Slashdot Mirror
Scientists Turn T-Shirts Into Body Armor
separsons writes "Scientists at the University of South Carolina recently transformed ordinary T-shirts into bulletproof armor. By splicing cotton with boron, the third hardest material on the planet, scientists created a shirt that was super elastic but also strong enough to deflect bullets. Xiaodong Li, lead researcher on the project, says the same tech may eventually be used to create lightweight, fuel-efficient cars and aircrafts."
What happens if I'm wearing one of these tee-shirts when my nipples explode with delight?
...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
Brings my AC to 15!
It isn't going to help much if the bullet has enough force to make the t-shirt penetrate you. If we're talking a 2-inch stretch, then it'll make things less messy, but no less lethal.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
My parents visited the University of South Carolina and all I got was this stupid t-shirt.
What one fool can do, another can. (Ancient Simian Proverb)
If you're wearing the fifth element (boron), then perhaps you need to quit looking at the other fifth element (Leeloo Dallas' multipass).
... Molten Boron!
sic transit gloria mundi
Blankman is real!
For those of you who don't understand the reference:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109288/
How does an "advancement" turn into a "finished product"?
From the (5 day old) pop-sci article:
Outside experts have deemed the approach promising, if not yet ready to replace Kevlar or conventional bulletproof materials. But the boron-carbide nanowires already show some material improvement over more brittle boron-carbide composites.
Even if a super tough but flexible fabric were made, then they would still have to make it rigid upon impact.
...but you can go ahead and shoot me with you 9mm!
Molten Boron!
Yet TFA says nothing about this armor being bullet-proof, as this slashdot article clearly states.
Only that “We should be able to fabricate much tougher body armors using this new technique. It could even be used to produce lightweight, fuel-efficient cars and aircrafts.”
this is a non-starter as a t-shirt
Is it stronger than adamantium?
They had told me it was made out of Chuck Norris' hairs!
...is aircraft.
Xiaodong Li, lead researcher on the project...
They still make bullets out of lead?
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
I find it disturbing that the "aircraft of the future" will be made of a white tube sock. Worse, it'll have holes in the sock for doors and windows.
Is my wife's pot roast. If I can ever figure out how she converts an entire roast into carbon nanotubes we're gonna be rich!
TFA:
Unlike the brittle boron carbide currently in use, the synthesized fibers (“nanowires”) are super-elastic. Yet they maintain the same strength and stiffness of their predecessors.
So are they elastic or stiff?
Considering how obese we are getting in the West these days 2-inches of penetration probably wouldn't pierce the fat layer. Hah, and people say obesity is a problem!
========
CINC, 4th Penguin Legion
They've invented mithril!
http://www.gizmag.com/bullet-proof-polo-shirt/10187/
Any nethack player knows how important a piece of armor the t-shirt is.
Blessed scrolls of enchant armor for the win.
Colorless green Cthulhu waits dreaming furiously.
The Huns wore silk to protect themselves in battle. There were no bullets back then, just arrows and blades. While the arrows could still penetrate the flesh, they often did not cut through the silk which made it easier to remove the arrows and stem the bleeding. BTW, like tee-shirts, silk is imprintable -- "We're on the run, we're lotta fun, we are the Huns!"
It seems to me that this will make powered armor far more viable. It's lightweight and strong and would make an excellent armor when designed into a larger system. Also, since it can be made flexible it can cover areas that require flexibility, like joints.
Similarly, it might be useful for making improved space suits.
It will only feel like I was just hit with a sledge hammer where the bullet hits. Which will be incapacitatingly painful for a long time, but will normally be survivable.
If the armor is classified as light, that means wizards and other spellcasters of the world rejoice. How much AC does this give me?
Does this mean you could construct Batman's body armor in reality? A full-body flexible armor suit like one of those cow-hide things some motorcyclists wear? That would be nice, to say the least. At the moment you're limited to aramid-weave clothing, this takes knives but doesn't stop bullets or blunt force.
