Transparent Aluminum a Reality

TuballoyThunder writes "Many of us remember the scene from Star Trek IV where Scotty barters the formula for transparent aluminum for a small run. It now appears that we can now add transparent aluminum to the science fact column."

Coming soon to a school court near you!

[marsperson]

The ability to wrap your mother's sandwiches in transparent aluminum and loose your apetite before you even unwrap it!

Hmm

[psilonaut]

How quaint.

The article is disappointing

[kg_o.O]

No pics :(

soda

[Cave_Monster]

Does anyone remember being told when they were a child, not to leave your can of drink open while outside for fear of a wasp/bee getting inside and consequently a painful next sip?

Perhaps with this technology we can have see-through cans and this will no longer be a problem :)

iPod Nano screen

[jabuzz]

Sound just what Apple need to make some scratch resistant screens for the iPod Nano :)

Beanie

[svvampy]

Does this mean that I can get a new beanie that will protect me from the mind-controlling probes of the government, but not make me look more like a freak?

I don't think that'll catch on.

Finally!

[Moe Napoli]

I can now order my Wonder Woman jet! Now's where's my Golden Lasso and Amazon Bangles? Soon I hope. Now, if only surgery took well, I'd be all set...

Re:A Great Send-Off

[Spock the Baptist]

What do you want to bet that it was designed on a Macintosh...

Oh would that ever be sweet! :D

no doubt patented already...

[Anonymous Coward]

The Air Force Research Laboratory's materials and manufacturing directorate is testing aluminum oxynitride -- ALONtm

And look.. the trademark is built right in as well!

In a related story:

[dummyname12]

The military is planning to test this new material on its nuclear wessels.

finally!

[rootedgimp]

now i can wear my tinfoil hat without people looking at me weird. technology++

Re:The article is disappointing

[GroeFaZ]

Nothing for you to see here. Move along.

Whales

[thelonestranger]

Hmmmm....Has anyone noticed a pair of humpback whales going missing recently?

Case mod!

[gobbledok]

A transparent case made of aluminium...Mmmmm, aluminium..

Re:hmm

[B2382F29]

Well, that would cost you an arm and a leg ... either way.

Re:The article is disappointing

[Erik Hensema]

Using some elite slashdot h4x0ring skillz, I am able to post a picture of transparent aluminum right here for you:








Nice, eh?

Re:transparent oxide-nitride, not a metal

[AuMatar]

I hope not, then I'd have to start wearing pants!

Hey!

[dangitman]

I'm 40% aluminium! Bender

Star treck Ipods

[Anonymous Coward]

Finally, scrach-resistance for my Ipod Nano!

Re:virtually scratch resistant?

[Viol8]

It means it'll resists anything except a bunch of bored teenage
scratch-taggers armed with screwdrivers at 3am on a sunday morning.

Re:Super Polish

[AGMW]

Double the strength by polishing?

This isn't that strange, and certainly here on SlashDot I'd expect the readership to be well aware how things can get harder if they are rubbed the right way.

Re:The article is disappointing

[kg_o.O]

Think you can fool me by posting a pic of transparent milk chocolate?
Think again!

Transparent Tin Foil Hats

[wangotango]

How will the rest of the world recognize us if our tinfoils hats are transparent?

Re:Beanie

[iamdrscience]

Dude, just do what I do and line your existing hats and headware with aluminum.

God dammit!

[PhotoBoy]

Scotty's been messing with the timeline again! What next, Mr. Scott? Warp drive in the Victorian era?

Re:So the questions is,

[Chicane-UK]

I think he did a little too much LDS.

Re:Aluminium!

[Anonymous Coward]

yeah, they lower the high jump bar in the special olympics too

Americans.... i guess they're doing the best they can

nearly, but not quite...

[williamhb]

Unfortunately, from the article it seems ALONtm is noted for it's high compressive strength, whereas to build the sides of a whale-sized bath you need high tensile strength. Unless of course it's a particularly aggressive whale and keeps shooting armour-piercing rounds at the side of the bath, but then the bigger question would be "how did it pull the trigger"?

