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Transparent Aluminum
- hezekiah 15y agoReally amazing stuff. Given a huge drop in price I could see entire cars, buildings, bridges being made this way. Add in some photoelectrics so you could "close the blinds at night". Imagine embedding colored electronic ink in it as well, instant mural for your house, augmented reality out your window, turn a cloudy London day (like today) into a sunny one. Have your Google Tech Talk follow you around the house on the adjacent walls as you get up to get a sandwich. Embedded microcameras for virtual presence in your room, the other walls becomes another place, another time. Soon we are going to see the app store model hop off the straightjacket of our phones and into everything we can see, touch, feel. Everything around us will be programmable, customizable, downloadable. An appified world.
- powertower 15y agoThe Presidential limo is rumored to have its windows made out of this stuff.
- twelvechairs 15y agoKey sentence: "successfully resists a huge, powerful .50 AP bullet that smashes easily through more than twice that thickness of conventional laminated glass armor" So in reality this is a modest improvement (2x) over existing laminated glass armour for use where both thickness and resistance are critical (ie. probably for specialist military applications only)
- nickolai 15y ago> So in reality this is a modest improvement (2x) over existing laminated glass armour More than 2x actually - the guy behind the glass would be dead, unlike the one behind their improved glass. I'd say this is a significant difference - they deserve some extra credit for keeping the guy behind their armor alive. I do find the title a little misleading though, since this has nothing to do with metallic aluminum as one would expect from reading the title.
- endtime 15y ago>More than 2x actually - the guy behind the glass would be dead, unlike the one behind their improved glass. I think what twelvechairs meant is that you have to buy (at least) twice as much of the old stuff to keep the guy alive.
- jonhendry 15y agoHow do their weights compare? If the new stuff is the same weight by volume as conventional laminated glass, then you'd have a 50% weight savings. If the new stuff is thinner, and lighter, then it'd be useful for applications where the current glass is too thick and/or heavy. Also, in applications like secure windows for bank tellers and such, something thinner would probably be better aesthetically. When you're dealing with someone behind a thick sheet of glass, it puts a different tone on the interaction.
- absconditus 15y agoI doubt that most "bullet-proof" glass could stop a 50 caliber round at all. The thickness required would be ridiculous.
- aidenn0 15y agoAlon is ~3.7g/cc which is about twice what ordinary glass weighs. Not sure how it compares to laminated glass. They probably use a denser glass than I'm used to for armored glass, but it's layered with other, presumably less-dense material.
- 15y ago
- gus_massa 15y agoThe title is a little misleading. This material is not metallic transparent aluminum. It is a transparent aluminum ceramic. A lot of ceramics are made (in part) of aluminum. I think that this is interesting because it's transparent.
- durkie 15y agoAgreed. AlON is cool stuff, but sapphire / aluminum oxide is just as transparent. Maybe they can do a followup on transparent silicon next: this silicon dioxide stuff is super clear!
- starwed 15y agoIt's phrased that way because of the Star Trek IV reference. I think it comes up in the same scene where Scotty is flustered because the 1980's computer doesn't respond to voice commands...
- philwelch 15y ago> the 1980's computer Which is, incidentally, a Mac Plus.
- redthrowaway 15y ago"Use the mouse." Scotty picks up mouse, speaks to it "Hello computer..." From the comments, it seems not many people got the reference. That's a shame, as it means people are either not a fan of Star trek (blasphemy), or are not old enough to get the reference, which makes me feel antiquated.
- mindhunter 15y agoSo this is what the next macbook pro will be made of?
- pavel_lishin 15y agoOnly if a significant number of people show up at the Genius Bar with bullet-riddled macbooks.
- hyperbovine 15y agoThere are hidden bullet sensors all over the chassis, you wouldn't stand a chance.
- ben1040 15y agoHere's one to start you off. http://www.tomshardware.com/news/macbook-gun-shot-israel-security,9269.html http://www.tomshardware.com/news/macbook-gun-shot-israel-sec...
- kingkawn 15y agoremind me to try reading this tomorrow
- rplnt 15y agoBlacked out. This SOPA thing could be really bad.
- billswift 15y agoThose sites that are completely blacked out, like makezine and Wikipedia, are doing exactly what many accuse DRM of doing. Annoying their users while producing no real benefit. Google's and HN's methods are better. ADDED: Most of them don't particularly matter to me, I rarely use Wikipedia, for example. The one that has annoyed me is the Internet Archive blackout - www.archive.org
- RBerenguel 15y agoI was expecting some Star Trek reference in the comments. Seriously, nobody? Everyone blackened their geekdom to fight SOPA?
- Ctech237 15y agoThat was the first comment I was gonna write when I saw the title, but you beat me to it.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- ximeng 15y agoThat other engineering news source "The Daily Mail" has a non-blacked out article on this. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2088257/Star-Trek-really-IS-good-guide-future--Scientists-able-produce-transparent-aluminium.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2088257/Star-...
- lotharbot 15y agoNon-blacked out wikipedia entry: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxynitride http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxynitride
- slmbrhrt 15y agoMcCoy: You know, if we give him the formula, we'll be altering the future. Scotty: Why? how do you know he didn't invent the thing!