Somewhat related to a recent post about fashion and technology (Link), via WMMNA I made my way to the New Scientist website to read an article on a very cool high-tech material developed by a UK-based outfit called d3o. From the article (Link):

The resulting material exhibits a material property called “strain rate sensitivity”. Under normal conditions the molecules within the material are weakly bound and can move past each with ease, making the material flexible. But the shock of sudden deformation causes the chemical bonds to strengthen and the moving molecules to lock, turning the material into a more solid, protective shield.

Seems like I caught mention of this stuff already. Perhaps I’m recalling the Sells gloves as they seem familiar, although more likely I probably just read something similar in relation to military body armor. Anything which reminds me of Dune’s “Shield” technology is going to leave some trace in my memory. Cool stuff.

{Image source: d3o lab}