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New plastic is strong as steel, transparent

ns.umich.edu — By mimicking a brick-and-mortar molecular structure found in seashells, University of Michigan researchers created a composite plastic that's as strong as steel but lighter and transparent.

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  • MrBabyMan, on 10/10/2007, -4/+318Didn't Scotty invent this in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home?
    • df12, on 10/10/2007, -0/+134Close! Scotty invented "Transparent Aluminum."
      • BedlamX, on 10/10/2007, -0/+62nope Scotty didnt invent the stuff he simply traded the formula for material to construct a water tank
        • noeljohnhoward, on 10/10/2007, -1/+50you guys are awesome
          • Neiby, on 10/10/2007, -6/+22I think it's sad how many of us immediately thought of Star Trek IV when reading this article.
          • s1ade, on 10/10/2007, -0/+20Sure is, but I love it every time reality catches up with something from sci-fi.
            Just bring out the replicator already!
          • Meep3D, on 10/10/2007, -4/+9As long as it's the Star Trek one rather than the SG-1 one.
          • SteelFrog, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Damnit, I'm not geeky enough. I have no idea what you guys are talking about.
        • nepawoods, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3"nope Scotty didnt invent the stuff he simply traded the formula for material to construct a water tank"

          One could argue that he did invent it by bringing the formula back in time.
        • mdmadph, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2@nepawoods

          Nope, because even Scotty said that the person he was trading it to was more than likely the inventor. :P
          • nepawoods, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1meaning he may have been listed in the history books as the inventor. but he "invented" it by being given the formula by a man from the future.
        • jeff823, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2@mdmadph

          What he actually said was: "how do we know he didn't invent the stuff"? Not that he WAS more than likely the inventor. :)
      • WaterDragon, on 10/10/2007, -9/+4heh heh
        That's the first thing I thought of whenIi read the title.
        Transparent Aluminum FTW
        ((Finally, i got to say FTW!.)

        We Diggers are so ALIKE!
        • remccain, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2dug down for use of those three letters.
    • KevenM, on 11/04/2007, -0/+50That was the first thing that jumped to mind.
      That's kinda sad now that I think about it.
      • moskaudancer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Transparent ninja swords anyone?
      • dign, on 11/04/2007, -0/+1Didn't you know. William Shatner is responsible for almost all modern technology. I saw it on a science channel.
    • frieddonuts, on 10/10/2007, -2/+41Both Star Wars and Dune had something called plasteel (though Dune's was just steel with fibers integrated into the metal). Oh God, I hate myself.
    • NikoKun, on 10/10/2007, -2/+15You beat me to it... darn you all!
      how nerdy of us... XD
    • masgaster, on 10/10/2007, -0/+43Is it worth something to you, laddie?
      • raitchison, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Or maybe I should just hit clear.
    • lordsteve, on 10/10/2007, -3/+12Damn you all for beating me to the Scotty references!
    • Kronos6948, on 10/10/2007, -0/+41"So, I see you're still working with polymers."

