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" Liquid " Body Armor
businessweek.com — Armor Holdings Inc. (AH ) aims to be selling what he describes as "liquid armor" -- garments constructed from layers of tough fibers and fluid polymers -- to prison guards. By the end of 2007, he hopes, police and maybe soldiers will begin wearing the company's new protective gear as well.
p9s50W5k4GUD2c6- 1927 diggs
- digg it
- terrix, on 10/12/2007, -70/+14Old news someone posted an article about this from another site a few monthes ago and it made the front page.
- themarq, on 10/12/2007, -8/+40A couple of months ago?
Worth a fresh look then I'd say. - animecrazy9, on 10/12/2007, -12/+59My god! I am tired of people bitching about dupes. If two of the same story is on the front page at the same time, that I can see. But a couple months ago? If everyone had seen it, it wouldn't be on the front page again.
"Well, I read about it, and I know about it. That means that everyone MUST also know about it." -jackass
Shut up, stop pissing us off. Obviously enough people who hadn't seen it found it interesting. That's how digg works. If you don't like it, go play with yourself. Plenty of sites for that, and you can stop bothering us. - crilen007, on 10/12/2007, -19/+32My god! I am tired of people bitching about people bitching about dupes, I mean, if everyone just ignored it, maybe they would just go away. At least they would just get modded down and no one would read it anyways.
- meznak, on 10/12/2007, -11/+34My god! I am tired of people bitching about people bitching about people bitching about dupes. And such.
- jrizzo, on 10/12/2007, -6/+43[Insert more useless bitching here]
- kluge, on 10/12/2007, -6/+11[Segmentation fault]
- ArcticCelt, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Oh my god I am tired of bitching about all the bitching and feel compelled to bitch every time someone start bitching including me.
[This was a recursive bitching] - cjmemay, on 10/12/2007, -14/+2 I am SOOO SICK OF PEOPLE BITCHING ABOUT PEOPLE BITCHING ABOUT PEOPLE BITCHING!!! Shut up Everyone! Digg sucks. Just report it as a dupe, and don't digg it. No need to bitch.
- Rosco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Now now, can't we just all get along? Maybe some group hug therapy? Come on now everyone, group hug, you'll all feel better afterwards.
- wsgeek, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1You know, just to keep the "dupe criers" happy, digg could just have another link just below the "digg it" that reads "mark dupe". This link should just point to "javascript:void()". Anyone who wants to cry dupe should be allowed to click this link no more than 2.5 times.
- cjmemay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@wsgeek
WTF are you talking about? The DUPLICATE STORY button is right under the "Bury Story" button
- themarq, on 10/12/2007, -8/+40A couple of months ago?
- MajorMesses, on 10/12/2007, -4/+35"Initially, Wagner and his collaborators envisioned armor that could be spread on a person, almost like peanut butter on bread."
I like the idea of a bulletproof sandwich.- elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -8/+8Oh dear God. It opens up the doors for a whole new era of pranks. Imagine, an unknowning victim spreads what they think is peanut butter on their sandwich, only to find out that it breaks their teeth when they try to bite it.
- jrizzo, on 10/12/2007, -5/+20I see potential for condoms here...
- sixlocal, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Yeah, because when i think "condom" i think "body armor." It'd be SO GREAT to not feel anything at all.
- texpundit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I see the potential for shark researchers possibly replacing those crazy-ass chain mail suits with these.
- mooninite, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7"... to not feel anything at all."
"...anything at all."
*gets mental image of Ned Flanders*
*shivers*
- sleepyness, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18Ok...why not give it to the soldiers first? Prison guards? WTF?
- becominglumberg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+31The army uses *tested* technology. Other institutions can take a risk.
- crawf061, on 10/12/2007, -1/+37its still in Beta
- blablaman, on 10/12/2007, -6/+22@crawf061
Then it's a good thing it's not developed by Google. - lozaning, on 10/12/2007, -13/+3because the ***** is probablt exspensive. the goverment is a bunch of cheap asses when it comes to actualy spending money on protection for siolders. a private enetity such as a prison could propably afford it
- Canthros, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8@lozaning: Of course they're cheap. Everytime the Pentagon wants a new *anything*, it sets off a whole round of bitching about the military-industrial complex; hundred-dollar hammers; the relatively huge expense of maintaining a standing army (as opposed to $Congressman, $Lobbyist, or $Activist's pet project and/or cause); how we should make love, not war; and etc. Want to know why the government's cheap about body armor for the Army? Ask your Congressman or Senator.
