Science!: Fat and Force Fields

[Lauren Admire]

Science!: Fat and Force Fields

Inside: Army develops the force field.

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[Jared]

I remmber reading the Force Field thing on BBC earlier last week...I was like O.O!

Now...that would certainly make terrorists look the other way lol

 

[Jark212]

Very cool discoveries, I always look forward to Science!

 

[Distorted Stu]

Would be great if the fat becomes the treatment to everything.
Fatal heart attack caused by beign obese, saved.. by being obese.
I like it!

 

[Nincompoop]

The forcefield thingy is nice, but could only be applied to tanks which don't have an infantry detail. Consider if the propelled bullet or missile hit the ground next to the tank. It would certainly injure soldiers.
They are actually using a similar approach, but instead of electrical bursts, they have explosives attached to the tank. Whenever a missile hits the armor (and an explosive) it detonates, leaving a manageable hole in the tank and propelling the missile away from the tank. This, too, is only used without infantry details.

Nincompoop wants ice-cream too... damn you!

 

[thiosk]

I'm a bit skeptical on the claim of "would easily deflect the round." Using the given example of an RPG, those rounds require direct contact with the metallic skin of the vehicle in order to achieve penetration. If a tank is wrapped in chicken wire that is offset from the vehicle by about a foot, you can prematurely trigger the RPG and make a much-less armored vehicle survive the hit.

On the topic of fat scaffolds though...

Brilliant.

T
They are actually using a similar approach, but instead of electrical bursts, they have explosives attached to the tank. Whenever a missile hits the armor (and an explosive) it detonates, leaving a manageable hole in the tank and propelling the missile away from the tank. This, too, is only used without infantry details.

I don't think reactive armor even leaves a hole in the struck tank; the force of the shaped incoming charge is counterbalanced by the explosive force of the shaped charge in the reactive armor, and the two shaped charges essentially cancel one another. I do not know what the effect of a "silver bullet" heavy AP slug has on reactive armor though, I would postulate that it is not highly effective. Perhaps reactive armor would work best on explosives but the supercapicator idea would effect more dense armor piercing dead-weight shells?

 

[Idlemessiah]

Thats it, I'm going to attach a supercapacitor to my car and go cyclist repelling. I'm also going to get liposuction and have me a spare liver made.
Then I'll get me an ice-cream

 

[Danny Ocean]

Thats it, I'm going to attach a supercapacitor to my car and go cyclist repelling.

Now that's a good idea!

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Insects that breath underwater, they know the score. Global warming is real and they have already adapted.

Can the tank still fire its weapons if the electrical shield is active? If not then all an RPG team has to do is cycle their fire so the tank can't fire long enough for someone to get in close with an explosive charge and set it near the tank.

Since fat could be helpful in stem cell research, all the Lutherans out there who oppose progress will have something new to oppose.

 

[ottenni]

Force field you say? So thats where all the mad scientists have gone! You clever pom's you!

 

[PH3NOmenon]

I positively love reading this series. Also, I'm now imagining hovertanks with lasers and forcefields.

 

[Doug]

Nice stories - from the water and air breathing caterpillars to the force fields and so forth, all interesting stories - looking forward to the next one!

 

[Calobi]

So basically what you're telling me about the tank armor is that my idea of playing tank-RPG-Pong isn't going to happen unless they find a way to charge the shields super-quick and the people operating them are very good at their jobs? Way to make me very sad Lauren. Shame on you.

 

[The Random One]

Few things are as refreshing as knowing that leading scientists in their fields can still sometimes look at something like a caterpillar and go, 'wtf?' That's what science really is.

Those human evolutionary offshots make me sad because they mean a fantasy world with elves is not scientifically feasible. We'd have eaten the elves! :-(

I look at that force field and keep remembering how shortly after X-rays were invented people would be using it all the time without any protection because they didn't know it causes cancer. I know anyone not living on a shack on a mountain is probably in the middle of a bunch of electromagnetic fields, but I keep thinking something awful will happen down the line.

I want ice cream too.

 

[dududf]

I'm gonna put a bunch of supercapacitor at the bottom of my shoes, so when I go over a metal surface, I could suddenly jump 6 feet in the air.

Awesome.

 

[Macflash]

This is just a big magnet. What if the attacks use plastic bullets or explosives?

 

[wfpdk]

force fields... check. all we need are flying cars and we are officially in the future.

 

[Formica Archonis]

Those human evolutionary offshots make me sad because they mean a fantasy world with elves is not scientifically feasible. We'd have eaten the elves! :-(

Of course. Elves is good eatin'.

I look at that force field and keep remembering how shortly after X-rays were invented people would be using it all the time without any protection because they didn't know it causes cancer.

Was worse with radium. All those poor watch dial painters.... And then the people who drank soft drinks with added radium for improving their health!

And then there's stuff like those drawings from 1910 about the year 2000: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sGYULzoQCgA/RuSVOqUY0CI/AAAAAAAABDo/xderWVHa-o0/s1600-h/Heating+with+Radium.jpg

I know anyone not living on a shack on a mountain is probably in the middle of a bunch of electromagnetic fields, but I keep thinking something awful will happen down the line.

I'd think it would've happened by now. While a powerful electromagnetic field can be bad for you, it has to be IIRC well past wipe-your-credit-cards level before it's immediately bad. Less than that? We're drenched in it every day. Hasn't killed anyone yet. I know there's some debate about power lines but I'd rather not get into that - don't have the patience for a debate today.

And as to military uses, I wonder which is worse, being around a strong magnetic field or being inside something with depleted uranium for armor? (Though generally it's the guys shooting at you that are worse for your health than either one of those....)

I want ice cream too.

<AOL>Me too!</AOL>

 

[Calatar]

Apparently this technology has been long coming. During a test in 2002, the charged force field armor was able to survive repeated RPG attacks, sustaining only minor damage.

That was different armor, a different prototype using different technology. It explains that in the article. Force-field technology has not been tested/implemented successfully yet.

Don't get your hopes up.

I posted about this misconception in a different thread. Even did some sample calculations which showed implausibility.