US scientists reveal bulletproof T-shirts
 

A new miracle material has been developed by a team of scientists that will soon turn simple T-shirts into sturdy armour.

These scientists have developed the flexible T-shirts to be strong enough to stop speeding bullets.

The fabric is made from the same material used in tank armour, a material produced by combining carbon with the world's third-hardest material.

Xiaodong Li, from the University of Carolina, along with a team of researchers came up with the idea of mixing one of the strongest materials in existence with one of the softest and most supple, namely cotton.

The process involves the T-shirts being treated with boron and then heated to more than 1000C in an oven, changing fibres in the T-shirt from cotton to carbon.

After a reaction between the boron and carbon fibres, boron carbide is produced - the material that tank armour and bulletproof plates in armoured vests are made from.

"It could even be used to produce lightweight, fuel-efficient cars and aircrafts," Prof Li said.

Despite being somewhat stiffer and less bendable than normal T-shirts the resulting material is still flexible enough to by worn normally.

"We expect that the nanowires can capture a bullet," Xiaodong Li, wrote in the journal Advanced Materials.

The uses of the T-shirts go far beyond simply blocking bullets however.

The boron carbide in the T-shirts is also used in numerous nuclear applications such as shielding and in control rods.

"Almost all" ultraviolet rays as well as life-threatening neutrons that are usually emitted from decaying radioactive substances could be blocked by the T-shirt, Prof Li said.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/290556

Hmmm. Who's gonna be the first guy to volunteer to be shot while wearing the shirt. Maybe we could make a deal with a Gitmo prisoner; submit to this experiment and you'll be set free. Oh, and let us know about those virgins.

Even if it didn't penetrate, can you imagine the bruising someone would take? With no material to absorb the impact the person wearing it would probably be killed by the impact alone.

A head shot has always worked in the past.
 

Well I'm there are other body parts that one could use as a target.

And to complete the underwear ensemble....
 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100610/...erpants_health

U.S. scientists design smart underpants that could save lives

A team of U.S. scientists has designed some new men's briefs that may be comfortable, durable and even stylish but, unlike most underpants, may be able to save lives.

Printed on the waistband and in constant contact with the skin is an electronic biosensor, designed to measure blood pressure, heart rate and other vital signs.

The technology, developed by nano-engineering professor Joseph Wang of University of California San Diego and his team, breaks new ground in the field of intelligent textiles and is part of shift in focus in healthcare from hospital-based treatment to home-based management.

The method is similar to conventional screen-printing although the ink contains carbon electrodes.

The project is being funded by the U.S. military with American troops likely to be the first recipients.

"This specific project involves monitoring the injury of soldiers during battlefield surgery and the goal is to develop minimally invasive sensors that can locate, in the field, and identify the type of injury," Wang told Reuters Television.

Ultimately, the biosensor that detects an injury will also be able to direct the release of drugs to relieve pain and even treat the wound.

But the technology's range of application goes beyond the military.

"We envision all the trend of personalized medicine for remote monitoring of the elderly at home, monitoring a wide range of biomedical markers, like cardiac markers, alerting for any potential stroke, diabetic changes and other changes related to other biomedical scenario," said Wang.

Wearable biosensors can also provide valuable information to athletes or even measure blood alcohol levels.

But Wang said it could be some time before these smart underpants are worn by soldiers in the field as more work is needed to ensure these monitoring systems are robust and durable enough to cope with the wearer's daily activity.

However he said there are growing needs for developing reliable, wearable healthcare monitoring systems.

"While clothing-integrated electrochemical sensors hold considerable promise for future healthcare, military or sport applications, such non-invasive textile-based sensing requires proper attention to key challenges of sample delivery to the electrode surface and of sensor calibration and interconnection," Wang's team said in a report published in The Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Where was this stuff when I really needed it? If they made underwear out of that stuff, I wouldn't have suffered so bady the many times I got my ass ate out by the boss! Oh well..............