Call Apple

[beest]

Sounds like a hell of a nice screen protector for the nano

Re:Oh, *that*!

[williamhb]

Nah, it was "nuclear wessels"!!!

Blast, I thought he said "nuclear whistles" and sent him down to the toy store. Oh well, there goes the earth in the 23rd century. Talk about careless talk costing lives...

Re:Ooooh. -- wrong

[mr_z_beeblebrox]

You're at the 58th floor of a building.
There is a fire. You can't use the stairs or elevators.
A)You break the glass, jump out and fall to your death.
B)You don't break the glass and suffocated because of the smoke.

Either way, you're toast.

Wrong...
A) You're jam
B) You're toast

The difference isn't subtle.

Re:A Great Send-Off

[metricmusic]

I KNEW it! Scotty didn't die. He just went back in the Bird of Prey.

Everyone, check your local marine park for missing Whales now!!

Re:Humvee Windshields

[WoodieR]

sure, they will, it's only your tax dollars, you gots lots of those ...

Re:Unintended joke?

[moro_666]

a) cost of a sandwich :
  about 1$

b) cost of a research to invent invisible aluminium :
  about 1 zillion $

c) the face of your boss when he takes a bite of
his lunch and appears to have mouth full of cutting metal :
  priceless

----
it would be cool to "see" a pc case made out of it thou (obviously you cant see it but you can pretend it's there :p)

Re:Unintended joke?

[Jason1729]

it would be cool to "see" a pc case made out of it thou (obviously you cant see it but you can pretend it's there :p)

You mean the way uoi can't see a case made oud of acrylic?

Damn, I had a drinking glass full of water on the table somewhere, if only it weren't invisible I could find it....oh yeah, clear != invisible.

Re:A Great Send-Off

[SteveAyre]

Sorry but no, you must be wrong.

I just checked and I can't find any missing whales anywhere.

Computer....computer?

[digitaldc]

Scotty: Computer. Computer?

[Bones hands him a mouse and he speaks into it]

Scotty: Hello, computer.

Dr. Nichols: Just use the keyboard.

Scotty: Keyboard. How quaint.

I see a multitude of uses for transparent aluminum including semi-transparent road signs, reinforced windows and cool computer cases. Scotty lives!

Re:Unintended joke?

[Eq 7-2521]

But that does beg the question, what are we going to do with all those bodies?

Re:Aluminium Reality or Aluminum Realty?

[Chops II]

G'day As being 8th or so generations from a convict on the second fleet, i take offense to that! Shuttup before i steal your bread. And it's spelled colour. COLOUR!!!! not to mention mum etc.... Now, excuse me while i tend to my kangaroos and e-moos.

Re:Unintended joke?

[indifferent children]

While you're spending your $1z on research, can you find out if transparent aluminum foil protects from government mind control rays as well as regular aluminum foil? Not that I'll believe your government-funded 'research'.

In other news, Apple announces new PowerBooks

[Dekortage]

Not to be outdone by the Air Force, Steve Jobs just announced that the forthcoming PowerBook G5 will feature a bulletproof transparent aluminum case. This follows Apple's longstanding tradition of using expensive metals for G4 laptop cases: first titanium, now airplane aluminum, soon transparent aluminum. Apple designer Jonathan Ives expressed some disappointment that they had not yet been able to create a commercially viable uranium shell, but was optimistic that the transparent aluminum would still be sexy.

Re:Humvee Windshields

[just_another_sean]

Well sure it's expensive now. How is the inventor going to get "rich beyond the wildest dreams of avarice" otherwise?

Re:A Great Send-Off

[glesga_kiss]

Is that because he tries talking into the mouse on a mac in Star Trek IV, or are you just another idiot mac troll?

Both.

Re:Unintended joke?

[Anonymous Coward]

You guys forgot to mention the morons who mix up "there" and "their"

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Unintended joke?

[SatanicPuppy]

And "they're".

All the correct usages put together in a sentence would look like: "There going over their to play with they'reselves."

Or something.

Re:Humvee Windshields

[SatanicPuppy]

Yea, Saddam shoulda known better than to rule a country with all that oil...Man he was asking for it!

