islamists living on the other side of the Earth. I'm sorry to hear you lost some-one close to you but it took them bombings to make the authorities stand up and realize they had a fret on home soil and at the moment I have 3 cousins all brothers over there at this moment and every time I here that another soldier got killed I wait for that phone call from my family.

#38 Posted by freetoroam on 23 November, 2012, 14:04

I'm sorry to hear you lost some-one close to you but it took them bombings to make the authorities stand up and realize they had a fret on home soil and at the moment I have 3 cousins all brothers over there at this moment and every time I here that another soldier got killed I wait for that phone call from my family. The authorities know we have a threat here and STILL they can not sent back the instigators! It did not take this event for them to realise, many of us had been saying it for years while we watched buildings being turned into mosques where these people went to go and preach their... [More]

#39 Posted by Uncle Sam on 24 November, 2012, 18:15

There will always be guns, even if governments abolish them, the guns will seep through the cracks of society. People who say we need to get rid of guns is short sighted beyond belief, that they will take away their own guns that can be used against criminals who "HAVE" guns. Criminals don't obey laws, they will always find a gun. Better to develop a way to stop and protect people from bullets, than to try a impossible quest to rid the world of guns.

#40 Posted by libstaK on 25 November, 2012, 0:45

Here's the thing - it's based on nano technology, which is still in it's infancy relatively speaking. - It is paper thin, great for layering me thinks and over other sturdy impact absorbing materials, even better. - It is light weight. I'm thinking there are going to be some great uses for this in the space program, which has real "wow" potential for any manned long distance space flights. I'm also thinking as an early prototype of impact absorbing nano-technology, there is potential for huge breakthroughs in safety for the airline and automobile industries going forward - imagine if the comin... [More]

#41 Posted by Zaphod222 on 5 December, 2012, 12:24

There�d be a real market for this in many modern cities.

#42 Posted by -M7 on 7 December, 2012, 4:20

Developing such material is one thing, but producing it is another.

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