[Darkpriest667]

source

Quote:

The resulting material is expensive, and so is generally only used for high-performance applications, especially in the military.
Surmet Corporation in Massachusetts manufactures it under the brand name ALON for use in armoured windows, lenses for battlefield optics, and 'seeker domes', the clear round windows covering the sensors on missiles.

My favorite part is the video from Star Trek IV

"Computer? Hello Computer?" "Just use the keyboard" "Ahh the keyboard how quaint"

 

[stalker7d7]

Transparent heatsink?

 

[Phaedrus2129]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stalker7d7

Transparent heatsink?

Try, transparent phone.

 

[Darkpriest667]

the possibilities really are endless

 

[nanoprobe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phaedrus2129

Try, transparent phone.

How a transparent Audi?

 

[MisterFred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nanoprobe

How a transparent Audi?

nanoprobe wins! I was salivating at the BMW i8 show car with its windows for doors. Then they took them away

. I would LOVE a car with the kind of visibility that might offer.

 

[jrbroad77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nanoprobe

How a transparent Audi?

No. It seems this material doesn't deform much, so in an impact if the car either shatters, cracks, or maintains it's form, you're screwed. Metal in car structures absorbs a ton of energy when it deforms. Something like transparent aluminum could get used for the roof and all the frame between the windows. Now that would indeed be a slick looking car.

But wow, this stuff is pretty sick. I'd like to know more about the properties. Since it's a ceramic it will be an insulator... meaning no transparent aluminum laptops, except for the lid.

 

[nanoprobe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MisterFred

nanoprobe wins! I was salivating at the BMW i8 show car with its windows for doors. Then they took them away

. I would LOVE a car with the kind of visibility that might offer.

Take it even farther. Transparent engine block, transmission and rims.

 

[ILoveHighDPI]

Hopefully cars will use this for windows sometime soon. It would be great to not have to worry about rock chips anymore. As is I'm tempted to get a polymer window for my car (like most race cars have).

Also I can see this stuff being put on cell phones. The article says it's 85 percent as hard as sapphire, that's pretty scratch resistant, and on phones you aren't using huge amounts of material so the cost would be more manageable.

 

[Phaedrus2129]

Main thing to consider is the difference between hardness and toughness. Glass is extremely hard... But extremely brittle. As a ceramic I imagine this alon is likely brittle as well.

 

[redsunx]

All I saw that in vid was a 50 cal bullet making a headshot. What was I supposed to be looking at?

 

[Darkpriest667]

there is another video above it that is from star trek 4 and its one of the funniest human/computer interactions I can think of.

 

[joshd]

Everything that is on the DM is false. Even true things once reported by the DM are false..

 

[RaspberryPi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phaedrus2129

Try, transparent phone.

At least they will have an excuse on why they lost an iPhone in a bar

 

[BeaverusIV]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxynitride

Quote:

3.^ Richard L. Gentilman et al. Transparent aluminum oxynitride and method of manufacture U.S. Patent 4,520,116 Issue date: May 28, 1985

I wonder when the stuff (or a derivative) will be mass produced for commercial use? I personally have been waiting since I heard of it in 2005.

 

[dontpwnmebro]

but that's not metal in op article