Bullet-Proof Sheets of Carbon Nanotubes

An anonymous reader notes a CNN.com report on Nanocomp Technologies, the first in the world to make sheets of carbon nanotubes. "In April, [CEO] Lashmore had a mechanical multicaliber gun shoot bullets at different versions of his sheet, each less than a fifth of an inch thick. ... Army tests show the material works as well as Kevlar. The military also hopes to replace copper wiring in planes and satellites with highly conductive nanotubes, saving millions of dollars in fuel costs."

Re:Escalation

[Shakrai]

TFA doesn't say that it will stop artillery. It says they fired a "mechanical multicaliber gun" at 1,400 feet per second. It doesn't say what calibers or bullet weights they were using but the speed of 1,400 fps suggests that they are testing it against handgun equivalents. There are many off the shelf rifle calibers that will easily achieve twice that velocity. It would be interesting to see if this material is proof against them or if it's only useful against handguns.

Just wait

[ciaohound]

"Buy Thompson's Carbon Nanotube Bullets. The only nanotubes tough enough to penetrate nanotubes."

Wow!

[Drunken Buddhist]

...That's some tough sheet!

Re:Vests?

[Nobo]

Although getting hit with a taser while wearing one ...

Electrical charge stays on the outside of a conductive sphere.
See (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/potsph.html)

So In theory, wrapping yourself in a conductive nanotube mesh would prevent the charge from hurting you.

And wrapping yourself in tinfoil would protect you from the police even better! ... Waaaait a minute.

Re:Escalation

[Shakrai]

but the tip of a whip is the fastest thing short of a fighter jet.

Or a bullet. Or a photon. Or the speed with which you will roll your eyes at my corrections ;)

Not so great

[Anonymous Coward]

I've tried these sheets -- they're scratchy, and they won't stay tucked in under the mattress!

Re:Escalation

[thebheffect]

I missed that lesson in history class. The one where the Roman Legions are beset by the whip-wielding Visigoth horde. On a side note, I'm pretty sure whips are only effective against Dracula and Nazis.

Re:hmmm

[gbjbaanb]

Bear to another, so this guy comes over in his lightweight 'bear proof' suit, I tried clawing him - no effect, I tried biting him, no effect, I tried shouting at him, no effect. So I sat on the bugger until he stopped wriggling.

Violence

[CopaceticOpus]

This is so typical. Someone discovers how to make a sheet of carbon nanotubes, and the first thing they do is shoot at it. Where is the study telling us how huggable these nanotube sheets might be?

Re:Escalation

[T Murphy]

In that case we should try to make armor out of Jello. That way we trick them into trying to attack us with Jello instead of bullets. Not to mention the mass of new recruits we'll get when people hear they get paid to be in a giant Jello fight.

Re:Escalation

[Anonymous Coward]

it doesn't matter if it takes an inch of the stuff to stop an armour piercing round as long as it is light and fairly durable, or flexible for use in personal armour like a vest. think how much a 12 x 12 x .5 steel plate masses and then compare that to the same amount of nanotubes. No iron, less vulnerability to magnetic mines. this has huge implications for everything from aircraft to tanks, to cars.

Re:Escalation

[sexconker]

Fuck. 1400 fps is fast.

But can it play Crysis?

Re:Escalation

[DevConcepts]

Politicians as ammo?

The ideal projectile material is extremely dense...