A new “bullet-busting” shock-absorbent gel is set to save the lives of British soldiers by substantially reinforcing their helmets.
The Ministry of Defence has awarded £100,000 to a small company that has developed a special substance that hardens immediately on impact.
It is hoped that the shock-absorbing substance will soon be fitted onto the inside of soldiers’ helmets reducing in half the kinetic energy of a bullet or piece of shrapnel and hopefully making them impenetrable.
The gel, called d3O locks instantly into a solidified form when it is hit at high impact.
“When moved slowly, the molecules will slip past each other, but in a high-energy impact they will snag and lock together, becoming solid,” said Richard Palmer, who invented the gel. “In doing so they absorb energy.”
The d3O gel has already expanded into a range of sporting goods and is found in ski gloves, shin guards, ballet shoe pointes and horse-riding equipment. The substance relies on “intelligent molecules” that “shock lock” together to absorb energy and create a solid pad. Once the pressure has gone they return to their normal flexible state.
The gel is stitched into clothing or equipment that is supple until it stiffens into a protective barrier on impact.
This has to be great news for the guys that currently lug ~200lbs worth of gear with them everywhere they go.
Telegraph
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so it reverts to the old state after it’s shot?
I wonder if it’s reusable. Right now, after you crash with a motorcycle helmet, it’s supposedly no longer as safe to use as it was before.
Ive seen things like this, they are really cool. It’s like armor grade cornstarch and water. And yea, it should be reusable. I cant wait to make a shirt out of this and then start picking fights.
@tiki god: Helmets are kind of like an egg shell. They can resist a bit to save the insides one time, but then it’s completely useless.
They will need to put this on time warp or whatever that show is that shows things in 1/200th speed.
“It’s like armor grade cornstarch and water.”
That’s almost exactly was it is. I don’t know about this “brand” of gel, but other tests have been down with polyethylene glycol and silica particles: basically sex lube and sand.