      "Still?"
    • Godlike, on 10/10/2007, -1/+26I feel SO UTTERLY VINDICATED BY THIS THREAD DEAR GOD THANK YOU ALL!!! HAHAHAHA!!!! It's like for just once my weird reality coincides with someone else's!
      • WaterDragon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5You're not alone...not by a long shot!
    • tehpwnrate, on 10/10/2007, -3/+14As a Star Wars fan, I thought of transparisteel. But to each his own Star ____.
      • thatsiebguy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5I second that. Transparisteel FTW!
      • koko775, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Thirded. As a reader of the extended universe in the books, transparisteel definitely came to mind before Star Trek did.
      • WaterDragon, on 10/10/2007, -13/+3Star Wars SUX...
        Star Trek RULEZ!
        It's a choice between WAR and a TREK!
        F*ck WAR!
      • MorbenDK, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6WARTREK! the new series on the sci-fi channel
    • djphatjive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Oh good, MORE uses for oil!
      • jtorkbob, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3I read an article once that put it well... 'durable plastics are one of the most effective uses for oil'. In terms of resource conservation, this kind of thing is an important alternative to steel, aluminum, titanium, etc, which have huge impact in their collection. And long after the liquid petroleum is gone - assuming it isn't magically replenishing itself - we'll have oil sands to make our plastics from.
        • SirGunslinger, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2We can make the hydrocarbons needed to make plastics even if we run out of fossil fuels. It would require another source of energy however to make it.
      • remccain, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1well, if we could figure out how to refine the stuff that's clogging up your pores we wouldn't need fossil fuels, would we? Solve your complexion problem and the energy crisis in one fell swoop, eh?
    • rusty182004, on 10/10/2007, -9/+4Well, at least now Scotty won't have to bust out the keyboard skills. I suppose Sulu will still have to suck some guys dick to get the helicopter though
    • yodasama, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2"Transparent Aluminum" is the first thing I thought of as well...
    • zeigual, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3great and nerdy minds think a like
    • triplelindy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5"I find it hard to believe I've traveled millions of miles..." -- Scotty,
      "...thousands..." -- McCoy,
      "...thousands of miles for an invited tour..." -- Scotty
    • tehmark, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Finally we can take Wilziack back to the moon!!
    • TrevorBelmont, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1No one played "Syndicate" up in here? Plastisteel endoskelotons?
    • chad78, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2What is is completely sad about all this, is that we, myself included, have been presented with a real world technological breakthrough that could have some very cool uses in the very near future - and yet we are all stuck thinking about, debating, reading about, and fighting about fictional characters and fictional "technology". Has anyone even read the article?

      ...

      But that "Hello Computer" scene is freakin' awesome!
  • atdigg, on 10/10/2007, -36/+5I for one welcome the transparent tanks of our new overloads.
    • moskaudancer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Hey, I never thought about that... transparent tanks, now there's an idea...
  • KevenM, on 10/14/2007, -13/+321This stuff has been around forever. It's what they wrap CD cases in.
    • mindsnare, on 10/10/2007, -5/+44Oh.....I see what you did there

      Respect
    • egnaro1, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12I chuckled
    • luet, on 10/10/2007, -4/+26I was just about to digg you down, but then I thought about it a bit harder.

      They also use this stuff in video game accessory packaging.
    • DiggMasterJ, on 10/10/2007, -2/+107that is what kept you from your music before DRM.
      • jtorkbob, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12Wow, you just might be on to something! The real reason we all... I mean a lot of people steal their music is because of the damn packaging!
        • moskaudancer, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Actually, that's true in... um... the case of.... um... some guy I know...
    • dadSp33k, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3bwahahahahahahaha
    • mywhitenoise, on 10/10/2007, -14/+2The shrink wrap? 200 diggs?
      Use a 25 cent CD opener, a butter knife, a razor blade, a nail file. Takes like 3 seconds.
      • xister, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12Why, thank you for taking all the fun out of that joke....
      • doktorrocket, on 10/10/2007, -1/+14"Use a 25 cent CD opener, a butter knife, a razor blade, a nail file."

