Right out of Star Trek- transparent Aluminum created (briefly)

[n2doc]

Scientists Claim New State of Matter Created
By LiveScience Staff
posted: 28 July 2009 06:20 pm ET

Scientists claim to have created a form of aluminum that's nearly transparent to extreme ultraviolet radiation and which is a new state of matter.

It's an idea straight out of science fiction, featured in the movie "Star Trek IV."

The work is detailed in the journal Nature Physics.

The normal states of matter are solid, liquid and gas, and a fourth state, called plasma, is a superheated gas considered more exotic. Other experiments have created strange states of matter for brief periods. This one, too, existed only briefly.

To create the new, even more exotic stuff, a short pulse from a laser "knocked out" a core electron from every aluminum atom in a sample without disrupting the metal’s crystalline structure, the researchers explain.

more:

http://www.livescience.com/technology/090728-new-state-matter.html

[valerief]

1. So will cops put down their tasers and shoot invisible bullets now?

Cool stuff, but I always see weapons in these kinds of things.

[comtec]

2. invisible guns

stronger glass,
now wonder womans plane can become a reality@!!! =]

[Silent3]

3. What possible extra danger would a transparent bullet pose?

It's not like people can see bullets now and avoid them by jumping out of the way. It's not like the use of transparent bullets would make it any harder to figure out who shot whom.

Besides, a bullet made out of transparent aluminum would be just that: transparent, not invisible, perhaps glass-like in appearance.

[valerief]

4. You forgot the sarcasm smiley! nt

[Silent3]

5. Did I? Or did you?

I thought you were voicing a genuine, if slightly paranoid, concern. DU abounds in people who worry greatly about The Powers That Be and the terrible things they plan to do to us via technology. If I misread you, I apologize.

[valerief]

6. Yeah, I was just playing. I'm not all that funny. nt

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Very cool! Now if they could just make it so that it stays that way permanently we can

go out and save us some whales!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. Finally: transparent aluminum reinforced translucent concrete.