# Transparent Aluminum, baby! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 20, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum-baby/327134 "2005-10-20T20:17:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum-baby/327134/41 "2005-10-22T16:43:33Z")
> [@](#): > > This ability to add the needed protection with only a small amount of material is very advantageous, said **Ron Hoffman** , an investigator at **University of Dayton Research Institute**. Small world… I work at the University of Dayton Research Institute. Ron Hoffman’s office is directly across from mine. Even though I don’t work in the Impact Physics Lab, I get to hear guns going off all day. And I love it! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum-baby/327134/42 "2005-10-22T16:45:32Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Speaking of transparent silicon, I’d remind us all that you can also find or make transparent CARBON. Carbon for Og’s sake, the very quintessence of oaque blackness can now be made transparent. > > I even have a small sample of the natural stuff that I almost always carry around with me. So does my wife. > > Transparent Carbon… Gosh, what’ll they come up with next?? Oh yeah? Well it now turns out that you can get [**non** -transparent carbon that will \*scratch transparent carbon!](http://www.newscientist.com/channel/fundamentals/dn7926)\* > [@](#): > > Industrial applications > > “Our material actually scratches normal diamonds,” says Natalia Dubrovinskaia, of the University of Bayreuth, in Germany, who led the research. “We were very excited, and glad.” > > While an ordinary diamond gets its hardness from the strong molecular bonds between each of its atoms, ACNR derives its strength from the fact that it is formed from interlocking nanorods, the researchers say. > > Dubrovinskaia told New Scientist the material could have a wide range of potential industrial applications. As it is stable at very high temperatures, she says it could be better than normal diamond for deep drilling and polishing abrasive materials. She also believes it will be easy to mass produce the super-tough material. “It’s a very reproducible result,” she adds. Put _that_ in your jeffries tube and smoke it! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum-baby/327134/43 "2005-10-23T13:23:58Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Can a Wonder-Woman-style invisible airplane be far behind? Just for you, someelse is thinking the same thing: [http://www.userfriendly.org/static/](http://www.userfriendly.org/static/) ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum-baby/327134/44 "2005-10-23T14:25:29Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > I want warp drive, Og damn it! I wanna be Captain Pike and nail some Orion slave girls! Hey **Tuckerfan** , great to see ya! I heard a discussion recently about the ST Physics question as it relates to the Transporter. They were suggesting that it should be considered that this system would in fact totally disintegrate a person/thing, turning it into energy after a detailed record was made of every aspect of the object. For us, every cell, chemical composition and such, including the fuctions comprising the “mind”. Anyway, you’d be totally destroyed, turned to energy, the energy and the vital info for replication sent to the destination, and a construct of you made. There would again be a “You” with a full memory and a seemingly continious stream of conciseness but, not you. Not in the sense of a unbroken existence. Not he cells and blood your mother gave birth too. The matter that is you will be gone with an exact replication somewhere else. It would seem like a continuation to the New You though. Would you be okay with this? If this turns out to be like a highjack, I apologize and will move it to a **New Post**. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum-baby/327134/45 "2005-10-23T16:31:12Z")
Could I inject a nitpick about the title? No? Well to hell with that. The title is misleading. The transparent stuff isn’t aluminum, the metal, it is alumina (aluminum oxide) the ceramic. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum-baby/327134/46 "2005-10-23T17:02:21Z")
I’m with **CalMeacham** and **LSLGuy** here. This isn’t Star Trek inspiring technological advances, it’s people labelling any new technology with any vague similarity to something from Trek as “Star Trek Technology.” Like the so-called “Star Trek Weapons.” Um, no they’re not. A phaser, as seen on TV, is basically a 1920’s style ‘death ray,’ which can also be dialed down to cause unconsciousness instead, or dialed up to completely disintegrate the target. What they’re talking about in the article is a microwave gun, which for all practical purposes cooks the person it’s aimed at. The article even mentions that the device can cause permanent damage if someone is exposed to it for more than a few seconds. The lightning gun doesn’t sound like anything especially new, basically just a Tesla coil and a really big battery. And the laser that’s used to blind people sounds like something that out to be banned by international treaty. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum-baby/327134/47 "2005-10-23T17:53:56Z")
I’m still confused as to what practical purposes this would have. It’s ridiculously expensive… Does it outperform Plexiglas, or other similar glass-like things? Is the boost in performance worth 1200 dollars per square foot? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum-baby/327134/48 "2005-10-23T18:31:16Z")
Never mind fighter planes. Let the economies of scale kick in and have it in normal cars! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transparent-aluminum-baby/327134.md?page=2)