        I tried that. I bought one of each. You'll never guess what they came wrapped in.
      • ArthurSucks, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1jealous much?
    • jferrari, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Unfortunately they don't use it in the actual CD's.
  • whatthefu, on 10/10/2007, -2/+21I feel like an outsider as I'm the only one who didn't think of anything science fiction related upon hearing about this :(
  • amsterdamordeth, on 10/10/2007, -5/+55I wonder if jet fuel can melt it?
    • nreynolds, on 10/10/2007, -6/+6zing?
    • shanealeslie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+17You're a Wonder Woman fan aren't you?
    • DiggMasterJ, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6probably, it's plastic. But it would still be awesome for the rest of the plane. Going from alluminum to this stuff would make the plane stronger and lighter. And if it's cheap enough it can replace the windows on cars, I can't wait to see a car thief cutting their way into a car with a blow torch.
      • amsterdamordeth, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It doesn't say it is lighter than "alluminum" or even aluminum for that matter. It is lighter than steel though. Did you read the article?
        • SirGunslinger, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Current plastics & Polymers are less dense than water (.40 - .75), and I would think that even as dense as this plastic is, it would not be over three times denser than water (density of Aluminum).
      • LetsGoHawks, on 10/10/2007, -5/+2Why would a thief spend all that time cutting through the door (possibly setting the interior on fire) when he could just bust out the window?
        • remccain, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8I'll type slow for you, ok?
          ... because... it's transparent plastic... that's stronger than steel... and would be used instead of glass... so you can't bust out... the window.
      • moskaudancer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Actually, it would have to be supplemented with some kind of metallic mesh if it were to be used to build planes, so the planes could still work as Faraday Cages in case of lightning strikes. Also, completely transparent planes would be freaky.
        • xister, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Not to mention a bit scary for people afraid of heights.
      • MadScientist420, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Manufactures are not using aluminum for airplane construction nowadays. It's all composite materials now.
        • Godlike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Case in point.. Burt Rutan's company, scaled composites, are the ones behind SpaceShipOne.
    • donttaseme, on 10/10/2007, -9/+0you conspiracy theorist, any?
    • bingobongony, on 10/10/2007, -16/+2You just proved yourself to be unworthy of human life. NO ONE ever claimed that the WTC supports MELTED. But...are you so ***** stupid as to think that steel retains 100% of its strength up to the moment it actually starts to liquify! A REGULAR fire (with stuff found in an office building) will get more than hot enough to weaken steel to the point of collapse. Been THOROUGHLY proven.
      • amsterdamordeth, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10Do YOU talk like THIS in REAL life? My you're an angry individual.
        Funny though that you assumed I was talking about the WTC, when I made no mention of it.... paranoid?

        You are a ***** troll, and spend entirely to much time commenting on other people. Yes, laugh at me in real life, to my face.
        45 posts EACH day EVERY day for the past month.. http://www.digg.com/users/bingobongony/

        No wonder you get buried every time you open your mouth.
        • moskaudancer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Just read that page... damn, that guy's an *****.
          • Godlike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I am really enjoying the accountability that comes with the new Digg.
      • gottadiggit, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Please forward this to the demolition companies, you could save them a bazillion. I mean in your own words "Been THOROUGHLY proven." No room for argument there. If we only had more brilliant people like you.
        • TAGline, on 10/10/2007, -3/+0It is true, steel loses a good deal of its strength before melting, but you would need a rather large and hot fire for a big building as the heat from a small fire would dissipate and/or be transfered throughout the buildings structure. Setting a roaring fire to multiple floors of a steel supported tower would cause it to collapse, just not nearly as controllably as precisely placed and timed demolitions. They might save 80% in explosives costs, but the lawsuit risk would be extremely high.
      • xister, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Oh hell- Here we go....
    • WaterDragon, on 10/10/2007, -8/+5there's not much that jet fuel ( kerosene) can melt.
      Just try to melt a penny with a butane lighter some time, and you'll see the absurdity of the official 9-11 story....but i digress!
      • therightside, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1damn your an idiot
      • jhnewt, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1That's funny because I've never been able to melt a penny in a campfire flame either when I've tried... But somehow it becomes much easier to bend with tongs.
    • cougar618, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2it might not melt but you can certainly bend it.
    • uknowwhoibe, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4But will it blend???
  • st3vo, on 10/10/2007, -11/+28Pics or it didn't happen.
    • Dokument, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6i was about to say that. but thank you for saving me the humiliation.
    • swicepick, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10It's an academic article by one of the top public universities in the country. They don't need pics.
    • ivanxivann, on 10/10/2007, -1/+149Here's a picture of it.


















      It's pretty amazing.
      • itsthebrod, on 10/10/2007, -17/+7I see what you did there... Oddly enough, the exact same joke worked a few day ago for the invisibility cloak story.
        • towlie, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Heh, thought I was the only one that picked that up.

