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Military Develops Liquid Body Armor
kai5263499 writes "Military.com has an article about a new liquid body armor the U.S. Army Research Laboratory has developed. According to Dr. Eric Wetzel, the project coordinator: 'The key component of liquid armor is a shear thickening fluid. STF is composed of hard particles suspended in a liquid. The liquid, polyethylene glycol, is non-toxic, and can withstand a wide range of temperatures. Hard, nano-particles of silica are the other components of STF. This combination of flowable and hard components results in a material with unusual properties'."
How is that non toxic? Ethylene Glycol is the antifreeze you find in coolant and windshield wiper fluid and I assure you it is very toxic. Does the "poly" really change it all that much?
Slashdot is proof that Sturgeon's Law applies to mankind.
It sounds like it works on the same principle that making a dive into your swimming pool is different from jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge into the Pacific. Nifty stuff, although it seems that its resistance to stabbing has to be called into question when you consider that it's also sewable.
Dog is my co-pilot.
I seem to remember a gradeschool experiment where we mixed cornstarch and water in a pan and tried to slap it. Thanks to the starch, the stuff would just kinda slap you back. Is this body armor kinda doing the same thing then?
The skate couriers in the novel wore armor based on this principle. Flexible, but with an increasing resistance curve like a catcher's mitt. It's good that it's lightweight, because if it's too bulky to do your job in, it's not really useful.
I imagine this could be combined with a chem warfare suit (maybe with build-in cooling) to make an ABC system for the footsoldier that's actually practical.
Very similar to Smart Mass Thinking Puddy. Is the military beginning to read /. and buy products from ThinkGeek for inspiration for R&D?
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'.
"sintered armorgel: feels like gritty jello, protects like a stack of telephone books."
Only in a Slashdot fantasy can a Slackware install turn into several hours of sex . . . . .
In my sharp shooting class (yes really) the instructor was telling us about Kevlar. Apparently, it works by distributing the force of impact because it's a lattice of stiff plasticy stuff. Problem is, if you hit it or drop it, you crack that lattice and if you get hit in that spot, the Kevlar won't do much.
He was bemoaning the fact that the army went from 25 cent metal helmets to $50 Kevlar ones because all you had to do was drop it a few times to render it useless. Over the course of a few years, it's pretty likely that it will get banged around quite a bit.
Back to the point, this stuff sounds like it's still linked to Kevlar. I wonder if it still relies on Kevlar's properties and is vulnerable to the same problems.
Blaze a trail to the New World
Mix corn starch and water to form a paste. Stir slowly, or pour the mixture, and it acts like a liquid. Stir fast, or hit the surface, and it "breaks" like a solid, dissipating energy.
Just a non-newtonian fluid. Go mix cornstarch and water, borax and something (forget what, its been a while since 6th grade science, dishsoap maybe) or get some of this. You get the same basic thing, but the point of this is that it probably doesn't shatter under the impact of a bullet... I've been kicking around the idea of something like this for a while myself actually, but more along the lines of that ferrous oil stuff they use in super high end variable shock absorbers that has a current applied to it and hardens when it senses a projectile. Not sure how to go about sensing that though, so a passive option i probably better.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
What's funny is that we already have a massive kill to killed ratio.
Even in iraq we have only lost 700 soldiers compared to tens of thousands of iraqis killed. One day in the not too distant future we will be able to kill hundreds of thousands of people without losing a single US soldier or even having one injury.
I don't know if that's good or bad to tell you the truth. When wars become even more painless I suppose we might wage them more often. OTOH we tend to wage war every few years now as it is.
evil is as evil does
What's the damage if this stuff does get penetrated? Is it worse for the wound than a bullet passing all the way through?
the major advances in civilization are processes which all but wreck the societies in which they occur - A.N. White
But does it protect like a stack of phonebooks? :)
Why has it taken so long for the military to start experimenting with this stuff? I must have been all of five years old when I made the connection between starch and water's impact-absorbing-fluid properties and its flexible armor potential.
Oh well, better late than never!
We can alreay kill millions of people without endangering a single US soldier.
It is called nuclear option and could render entire Middle Eeast inooperable for another 50 years in about 10 minutes.
Needless to say, I stay away from chocolate pudding these days....
"Sarge! I gotta crap bad, but I can't!"
"Dammit, soldier! Suck down that armor and get a move on!"