Re:A Great Send-Off

[CaptDeuce]

ALONtm is virtually scratch resistant, offers substantial impact resistance, and provides better durability and protection against armor piercing threats, at roughly half the weight and half the thickness of traditional glass transparent armor, said the lieutenant.

[time warp]

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Cupertino CA -- Apple Computer faces rising complaints of "scratches" that reportedly developed on the cases of their iPod Angstrom virtual reality player. The device, which feeds audio, video, and olfactory images directly to the brain, is implanted under the skin behind the ear, remaining there for up to three days. It is this repeated insertion and extraction of the device which causes scratches on the iPod's case.

"The scratches are obvious," say disgruntled user Mitch Burnsome, "I can see them clearly under my microscope, at maginications as low as 20 times. Apple's quality control is dreadful."

Apple responded that the iPod Angstrom case is very durable. "The case is made of ALONtm which is used as armor on tanks and Humvees; it's virtually scratch resistant," said Apple spokesperson Anton Natale. "Steve Jobs has been using a prototype for the past six months and declares that it works so well with his brain that it's 'sanely great'."

Since the release of the iPod Angstrom four hours ago, Apple has sold 7 million units. The price of Apple stock dropped 7% after analysts complained that sales were projected to be 7.1 million units by this time.

Re:Unintended joke?

[lowrydr310]

From TFA: "The substance itself is light years ahead of glass"

So this new transparent aluminum is roughly 9.46 × 10^12 kilometres ahead of glass?

Re:A Great Send-Off

[borg007]

In other news, a man ,Homeland Security believes to be a Chechen rebel, was seen wandering the streets of nearby towns looking for nuclear wessels.Is it a coincidence he has shown up just as transparent aluminum has become a reality? He was accompanied by a dark skinned woman of possible Somalian origin. They are just people of interest at this point.

Re:Unintended joke?

[somersault]

An unspecified amount of light years.. who knows how many :S maybe as a side effect of the 'transparent aluminum' creation process they discovered the secret to interstellar travel?

Re:Unintended joke?

[Citizen of Earth]

it's crazy how many people use loose instead of lose though.

Yeah, what loosers!

English is

[Smallest]

http://mercury.ccil.org/~cowan/essential.html#Engl ish [ccil.org]

Written English is essentially a variety of Old French invented by somebody who spoke only Saxon and read only Latin.
--Basilius

English is essentially an imprecise dialect of Java, without the object orientation.
--Julian Morrison

English is essentially bad Dutch with outrageously pronounced French and Latin vocabulary.
--Eugene Holman

English is essentially Norse as spoken by a gang of French thugs.
--Benct Philip Jonsson

English is essentially a bizarre dialect of Chinese, pronounced entirely in the first tone.
--John Cowan

English is essentially Low German plus even lower French minus any sense of culture.
--Danny Weir

English is essentially Anglo-Saxon with all the cool bits taken out.
--Thomas Leigh

Re:Dude, 'Aluminium' *is* the correct one.

[Anonymous Coward]

English doesn't just borrow words from other languages. It sometimes stalks other languages, drags them into a back alley, beats them senseless, and rifles through their pockets for new words. Sometimes, the words get a bit spindled in the process, but English doesn't care, it just likes new words.

Re:In a related story:

[coolGuyZak]

Hold on, wouldn't this be the first time we can make new clear wessels?

Re:Unintended joke?

[DahGhostfacedFiddlah]

Irregardless of you're misunderstanding me, your making the write decision, as you can loose alot of time caring about opinions on /.

Re:Unintended joke?

[steveness]

This is Slashdot, man! We get confused just thinking about the existence of women, let alone the correct usage in a sentence.

Re:No, you're wrong

[Spock the Baptist]

"So aluminum was the first spelling, which was later change by language nazis because it didn't sound right."

If you see someone with an adhesive label on their lapel or shoulder with a upside-down lower case e on it then you'll know that they're a member of the language nazis.

By their schwas-stickers ye shall know them....

Wow...

[Jambon]

...transparent aluminium actually exists? I won't believe it till I see it!