          I browse digg to often :/
      • picsectionpleez, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5you win. even if you maybe did steal the idea you win.
  • meepus, on 10/10/2007, -14/+2Is this another article about Aerogel?
  • srdeuss, on 10/18/2007, -15/+89but will it blend?
    • NSResponder, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10No. But it would be dandy thing to make a blender out of. ;-)

      -jcr
    • sinkhead, on 10/10/2007, -0/+22For once this comment might actually be relevant :P
    • Myonosken, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Test it, but I'm wearing a helmet.
    • Daniel15, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1That is the question.
  • krisscofield, on 10/10/2007, -1/+25I read this and immediately thought of the windows on an X-Wing. *sigh*
  • fudgeigor, on 10/10/2007, -9/+4Finally, I can have an invincible lightsaber.... waaaait a minute.
    • Matt174e, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13I don't get it.
      • SteelFrog, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1So you can pummel someone with a blunt lightsaber? Duh.
  • cranium, on 10/10/2007, -4/+13I wonder if its properties allow guns and knives to be made out of it.
    • Asianwaste, on 10/10/2007, -6/+2I think the striking pin in a gun would have to be metal.
      • MacEnvy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Any sufficiently hard, non-brittle substance will do. It's just indenting primer brass.
        • Asianwaste, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Well then wouldn't the primer of a bullet still have to be metal? Doesn't something have to ignite the powder?
        • bCabulon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7I doubt a primer would set off a metal detector. They contain less metal than a filling in a tooth does. If you are worried about usng any metal you could use tetrazene ( 1(5-tetrazolyl)-4-guanyl tetrazene hydrate ) for the primer. It only contains carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen. If you made the gun a caplock you could use regular plastic for the primer body (it doesn't matter that it would be destroyed) and get rid of the brass case for the round as well. You could use an elastic band to move the hammer/firing pin instead of a metal spring.
          • Asianwaste, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5That's interesting. Thanks
          • Devotia, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Expect a visit from DHS. Knowing is half the battle.
          • Devotia, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Dammit, another 3x post. Curse you, internet!
          • Devotia, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Ah, it doesn't matter, no one reads this far down.
    • Asianwaste, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Another thing that sort of comes to mind is the material's threshold for hot temperatures.
    • NSResponder, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I'm sure you can make a knife out of it, but I wouldn't count on it to hold an edge.

      -jcr
      • ElGanyan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Well a knife doesn't need a razor sharp edge to be an effective weapon...
      • rarson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Metal knives need to be sharpened too, you know.

        What the hell is with the "-jcr"? Is that some sort of signature?
  • bingobongony, on 10/10/2007, -24/+0Again...dude...you are not going to get ANYONE to your dumb ass website doing this. Don't waste your time.
    • schroeder, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Pretty sure he's not checking the comments...
    • amsterdamordeth, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Your comments get buried almost as fast as you can write em.
      • bingobongony, on 10/10/2007, -18/+0Yeah...becuase I really care what virgins on Digg think of me. You don't realize...you are the people I laugh at in real life. You eat your lunch in the bathroom becuase no one wants to talk to you. You are hte jokes of the world.
        • Myonosken, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Then why the ***** are you here?

          PS: Lol @ stereotype of ALL internet users.
      • McTendo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8I pictured bingobongony crying while typing when I read that.
        • Koldkompress, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Do you think he was mumbling to himself about how hollow his vapid life truly is, and has to justify his existence by claiming that all who Digg him down are worthless, and how he laughs at them, so derisively, in his tower built on ignorance and inflated self worth.
          Does anyone else get that mental image?
          • xister, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Yeah... I think Mommy didn't love someone enough.
  • nakile, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14So, does this mean we'll have transparent guns now?
    • Bennito, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Sweet, so now I don't need to look down the barrel to see what's going in inside there.
    • RyanBlueThunder, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1How else will we be able to fight Magneto?
    • shinynew, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1not necessarily more heat resistant.
  • CommTHOR, on 10/10/2007, -2/+47The US government should be looking into this. Would make an excellent material for their next Nuclear Wessel.
  • existent, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10What about the price? That's what matters really.
    • taintedzodiac, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Well, plastics are generally a product of petroleum, so you can do the math.
  • luet, on 10/10/2007, -9/+3Pics or it didn't happen? Please? Pleeeeeeeeease?
    • Vorin, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I bet you it looks a teeny bit like clear plastic.

