Conch Shells Inspire Next Generation Helmets, Body Armor (rdmag.com)

New submitter omaha393 writes: Researchers at MIT used a 3D printing approach to develop a biomimetic composite capable of withstanding 70-85% more resistance than typical helmet designs. The material was manufactured using a composite of hard and soft printable polymers called VeroMagenta and TangoBlackPlus. The polymers were printed to overlay in a specific pattern that mimics conch shell molecular hierarchy, thus preventing cracks from spreading and offering a substantially more crack-resistant material. The researchers propose the material can be custom tailored and readily printed for future helmets and body armor manufacturing. The study has been published in Advanced Materials.

Comments

Soon there will be 3 seashells in the bathroom

[SensitiveMale]

instead of toilet paper.

Withstand the Resistance

[flopsquad]

Researchers at MIT used a 3D printing approach to develop a biomimetic composite capable of withstanding 70-85% more resistance than typical helmet designs.

"AGGGHHH TOO MANY OHMS!! LITERALLY 1 MILLION OHMS! I'M NOT... going.. to... hey, wow this is a nice helmet! I really couldn't have withstood that resistance for much longer. Thanks ConchHat, you saved me!"

And now we discuss a summary of a summary?

[Anonymous Coward]

A scientific paper was published but you need to pay to read it. Some guy reads it or maybe skims it and to meet a quota, he writes a quick summary of the paper but doesn't include any illustrations of a conch shell. Omaha393 sees this summary and submits a quick summary of that summary to Slashdot where BeauHD writes a quick introduction and posts it on the main page of Slashdot. Nobody will read that summary of a summary yet they will discuss and debate the pros and cons of a broad generalization of the topic and some may even post racial slurs because they thinks it's clever. Penis.

Re:NFL

[jenningsthecat]

I wonder if this would help football players. Something to keep concussions from happening with such frequency.

This specific development? Probably not. It sounds as though this material is about as hard as current football helmets, and perhaps harder. Impact causes concussions because sudden acceleration or deceleration of the head causes the brain to hit the inside of the skull. But perhaps the knowledge and techniques gained here might allow them create padding for football helmets that absorbs impacts better than the current materials.