Emotions! In your brain!
Could it be so? ----------------- keepin' it simple
The plural of aircraft is aircraft.
As with my stain-resistant dockers, I want to know how many washes will this effect last for
I've been waiting for technology to provide me with my flying T-shirt car.
Goes with the techno-trousers.
Ugh the writers of the article (and, consequently, the slashdot user) wrote a badly worded description. I was surprised as I never heard of any particularly strong allotrope of boron. If you actually read the whole thing, it's boron nanowires that give the strength. Key word: nanowires. Researchers used boron, but there are plenty of different materials to make nanowires out of. And it is the particular properties resulting from reinforcing materials with nanowires that give the 'bulletproof' strength.
I think Linux isn't better than Windows hence in the slashdot realm I'm a troll
I REALLY hope the first shirt they make has the Superman logo on it. Not to be cliche or anything.
Why not buckypaper (sheet of carbon nanotubes) instead of this?
Bullet resistant soft armour works because of the strength of the individual fibre and how its woven. It also has to do with the friction coefficicent of each fiber. Generally, it's woven in a waffle or checkerboard pattern for each layer. There are lots of layers, too...20 or 30 is common. When a projectile strikes the fabric, the crossed fibers lock against each other (this is where the friction coefficient comes in. Two Kevlar fibers crossed at 90 degrees will not want to move). So, in theory, one layer could stop a low-energy bullet. However, it would still be fatal to the person wearing it because of the amount of energy transferred to them. So, by using multiple layers, that .38 or 9mm round's energy is spread out over perhaps 5 or 6 inches. It's still going to hurt like hell, but you'll live to tell the tale. Current NIJ spec for the backface deformation of a vest is something like 12" of clay, which translates to something like 4 or 5 inches of compression in a human. It's like getting hit with a baseball bat swung by a AAA player.
So why does bullet shape have little to do with it? Even a pointed bullet deforms on impact; the sharp point isn't going to get through more than a layer or two before it deforms flat. The threat rifle rounds offer is that there is just vastly more energy then a pistol round. All of these materials have a failing point, and even if the bullet was stopped, the amount of energy transferred to the wearer might be lethal anyway. That's why rifle-rated vests (something to stop a .223 or a 30-06) have trauma plates, which is a 1/4 inch (or thicker) ceramic plate. It's heavy, uncomfortable and unbendable, but it'll stop just about any reasonable threat.
Sure, we could come up with a list of unreasonable threats, but in reality most shootings are with lower energy handgun calibers (9mm/38spl/25acp/32acp), which a standard IIA vest will stop without breaking a sweat.
Chris Knight is my hero.
Don't think Batman has ever had bullet-proof armour, apart from special-purpose battle-suits. The bright yellow emblem is armoured but the batsuit itself is only good at resisting knife attacks.
PS: I don't count the suit Jean made/wore to beat Bane as a batsuit.
Blades or flechette rounds
"Blizzard quickly nerfed the shirt to merely reduce bullet damage by 0.23%"
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
IMHO, a far more useful application of this technology would be to make bullet/fragment resistant gloves. With current military body armor many attacks that would have been fatal in prior wars aren't. That's why so many soldiers are just left with limb injuries. Besides soldiers, anyone who works with their hands near anything sharp or heavy could benefit from such an invention. Losing the use of one or both hands is one of the most crippling injuries a person can sustain, as far as everyday life goes.
Hopefully this is not a scam, and really does work, would be nice to start seeing a process do it yourself where you can bind these molecules into your tshirt, many would start wearing bulletproof vests and be a lot less fearful for their lives (ie- bouncers in clubs etc)
should the process be cost effective. Also being a bodyguard, you would not only be able to get your client to wear a thin shirt underneath their garments, but you and the rest of your detail would be able to wear these too, with alot less visible telltale signs.
So, how thick does that undershirt have to be stop a bullet?
The article really doesn't say.
Flamethrower FTW!!
Can I patent this?
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.