Transparent Aluminum

Agreed. AlON is cool stuff, but sapphire / aluminum oxide is just as transparent.

Maybe they can do a followup on transparent silicon next: this silicon dioxide stuff is super clear!

It's phrased that way because of the Star Trek IV reference.

I think it comes up in the same scene where Scotty is flustered because the 1980's computer doesn't respond to voice commands...

Non-blacked out wikipedia entry:

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

> So in reality this is a modest improvement (2x) over existing laminated glass armour

More than 2x actually - the guy behind the glass would be dead, unlike the one behind their improved glass. I'd say this is a significant difference - they deserve some extra credit for keeping the guy behind their armor alive.

I do find the title a little misleading though, since this has nothing to do with metallic aluminum as one would expect from reading the title.

How do their weights compare?

If the new stuff is the same weight by volume as conventional laminated glass, then you'd have a 50% weight savings.

If the new stuff is thinner, and lighter, then it'd be useful for applications where the current glass is too thick and/or heavy.

Also, in applications like secure windows for bank tellers and such, something thinner would probably be better aesthetically. When you're dealing with someone behind a thick sheet of glass, it puts a different tone on the interaction.

Without knowing the failure points of both products I am not sure how you can make such a claim. The glass failed in this demonstration and the ALON did not. Obviously the glass needs to be even thicker (making it a ridiculous solution in most cases) and the ALON might work even if it is thinner.

"The material, aluminium oxynitride, known as AION, is four times harder than fused silica glass, 85 per cent as hard as sapphire and stable up to a temperature of 1,200C."

Quote from the Daily Mail article linked above.

Those sites that are completely blacked out, like makezine and Wikipedia, are doing exactly what many accuse DRM of doing. Annoying their users while producing no real benefit. Google's and HN's methods are better.

ADDED: Most of them don't particularly matter to me, I rarely use Wikipedia, for example. The one that has annoyed me is the Internet Archive blackout - www.archive.org

I has also been used to build a tank for transporting humpback whales between the 20th and the 23rd centuries.

Only if a significant number of people show up at the Genius Bar with bullet-riddled macbooks.

That was the first comment I was gonna write when I saw the title, but you beat me to it.