- izzybomb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11If you rtfa it says its geared towards the guards first because the armor is better at preventing stabbings that bulletproof vests can't stop.
- sleepyness, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@izzybomb so soldiers in close quarters can't be stabbed too?
- roket21, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I think that solders are more likely to get shot by an AK 47
- blanski, on 10/12/2007, -12/+8I don't understand why prison guards would get armor that could shield you against bullets before the army and the police do.
- Matadon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Because the armor is also stabproof, from what it looks like, and most current body armor doesn't afford great protection against bladed weapons. The fact that this fits like a wetsuit means that there are fewer unarmored gaps where a prisoner could stab the guard. So, pardon the pun, there is a gap that this sort of armor fills nicely.
The body armor that police and military personnel use currently is fairly sufficient for their line of work and well-tested in combat situations. The new armor is going to need to go through a hell of a lot of ballistics testing and real-world use before most law enforcement and/or the military are going to be willing to use it. - super_spyder, on 10/12/2007, -13/+2pardon my ignorance, but it seems that if its a liquid filled wetsuit, it would protect your thighs very well, but not your upper body, because all of the life saving goo would travel down the suit over time
- chatwithaninja, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9@super_spyder
Isolated compartments would fix that. Its not one big balloon, or you would have bomb proof feet. - omokage, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2@super_spyder:
the "liquid" is a gritty --and very likely highly viscous -- gel which is likely placed in sections of the suit, rather than the suit being a single "cell" of the liquid. - afeitarse, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Haha...'life saving goo'. And I imagine they've found a way to deal with that.
- crawf061, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5the visualizations of super_spyder and chatwithaninja comments make me laugh
- super_spyder, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2mmm bomb proof feet
- Matadon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Because the armor is also stabproof, from what it looks like, and most current body armor doesn't afford great protection against bladed weapons. The fact that this fits like a wetsuit means that there are fewer unarmored gaps where a prisoner could stab the guard. So, pardon the pun, there is a gap that this sort of armor fills nicely.
- TheDongeler, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2Can you make a cocktail out of it?
- RetroRufio, on 10/12/2007, -2/+33Lloyd: "but what if he shot you in the face?"
Harry: "What if they shot me in the face?"
Beth Jordan: "That's a risk we were willing to take."
-Dumb and Dumber - Eragmus, on 10/12/2007, -13/+3Dupe... but links to a more interesting article on the matter by Businessweek.
So it partly redeems itself. - babelfishi, on 10/12/2007, -13/+5Old -- it was in Map Of Bones written by James Rollins.
- roominator, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2excellent book... that's why this story caught my eye
- strictnein, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Yeah, picked that up to read it on a flight. Decent to good book.
- YourTechSupport, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Does it stop bullets like a wren hitting a patio door?
- tHePeOPle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5More like a garbage bag filled with vegetable soup. Bullet proof vegetable soup, that is.
- BIllyBobFett, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14Q:What's the first thing that goes through a bird's mind when it hits a car windshield?
A:Its beak. - YourTechSupport, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It's a Snow Crash reference, and technically the liquidy parts were on the bony extremities, whatever.
- d03boy, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3Horrible book IMO.
As for the bird joke -- nice. But Descartes might not agree. (Mind vs body) - jdkane, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Q:What's the LAST thing that goes through a bird's mind when it hits a car windshield?
A: Its rear-end.
- omgwut, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6http://datacore.sciflicks.com/terminator_2/images/terminator_2_large_12.jpg
- H3BR3W, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5This?
http://digg.com/tech_news/Pictures_Video:_Flexible_full-body_liquid_armor_ - tsaylor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Anyone else notice the date at the top said August 7, 2006? How can this possibly be a dupe then?