And the brethren went away edified.
Also, perhaps this stuff could give stuntmen a whole new level of safety while still giving them a lot of mobility.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Anybody know if this stuff can be artificially heated or cooled with some portable device? Seems like a Good Idea to me.
So they're thinking of putting it in jump boots - once it stiffens up, does it then just become liquid again immediately afterward? Even when hit with a bullet?
Actually the article says that stab resistance is better than standard armor.
That means it's better than standard Kevlar armour, which has very poor stab resistance. Body armour meant to protect against both bullets and blades is reinforced with hard plates over the "problem" areas.
Pierre
Read this, it could be useful for you: Data about vest classes
Pretty soon we will be fighting wars with edged weapons again. Unless of course they come out with lasguns.
The days of the digital watch are numbered.
As a motorcyclist, the kit I wear has a shit load of armour in it, shoulders, hips, elbows, back, shins, ankles but even with that the inevitable is broken bones when you slam into some street furniture.
If this stuff goes rigid when there's an impact it might just distribute the impulse over a large enough area to reduce the internal injuries.
Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
All body armour is resistant against what is intended to prevent, not invincible. Bullet proof vests are actually nothing of the sort, they are bullet resistant. Shoot a Type II vest with a 9mm pistol round, it won't penetrate, shoot it with a 5.56mm rifle round, it'll go right through.
So just because something resists stabbing doesn't mean it can't be done. Needles more so. The way a knife or needle works is based of of high pressure on a small amount of surface. Well a needle has a much smaller area to penetrate than a knife thus can achieve more PSI with less input force.
It may not be sewable by hand, it may need a machine with an extra hard needle but so what? BP vests are expensive items as is, it is ok if there are some extra manufacturing costs with this new kind.
I wonder... sewing it at a high speed would probably break the machine, but as long as you keep everything slow, you're fine.
So technically, if you manage to hold that prison guard still while you slowly push the shiv through his armor, it'll work just fine (for you, not the guard). Interesting -- so throwing yourself on the knife might actually be a useful defense!
It reminds me of a fight scene in Dune (was that the movie? -- does anyone remember this?); they had force fields that detected and warded off quick attacks, but allowed a slow entry into the field would be allowed... so the trick to knifing someone was to do it slowly.
There are only 10 types of people: those who understand decimal, those who don't, and, uh, 8 other types I forget.
While logistics would be a pain, if the US camped a couple of carrier battle groups off the coast of a given country, they would own the sky and sea in short order. It becomes much easier to keep supplied when you can do that.
Good luck on keeping your carriers and escorts alive. You seem to confuse this with situations like Iraq, where you just park your stuff somewhere and then attack when it's convenient for you, since the attacked country won't be able to do something about it anyway.
Iraq had something like the 3rd largest army in the world back in 1991, which the US effectively neutralized in a month or so. Again, airpower is king. The country isn't large or exceptionally modern, but it was quite a military foe.
Iraq's army was crap, what did they have? A lot of crappy old soviet tanks and modified missile systems, great. A lousy air force and anti air defence.
If Iraq is small, then there aren't many countries that are a big military threat. Germany, the UK, israel... the list is small and we're on good terms of most of the strongest countries (coincidence? I think not)
That would change very quickly if you were to attack one of them. You would certainly be fighting a unified Europe as I can't imagine anyone who would help you conquering it. Hell, I wouldn't even be too sure about Israel.
The fact that the US hasn't fought a "big" country in years doesn't mean jack with regards to the ability to. I've never mugged someone, that doesn't mean I'm too weak to. Sure, there's some arrogance from the US on the military front, it makes sense. Like it or not, the US posesses the strongest military force in the world.
Some of you really seem to think that you're invincible. But that's normal, it was that way with every country who had the strongest military at some point in time. They all collapsed. Learn something from it.
are a zillion better reasons not to attack, least of all being that France is a strong ally...
And I really wouldn't underestimate France just because of a few surrender monkey jokes. I'm pretty sure they're able to defend themselves.
I do not want non-Americans to die either.
Incidentally, did anyone else note the peculiar capitalization of the word 'soldier' at every occurance in that article? Perhaps this is some kind of tradition in the ancillary defense research/business?
This could also have some very valuable applications where protective garmentation for sports are required... If bullets can't penetrate the armor, it would easily protect against hockey sticks and pucks, collisions with trees, and, of course, smacking pavement at a high velocity.