      maybe
  • shanethetrain, on 10/10/2007, -0/+15One of many new advances in the polymer arena with the growth of nanotechnology. Keep looking for these articles.
  • drizzlelicious, on 10/10/2007, -0/+33Imagine a giant plastic tank strolling around
    • Burn, on 10/10/2007, -0/+21Dugg for the mental image of a tank 'strolling'.
    • Asianwaste, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Sounds cool but the other thing that we need to look at is its melting point. Last thing we need in a tank is a barrel that gets red hot and bends after a couple shots.
      • xister, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3lol- now I have an image in my head of a tank with a flaccid barrel.
  • lilSears, on 10/10/2007, -0/+22Storm trooper armor.
    • dopplerdog, on 10/10/2007, -0/+23Hmmm... see-through fem-trooper armor...
  • Smight, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10This would be good to make houses and office buildings out of. You could heat them with the greenhouse effect, and there's nowhere to hide from the governments all-seeing-eye.

    Double-Plus-Good!
    • jtorkbob, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3You know, it wouldn't be hard to make the stuff opaque. They have this neat technology called PAINT.
    • iceschade, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Agreed, comrade! And jtorkbob - paint has officially been outlawed by BB. You will be vaporised.
    • thomasX, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Making windows out of the stuff would be a good idea too.
    • rarson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1You don't need to hyphenate newspeak.
  • NovusVir, on 10/10/2007, -1/+14ah, the wonders of Plasteel
  • ikamos, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3That's research prof in Ann Arbor! Sweet.
  • Richandler, on 10/10/2007, -0/+26Lego buildings!!
  • parabiosis, on 10/10/2007, -6/+0Can this be used to make condoms? You know, bump up the safety to 100%.
    • Burn, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Wouldn't the fact that it's rigid make it easier to just use a dildo?
      • zerhynn, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2You are correct sir. But the strength of steel? Ouch.
        • ChromaVita, on 10/10/2007, -3/+11How is that any different from my penis?
          • Koldkompress, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Your masculinity impresses and concerns me.
  • marx2k, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5mMM non-biodegradability is delicious
    • Koldkompress, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Why would you want a practical clear plastic with the tensile strength of steel to be degradable? We're not going to be throwing out water bottles with the same strength as steel, it'd be used in more permanent ways.
      • rarson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1In fact, it'd probably be used in exactly the same way steel is used, and when it's no longer needed, would be melted down again... like steel.
  • Dylson, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3pics or it doesn't exist.
  • carl25, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6what about resistance to heat
  • snuffulupagus, on 10/10/2007, -3/+7Teehee...they had a substance called "plasteel" in the KotOR star wars RPG :)
  • rwcmjack, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1same stuff as vlister packaging, will protect the $10 POS chinese toy, and then cut wood when you open the package
  • osbs, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Check out the Science supplemental (to the paper) - its free...

    http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/318/584 ...

    Yes, it is transparent to light from 300nm to the far red.

    Unfortunately, the pictures are graphic representations at the molecular scale, and a couple of AFMs (Atomic Force Microscopy)
  • zerhynn, on 10/10/2007, -2/+13Old news, they made gamecubes out of it.
  • TheSexyGeek, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9The folks in Dubai must be pre-ordering mother-loads of this *****!
  • NSResponder, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1Once the material is made, is it water-proof, or can the PVA dissolve again?