- Eragmus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Wow you're right!
LOL a story from the future! - milkmage, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This stuff (or somehting very similar) was used during the 2006 Olympics. Slalom teams used it on their legs and arms to protect themselves from the flag poles/course markers. Flexible as they ski, hardened on impact. The businessweek article might not be a dupe, but "liquid armor" as been on digg before.. a couple of times. I wonder if this has applications for motorcycle safety..
- Eragmus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Wow you're right!
- brewyet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5The prison guards aren't the first to get the armor, they are the first to "test" the armor.
- RetroRufio, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yeah, it's not quite the same as getting picked first in dodgeball. It's more like getting picked first in 'test this suit that may or may not get you killed'
- Qopax, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I think you mean may or may not save your life. The suit itself wouldn't get them killed.
- ChronicColonic, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Cool! Now soldiers and police officers can finally wear tights like the superheroes they really are...although I don't know if I really want to see that. Spandex is not really everyone's best friend....
- bonked, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5especially most law enforment types... mmmm... doooo-ghnuts.....
- Zipko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6This looks like the same stuff they used in the past Olympics. In both skiing and luge they had flexible spandex like suits that allowed full range of motion, but the material hardened on impact to protect against a fall. It was a different company then, but seems like the same material.
- weirdone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@zipko:it is the same material actually. AH bought the rights to it.
The Olympics skiiers were also using it for the purpose of the slalom so they didn't have to wear bulky shinguards when hitting the poles I believe. - kubudubudubuntu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Pix plz, thats the point otherwise..
- Rachda, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Reminds of what happens when you mix cornstarch with water, if you get the right mix it should be like putty untill you put pressure on it, then it hardens. (try it)
- Maku, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Question, how do FAT cops pass the fitness test to become an officer? Whats going to happen when it's a foot chase?
- TiMMY8765, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3send your skinny partner after them while you call for backup?
- popfrogs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Part of an officer's advanced training near the end, previous to law enforcement certification, is the visualization excercises. Basically, the officer is trained to imagine that a fleeing suspect is something the officer strongly desires. Fat cops, of course, are trained to imagine a fresh juicy hoagie, a dozen Krispy Kreme with sprinkles, etc. This technique was pioneered, visually, in a Bugs Bunny cartoon where each resident of a desert island saw each other as a hot dog and a hamburger. Hilarity ensued.
- nailz420, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Cant wait till you can buy gloves made out of this material.
- yazheirx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I could see how that would be excellent for motorcycle riders (prevent rocks and bugs from injuring hands at highway speeds). However, I must wonder if a person could generate enough force to to use them as a set of "brass knuckles" when exacting some revenge on a person caught spamming or something equally as despicable?
- nooreazy, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1isnt this like a "super dupe"?
- rumor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6dugg for the use of the word "newfangled"
- poutine, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1As technology improves it will take an evergrowing smaller group of people in positions of power to coerce and control an entire population. Be very afraid of improvements in armour, weapons and non-lethal systems used to control people.
- afeitarse, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Yes, I'm sure once a tyrannical empire is set up in 50 years, we'll look back at technological developments in body armor as the leading cause of our descent into despotism. Spot on.
- apocalizer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Dugg down by a average citizen who is actually a drone of the U.S. government being controlled under sophisticated and top secret mind-control techniques, instructed to digg down anyone with the words "maple syrup, poutine or timbit" in their user name because the Canadians didn't fully support our war in Iraq (which has been a complete and total success). Oh, and Abu Gharaib never happened-it was all terrorist propaganda.
- groceryheist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5It's like the energy sheilds in Dune! If you stab it hard it stops it, but if you go in slowly it doesn't.
- duck1123, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2and if you shoot it with a laser... nuclear explosion.
- themarq, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I for one, prefer to go in slowly.
- sup34dog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This was front page of slashdot earlier this year. The other article was more descriptive, with much more detail as to how the technology works.
It's actually quite funny, as I was thinking about that article yesterday. Here's a link to the story:
http://science.slashdot.org/science/06/02/18/1645220.shtml
There was also another story from August of 2004 (also from slashdot) on the same topic. Link here:
http://science.slashdot.org/science/04/04/23/2149209.shtml- sup34dog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1edit: that first link was an accidental wrong link to the article that I was talking about (it's not the same article). The other article which was very similar to the second link.
