I'm disappointed. I was all ready to make at bulletproof shirt. These instructions are not easy to follow at all. Anyone have a good recipe for "black solution of boron"? Also, my oven apparently does not go to 1000. Disappointing indeed.
"black solution of boron" is a bit ubiquitous. But there are enough forms of boron readily available on the market that several "likely candidate" test batches could be produced easily. And your oven will go to 1000C, just not your conventional oven. Your microwave oven will hit 1000C and beyond, you'll just need to tape off the air vent and use a refractory of some sort. I've use silicon carbide and ceramic weave to melt copper in my microwave. It's melting point is just north of 1000C. So cheap walmart T's + boron + a freecycle microwave and you could be on your way to a kickass new startup. Let me know when you start the seed round.
Considering iron (melting point 1538C) can be melted using only coal and something to hold it in, I think a truly dedicated superhero-to-be could manage the requisite 1000C
It would at least make extracting the bullet easier by keeping the fragments contained in fabric. Dragging the fabric along with it would probably slow the bullet down a lot faster too - meaning shallower penetration.
Reminded me of the theory that Mongolian soldiers wore silk shirts because it made extracting barbed arrows easier.
Watch the first video starting at about 1:10. From my understanding the material could have two properties -- being both soft and pliable, but also becoming hard as a board instantly upon impact as from a bullet.
So it's like a Newtonian fluid? Didn't the mythbusters shoot a corn starch solution to find out if it can stop bullets?
It could not, but maybe this thing can?
I think what they are saying is that it can go from having properties of Newtonian fluid (like water) to something as stiff as a board under magnetic influence.
Yeah, crappy science/tech journalism strikes again. With a little effort the writer and editor could have made the article and title just as engaging, without the misleading hype.
From my understanding the weave also plays a big role in bullet resistant fabrics. ...and yes, catching the bullet on "the other side", while not ideal can still save your life.