;)
Never mind how a jacket of the stuff would affect the school bully...
The Penguin Producer
Was that the big ol' shoulder pad looking kevlar vest, or the REALLY old ballistic nylon/kevlar combo vest? We had the stupid shoulder-pad monster in Saudi in '91 and they SUCK! You feel like an inflexible barrel with stubby arms. You can't turn your head very far and forget looking up with that stupid collar.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
I also heard on NPR that the guy didn't even own a car. He rode his bicycle to work (football)... he also turned down 9 mil to play for a 3 mil team, strictly because he felt he had a commitment. I think it was the Rams and the Cards.
The coach was interviewed and said he tried to keep him, but this guy was absolute in what he wanted. He even did 2 tours. I think he was going to go back to playing at the end of this one.
Anyone that dies is bad... but this guy wasn't your average Joe. He was committed. His reasons for joining was very non-typical. It doesn't belittle others in the forces, but it should bring his dedication to light.
This actually brings up a good point. If it's a liquid, it will be much less breathable than kevlar. If you are running around wearing this, you are going to build up body heat. The liquid substance will act as an insulator. The problems with this are that you will sweat and you will overheat. Your (salty) sweat could react with the body armor and possibly make it less effective.
"Good luck on keeping your carriers and escorts alive."
Those escorts include destroyers and, IIRC, the occasional cruiser and attack submarine. And there's still the aircraft that linger around the battlegroup on CAP. In general, to take on a US carrier battlegroup at sea you either need your own battlegroup or tactical nukes. France has been trying to work on the former, but their experience with nuclear power plants doesn't seem to be enough to keep them from irradiating their own crew.
And for sustained ground support missions they'd probably re-un-retire the battleships for the umpteenth time. 16" shells are still cheaper than cruise missiles and are a very different kind of scary (ask the Lebanese).
"A lot of crappy old soviet tanks and modified missile systems, great."
Mock not Soviet equipment, for they tend to be reliable, cheap and plentiful. There are reasons why things like the T-34 and the AK-47 linger around for so long.
"A lousy air force and anti air defence."
They had great air defenses, they just didn't know how to use it. Baghdad's system at the time was pretty similar to what Belgrade had, but the Serbs knew how to use it. I'm tempted to say Iraq's greatest enemy was nepotism.
"That would change very quickly if you were to attack one of them."
Just remember how many US troops are already in Europe as we speak. You'd have a better chance if you weren't so reliant on us so much to begin with.
"You would certainly be fighting a unified Europe"
So, how's the whole EU thing working out for you so far? Got Cypruss all straightened out yet? How about relations with the former Warsaw Pact members and the apparent Franco-German bloc?
(Reminds me of some interesting things I heard coming out of Germany when it was suggested that German troops serve under a Polish commander in Afghanistan... I guess old habits die hard!)
It would probably be bad for soldiers and VIPs alike if instead of a small hole appearing in a normal vest, and perhaps a little blood if there's penetratio- there's this huge splatter of possibly colored liquid (mixed with blood maybe) that lets the assailant know very graphically that they've scored a direct hit? Remember from your FPS experience that it's much more satisfying as well as easier to zero in on targets when there's a bunch of blood that sprays out, as opposed to pre-rag-doll-physics kid-friendly bloodless games where you have to shoot a whole lot more and wildly too until you know the target is really down.
Maybe they could make the liquid gooey so it would congeal and limit blood loss for bullet holes left by bullets that do go through.
Just to clarify a couple of things:
1) Absolutely, air forces aren't a panacea. In responding to the fellow asking how a supply line would be supported, I invoked airpower. Since aircraft are very good at sinking ships and destroying ground forces, the supply lines would be pretty well protected. Of course you need ground forces to _keep_ territory, but you can kill most everything in it from a distance (artillery, air, missles, whatever).
2) Sure, some of the iragi leaders were bad, but there were some very tough forces. Not to mention more of them than american soldiers. I think it's a very bad idea to assume the enemy is stupid.
3) Regarding vietnam and to a lesser extent serbia (and somalia, etc.), the old saying is true: We didn't lose, we left. The US won the vast majority of battles in vietnam, and left for political/public concensus reasons.
4) If none of these float your boat, then just rack me up as a naive fool who refuses to have black and white opinions. You wouldn't be the first.
"Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel." - A.B.
That would change very quickly if you were to attack one of them. You would certainly be fighting a unified Europe as I can't imagine anyone who would help you conquering it. Hell, I wouldn't even be too sure about Israel.
Unified Europe? Under French command I hope! Ha what a joke. We know for sure the French and Belge will be hiding under the nearest convenient rock.. the Germans, being German, will wake up to things fast and realize they can take France again on way to USA, but if they stop before the ocean they can keep it this time. The Scandinavians are fierce, but tend to prefer beer and vodka. Oh and Spain. All you need to do to stop them is threaten to set off a bomb.
Face it.. Europe is not, and will not likely ever again, be a military force of any kind, individually or combined. They haven't the equipment, the trained men, nor the will. Frankly I think the Brits could kick Europes ass on their own if they wanted to.
And as far as countries that have collapsed militarily.. well its quite funny you put USA on brink to be in same boat as continental Europe has been for.. oh.. 2 or 300 years.
I wonder how low this can be mod?
Spain will most likely learn a painful lesson; they've just demonstrated that it only takes a couple bombs on a train track to derail the entire government. Our government was hit directly, the difference is we hit back
Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Spain would have been a target if they didn't get involved with the whole thing. The US was attacked on home soil (very rare, and we like it that way), so a very strong response was made. If it had just been another embassy bombing or something it probably wouldn't have resulting in the occupation of two middle east countries.
I wonder if Irans leaders are feeling a little uncomfortable having so much US military power occuping two opposite borders?
There is a wonderful demonstration of how this works. Make a wet paste of cornstarch. You'll notice if you take a stick or even your finger and stir it around very slowly... it will act like a viscous liquid. It flows around your stick and the path left in the paste slowly fills back in. Now try moving the stick quickly through the paste and it suddenly becomes solid, the wet gloss of it's surface disappears, and the paste cracks and breaks like a hard material. Literally the force applied to the paste shifts it from liquid to solid state and upon release of stress it becomes liquid again.
This makes for a variety of interesting properties. A protective shield of this material was used as part of an engineering experiment at UCI in 1978, when a box of specific size was thrown off the engineering building and an egg in the box survived.
Genda
If you'd like to replicate the characteristics of this product for yourself, go to your kitchen and grab the corn starch.
Take corn starch and pour about 1 tablespoon into a small bowl, then add a small amount of cold water, about a teaspoon or so. These amounts are estimates, use more or less of each to reach a desired consistancy.
Mix it up, and you'll start to see the similarities.
If you let the 'mixture' sit, it will remain liquid, but the moment you stir it, it'll harden. Pour it into your hand and play with it, as you play with it you'll notice its a solid substance, the instant you stop playing with it, it'll turn back into a liquid and run through your fingers.
Pretty cool stuff, pretty fun, and cheap to do!
Good security is based upon reality and common sense. Common sense is a function of having common knowledge.
Israel is more likely to explode bombs in the US by smuggling them in then to try and launch them from missiles. They have a very large spy network in the US and it would be very easy to smuggle in nuclear bombs and plant them at the hundred largest cities in the US. Let them all go at once and we are pretty much sunk.
The worry about israel is not so much that they see us a threat (after all they suckle on our teats) it's that they are a rougue nation which believes that international law does not apply to them.
evil is as evil does
To answer your question, he is no more a hero than a poor Iraqi who decided to help the Americans and got killed for it.
What is impressive is that the sacrifice that so many make daily is so obvious in his case. He turned down several million dollars to get himself killed in a desert. He left his newlywed wife.
He didn't want to be made a spectacle of. He avoided the media, went in quietly. If you didn't know who he was, you wouldn't be able to tell him from the other recruits. He wasn't setting an example, he was following the example of so many others.
It is easier to make him a "poster child" because he sacrificed so much so that I can sit here and type away my comments. He left his newly married wife. That's a huge sacrifice. I think even God says that newlyweds don't have to fight in times of war in the bible. He left a successful and promising career. He left his homeland to fight in some hell-hole. He died for his comrades. He died for his country. He died for me, like the hundreds of those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, like the thousands in Vietnam, and the untold numbers in other wars before.
He is a hero like my uncle was a hero in Vietnam. Only my uncle doesn't have national name recognition and only chose between college and the Marines.
The radical sect of Islam would either see you dead or "reverted" to Islam.