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The Orange Goo That Could Save Your Laptop

Barence writes "A British company has patented what can only be described as an orange goo that could save your laptop or iPod after a nasty fall. The amazing material is soft and malleable like putty, but the substance becomes solid instantly after impact. You can punch your fist into a ball of the material sitting on a desk and not feel a thing, according to the staff at PC Pro who have been testing the material, called 3do. It's being used by the military, the US downhill ski team, and motorcycle clothing manufacturers to provide impact protection in the event of a crash. However, it's also appearing in protective cases for laptops and MP3 players."

9 of 285 comments (clear)

  1. Re:typo, as seen on tv by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Looks like the dyslexia is contagious today.

  2. Re:I'm a little bit skeptical. by gringer · · Score: 5, Funny

    There is just no way to improve this until you fit your shock absorber with little rockets and sensors to determine when it's about to impact the ground.

    A bit like this, perhaps?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgXXCSlt7uI

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    Ask me about repetitive DNA
  3. Re:I don't get it.. by miffo.swe · · Score: 5, Funny

    "SUVs are designed to kill people."

    SUVs arent designed, that would imply some kind of thinking behind them.

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    HTTP/1.1 400
  4. Re:Goes hard on impact? by pedestrian+crossing · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'd worry orange penis would turn off sex desire.

    You gotta lay off the Cheetos when you're surfing pr0n....

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    A house divided against itself cannot stand.
  5. Re:I don't get it.. by Shin-LaC · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course. They evolved to be that way, to maximize their fitness in an environment full of size queens.

  6. Re:Silly Putty? by EnglishTim · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is very similar to silly putty except that it does not "run" when left sitting on a table. The last thing you want your armor to do is pool around your waste.

    I don't think you'd want your waste to pool around your armour, either...

  7. Can only be described as... by subreality · · Score: 5, Funny

    what can only be described as an orange goo

    Around here, we're a technically savvy group with relatively high IQs. You can describe it as a highly viscous non-newtonian fluid containing enough long-chain polymers or waxes to prevent it from flowing freely when at rest, and most of us will get it, and the rest will be able to look it up.

    Assuming you're trying to describe it to a bunch of first graders, you can also describe it as "orange silly putty", and it'll be a hell of a lot more accurate than "orange goo".

    Raise the bar, people.

  8. Re:cool stuff, but not for this purpose by Ma8thew · · Score: 5, Funny

    Continuing their history of innovation, my MacBook parks the heads of its SSD during a sudden drop. Beat that Dell.

  9. Yay! by BigSes · · Score: 5, Funny

    Trip Hawkins cheers as a typo makes 3DO relevant again for the first time in 15 years.