kevlar
Design
Bomb-Proof Wallpaper Is Stronger Than The Wall It Papers
6:10PM Dan Nosowitz | Holy crap, you guys, bomb-proof wallpaper. This stuff is strong enough to keep very heavy flying objects from breaking walls — in tests, one thin layer was enough to keep a wrecking ball from knocking down a concrete wall. More »
Gadgets
Barack Obama’s Bulletproof Inaugural Suit
6:00AM John Mahoney | Jesse Jackson choked on his sandwich on CNN when Barack got out of the Beast and walked in the open, unprotected air. Thankfully, the reverend could have relaxed: BHO was wearing a bullet-resistant suit. More »
Gadgets
Bulletproof Handkerchief: Snot-Drenched Protection For the Discerning Pimp
1:30AM Sean Fallon | The word “gentleman” comes up a lot when talking about pocket squares, but the way I see it, only a pimp would stuff a huge handkerchief made of military-grade Kevlar into their purple suit pocket. Obviously, a square of fabric would not offer the same level of protection as a full vest, so any pimp wearing one is still taking a big risk. They can only hope that the rival pimp, john, hooker or cop that shoots them has really good aim. [Sruli Recht via Gearfuse via OhGizmo] More »
Science
Kevlar Body Armour Could Soon Repel Germs
7:40AM Sean Fallon | If researchers are successful, Kevlar-based armour will soon be able to protect the wearer from more dangers than bullets and fire. Yuyu Sun and Jie Luo of the University of South Dakota have discovered a way to coat Kevlar with a substance called acyclic N-Halamine. After testing it against “E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida tropicalis (a fungus), MS2 virus, and Bacillus subtilis spores (to mimic anthrax),” they discovered that the coating prevented these microorganisms from sticking to the Kevlar fabric. More »
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Swiss FusionMan Flies With Kevlar, Fiberglass Wings and Probably a High Dose of Cheese and Wine
12:25AM Seamus Byrne | Let's hear it for the Swiss, who are probably seen as the most boring of Europeans. Remember Orson Welles' character, Harry Lime, in The Third Man? "In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock." Add Yves Rossy to the list of cuckoos (although it scares me stiff, secretly I would thrill to be gazooming around doing what he does—well, at least once.) This 50-something former military and commercial pilot has spent the past seven years developing and testing Kevlar and fiberglass wings with Jetcat engines that enable him to soar in the sky at speeds of up to 120 mph. Swiss watchmakers Hublot have now sponsored him and Fusionman, as he is now known, will be seen in the skies above the Austrian and Swiss football stadiums during Euro 2008. An amazing video after the jump. More »
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