    -jcr
  • xxSaKuRAxx, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1This article is totally good. It just showed the development on our technology. Though this is fantastic I hope so that they wouldn't make more and more plastics because as we all know it will take several years before it decomposes and the burning them would add up on the world's problem- global warming
    • grungemusic3001, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1sure but if it is more efficient than other plastic that breaks a lot and has to be replaced wouldn't the overall impact be better? Plus, nobody "burns plastic" to get rid of it, it just ends up in trash piles and land fills.
      • nomadxx7, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1The problems I see are that we have enough products using plastics now without an efficient way of reversing the process (getting it back to basic materials). With the amount of plastics we all throw away into landfills this cannot help. If we could recycle the old plastics to make this new plastic and also reduce the oil used this could be a very viable material in the future. Until we overcome the negative impact that plastic has on the environment I don't know if I could condone making more from finite materials (i.e. oil) and materials that don't biodegrade. Right now we need to find a way to minimize our impact on the environment and not a way to speed up the degradation.
  • Scira, on 10/10/2007, -3/+8Beware your children with toys made out of this! Think of how dangerous a group of children with a toy swords made out of this could be. Like a clan of 3-4ft barbarians!
  • Dylson, on 10/10/2007, -6/+3.
  • Alfonzo, on 10/10/2007, -5/+2Cloaking devices, here we come
    • Koldkompress, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3How did you get "Cloaking device" from "Transparent, steel like plastic"?
  • SSCrow, on 10/10/2007, -2/+11Sounds like some serious grocery bags.
  • Myztry, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1hundreds of layers upon layers by dipping. Sounds like a French polish which is polymer (plastic) formed.
    The water soluble component worries me. Which is better - rusting like steel or dissolving like bonded particle board?
  • rmeddy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Omg Mastermold and his sentinels might try to steal this, get the X-Men.
  • iMoth, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3will it blend?
  • WaterDragon, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3In Soviet Union, transparent polymers melt you! (Sorry...it had to be said.)
  • bothan, on 10/10/2007, -4/+4Finally, we have 'transparisteel' from Star Wars.
    • leberama, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Its transparent aluminum from star trek you dork.
    • DeFex, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1finally, we have transparent titanium from stargate!
  • Sinudeity, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Unbreakable prophylatics?
    • mwmccullough, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1That's exactly what I was thinking.
  • KingBunny, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Neat.

    Too bad plastic is made from oil, which we mostly use to.. you know.. set on fire to make things things move.
    • Koldkompress, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Yeah, because plastic is such a rare commodity.
    • DeFex, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1plastic can be mase from many things, not just oil. as you can see one of the ingredients of this stuff is "clay" which is not oil.
  • muckeater, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Imagine your mortal enemy's face when you procede to chop them in half with what looks to the untrained eye like a toy axe.
    • Aokami, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1If you wield it two-handed you increase your damage bonus
  • wtfpwned98, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Bionic arms and legs will have bones made of this stuff. Probably.
  • MarkCentury, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Sounds like a great new material!
    What a shame that Kotov, a co-inventor, immediately envisions it being used for warfare, police enforcement and (presumably military) unmanned aircraft. I suppose he's hoping for military r&d funding, but as a society we MUST get our heads out of the toliet of perpetual war thinking!
    • MorbenDK, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Make love, not war....
      ...
      Indestructible Sex Toys FTW!!
    • taintedzodiac, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Why? It's worked so far.

      But on a non-sarcastic note, you're not going to see a world without war anytime soon. At least not one with homosapiens on it.
    • leberama, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I agree. How about motorcycle helmets, stronger car windshields, lighter more efficient cars, sporting goods, or bone replacement. Why can't these scientists focus on producing something to better society. It's all about money and the US gov. spends LOTS of money on war.
      • azprofessional, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1NOOOO!!! We need transparent tanks and and nukes bomb bomb bomb bomb everything go USA!!!!!!!!
  • murf43143, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Hash bash!
  • crashzero, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0GO BLUE!
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