- vandread, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1that would be great stuff for prison guards. The crap they get right now has a plate in the front and a thick plate in the back. The stuff is big and pretty obvious, really doesn't provide much protection since the inmates will just shank you in the neck or the kidneys if you wear one.
- smohan123, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"... cloned spider silk -- a wonder of lightness and strength..."
I can't wait for this stuff to actually be implemented. I remember watching a Discovery Channel special on bullet protection of the future. I'm sure we'll see some really innovative advances in chemical engineering of such products within our lifetimes.
Really, the adaptation and evolution of weapons and protection against them is one of necessity. What I mean is, take for instance the sharpened wooden spears and the hide or fur armor used before the advent of metal swords, axes and the like. Those later weapons were defended against with metal armor and chainmail. When gunpowder and firearms became prevalent, the metal armor was rendered useless. Now, we are starting to see guns become more effective and consequently, the protection is becoming greater.
However, this latest development seems to be in the direction of ease of use and enhanced mobility. Perhaps guns as we know them have reached a wall. Who knows what's in store for the future.- dromni, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Who knows what's in store for the future."
Well... Someone here remarked that this armor resembles the force fields in Duna (and it does). If we take into account Frank Herberth's predictions about the consequences of the force field technology in his fictional universe, then in the future a lot of combat techniques will remember those of the Middle Ages. By the way, if domes of liquid armor are effective against canonballs, airplane-dropped bombs and missiles, then we may also have "walled cities" of a sort back in the future.
- dromni, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Who knows what's in store for the future."
- Teridon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Mispelled in article -- it's "shear"-thickening fluid (not "sheer"). They should be adding this to fuel-cells in combat aircraft, too!
There's a video here: http://www.sciencentral.com//news/image_db/2024693/NNM3022_LiquidArmor_MSTR.mov
and a short paper: http://www.clarkson.edu/subramanian/ch301/notes/nonnewtonian.pdf - JimDigg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It seems like if this substance hardens when energy is applied, it would be hard t walk around in. Doesn't moving your arms and legs generate energy? Wouldn't the substance always be hard around moving joints etc. etc.
- lolwtfhaha, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0no.
- vikingcoder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The force generated by moving your arms & legs is substantially less than the force of a bullet hitting you.
- lolwtfhaha, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I don't think prison guards are so much worried about being stabbed or shot-- but rather being overpowered by several inmates (which this suit won't really prevent). This suit will certainly be nice when someone does get attacked, but it won't change the way they work at all (handling small groups of inmates at a time, etc).
In fact, it might lead to more dangerous conditions for prison guards, considering the prison officials that invest in this technology may feel inclined to reduce the prison staff. Also, prison staff might feel a false sense of invincibility and take greater risks. (not unlike how bicycle helmets (may) increase head injuries) - Chasuk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My God! I'm tired of the functional illiteracy that is plaguing Digg. It has gotten almost as bad as Slashdot. Is Armor Holdings Inc a "he?" No, Robert R. Schiller is, and until he is identified in the article recap, the "he" is nonsensical, and should be converted to "it."
- ranbom, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0dddddddddd
- ranbom, on 10/12/2007, -2/+011111111111111111111
- MoeWasHere, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Actually this story was printed in one of the local papers (NY Post) at the beginniing of the year.
But none the less - it's a crazy concept! Dunk a shirt in the stuff and if you try to pierce it, it turns rock hard. But if you caress it slowly its smooth again.
Crazy.
Digg. (repeat or not). - Zer01, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Am I the only one who immediately thought of Rhadamanth Nemes when reading the headline? Yeah, thought so.
- nox4444, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Reminds me of The Terminator 2.
- alanfalcon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I really thought immediately about Orson Scott Card's Ultimate Iron Man series. Seems like Tony's dad just needed to think to spread the blue paint onto some Kevlar suits instead of applying it directly to the skin.
- bamakid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"it has the potential to be a breakthrough product."
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