Is "alien technology" only Science Fiction?
Can there not physically be something thin, light, and bulletproof?
Why have we not discovered these materials yet? What would it take?
Is "alien technology" only Science Fiction?
Colton Morales
Zachary Adams
Armor of a given thickness can be only "so" bulletproof. The impact is breaking molecular bonds. On a macroscopic scale, breaking the material. And there's only so much force a bond can absorb without snapping.
Kevlar armor spreads the force out so it doesn't do as much damage. You want to avoid force concentrations. Every struggle with a potato chip bag? Resists your best efforts. But once you cut a tiny notch in the surface, it rips easily. Because you're only dealing with a few bonds at a time.
You want armor that's stop a howitzer? You'll need something thicker. And maybe so heavy you can't lug it without powered-armor (like in Heinlein).
Even if you dissipate the energy safely, nothing you can do about the momentum. A shell will knock you off your feet and the concussion may kill you even if your armor is unbroken.
Jason Perez
could the armor somehow autorepair itself on the molecular level?
Jonathan Smith
Yeah dude let's just weave some unicorn hair into it I fucking love science!!!!
Thomas Adams
There are such materials.
Little sealed capsules of superglue. If material broken, the gunk oozes out.
explainthatstuff.com
It's not instantaneous, any more than your cuts vanish in seconds.
Adrian Jenkins
>Can there not physically be something thin, light, and bulletproof?
These are all wishy-washy terms. Yes, something physically can be all those things. How thin does it take to be "thin" to you? How light to be light? What caliber has to be stopped to be properly "bulletproof", and at what velocity? Are we talking me tossing a bullet at you? 22lr? 9mm?
If we take reasonable measurements for each of these, we already have thin, light, bulletproof stuff. Kevlar.
The current new meme is carbon nanotubes though and that's what you want to talk about.
Blake Hughes
Of course it could. It's called an epidermis and you've already got one.
Josiah Sullivan
No, we have reached the pinnacle of technology and science. Everything you see today is all there will ever be.
Samuel Howard
Agreed. Scientific discovery is beginning to plateau. 500 years from now., shit will pretty much be the same except more decay in the system.
Alexander Campbell
Agreed. You would need material that can resist tearing at the molecular level for it to stay in one piece. Currently, a number of militaries use ceramic plates layered with plastics, but they are a one-time use that shatter after the first hit and can still cut the wearer with the fragments. Even then, the wearer is still knocked over when hit by momentum of a single 0.50 cal. bullet.
youtube.com
Not sure if 0.50 cal at 1:32, but he ain't just walking it off.
>Powered-armor (like in Heinlein)
Good book. Definitely presented in a much more badass way than any of the film adaptations.
If you are going for thin, light, bulletproof, you might as well just work on camo and try your best to not get shot.