Elizabeth, what types of materials are these? The article says they're a new class, but does that mean metals, plastics, composites, nanocomposites, or something else?
I think William raised a good point. If these artillery shells are 5x more lethal, does that mean 5x the explosive force? Whatever the percentage or factor, it's greater explosive force which means they're likely to be more dangerous to store, as well as to deploy.
I would be concerned about the stability of the materials under various conditions. Unstable ordinance just sounds like it would be really unpleasant. The reason for this concern is that it seems to me that materials that are able to explode would be a bit more reactive, and thus less likely to be completely stable. But perhaps there is another answer.
Jhankwitz, you are right. Every year government is spending billion of USD for military R&D inorder to strengthen the national security and weapon systems. I think the same technology can also be use for common peoples benefit also. For example, the light weight materials using in space craft can be used for making artificial limbs etc.
500 percent more lethal just means 5x more lethal. Although that's a lot, considering the fragments will release both kinetic and chemical energy. The only non-military use I can imagine is for the other apps of explosives, such as mining work, although I don't see what chemical energy will bring to that effort. It would be interesting to know what chemicals are involved.
It's unfortunate that the results of this research will be limited to military applications. It would be nice if it could spill over into non-military applications.
As energy efficiency becomes more and more a concern for makers of electronics devices, researchers are coming up with new ways to harvest energy from sound vibration, footsteps, and even electromagnetic fields in the air.
The government wants to study your brain, and DARPA wants to use similar information to give robots true autonomy beyond any artificial intelligence developed to date. Sound like science fiction? It's not.
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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