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BYU engineering professors have created an origami-inspired, lightweight bulletproof shield that can protect law enforcement from gunfire.
The new barrier can be folded compactly when not in use, making it easier to transport and deploy. When expanded—which takes only five seconds—it can provide cover for officers and stop bullets from several types of handguns.
...
In working with law enforcement, BYU researchers learned much of what is currently used hasn't evolved much from medieval times: shields that are mostly flat, awkward plates that cover only one person. Current barriers are so heavy and cumbersome they make it difficult for officers to move into position.The barrier Howell and his colleagues designed is made of 12 layers of bulletproof Kevlar and weighs only 55 pounds (many of the steel-based barriers in current use approach 100 pounds). The BYU-built barrier uses a Yoshimura origami crease pattern to expand around an officer, providing protection on the side in addition to protecting them in the front.
Aren't police using exploding robots in that kind of situation now?
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Saturday February 18 2017, @01:14AM
Great, until someone shoots with a 50-cal or assault rifle and goes through the new shield.
Why don't we get straight to cops patrolling in MRAPs, instead of wasting time with intermediate solutions?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 18 2017, @01:31AM
I see no problem with this, an armed society is a polite society.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 18 2017, @02:11AM
Yes, an armed society is a polite society. However, a police state that spends half it's time ensuring that the non-police members of society are unarmed isn't an armed society. Please don't mistake the US for an armed society. More than half of the US population lives in cities and states with draconian gun laws, and aggressive police forces. The only armed people are the police, and criminals.
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 18 2017, @03:07AM
The only armed people are the police, and criminals.
AND Runaway1956. Hmmm, I wonder which category he fits into?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 18 2017, @03:22AM
I happen to live in a state with more reasonable gun laws. If I've broken any gun laws in my lifetime, then they were obscure nonsense laws that no one even mentions, unless and until law enforcement is going after someone.
Now, the real question is - do you support unjust laws, just because you're afraid of guns?
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 18 2017, @03:45AM
Who said anything about gun laws? Something to hide, Runaway?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 18 2017, @06:14AM
His point stands tho. Owning guns these days is like collecting model trains. Cops can abuse the law abiding quite easily guns or not.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 18 2017, @09:13AM
"Guns don't kill people, model trains kill people!" Yep, right behind you on this one, Bevis! The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a model train set, is a good guy, . . . etc., etc.,. . . And you wonder why people mock you so!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 18 2017, @04:37AM
Yes. it is the type of society where people are politely shot in the back.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 18 2017, @05:56AM
politely shot in the back.
Oh, this explains why Runaway is so genteel! When I think if Southern Charm, I usually think of a Calhoun, or perhaps a Robert E. Lee. But now that you mention it, none of those southern gentlemen hailed from Arkanasas. In fact, is not Arkansaws famous for being unfriendly? Impolite? I believe the phrase in folk legend is " a cold hand from Arkansas". So, maybe Arkansas is more like the Mafia of Southern Honor, trying to be upper class, just like Donald Trump, but without the wherewithal to make it stick, so we are reduced to concealed carry and posting right-wing shit on the internet. I hope Runaway lives a long life, long enough to realize how stupid and ignorant he is. I do not want him shot in the back, or anywhere else. So, Runaway, put away the 1911! Sell it! Give it away! The next time the IRS calls you, you might do something stupid, since you are old. None of us wants that! Please!
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday February 18 2017, @12:29PM
I went to Arkansas a bunch of times when I worked for Bill Clinton. I didn't experience what you were talking about. People were friendly. Pretty true of the entire South as well. The only weirdness I have encountered was in eastern Kentucky, and in Charleston, South Carolina.
Then again, Walmart HQ is in Fayetteville, Arkansas, so maybe it depends on where you go.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2, Informative) by khallow on Saturday February 18 2017, @01:37AM
Great, until someone shoots with a 50-cal or assault rifle and goes through the new shield.
Or a nuclear weapon. Can't forget all those people lugging around nuclear weapons in their back pockets.
Sure, the shield is imperfect. But not everyone will have the firepower to defeat this shield.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Saturday February 18 2017, @02:01AM
TFA is talking about handgun cartridges. My Mini 30 will have more power than any handgun you care to come up with.
/ um, I might wanna fact check this
// .454 Casull might beat my 7.62x39
/// damn that was close, but 1/2 mv^2 means my 2450 fps beats your 1445 fps
//// doesn't matter your load has twice the mass of my load
Recent research has shown that 1 out of 3 Trump supporters is a stupid as the other 2.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Saturday February 18 2017, @02:11AM
.500 S&W Magnum has about the same energy as a 12 gauge slug. I bet that'll penetrate. Also in my state a carry permit allows concealed or open carry of any firearm.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 18 2017, @02:26AM
Need to test it. Some rounds may penetrate, others may not. It isn't a straight up equation, "more energy penetrates better".
wikipedia has a decent article on "cop killer bullets" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teflon-coated_bullet [wikipedia.org]
and LA Times has a liberal slanted editorial on the subject - http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-ammo-atf-delays-ban-on-armor-piercing-bullets-20150312-story.html [latimes.com]
Needless to say, being hit in the chest with a 12 guage slug is probably going to knock you on your ass, whether it penetrates or not. And, you're probably not going to jump back up, ready for action. Everything I've read and heard on the subject says that being hit in the chest with a sledge hammer hurts like hell, no matter how much armor you're wearing.
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 18 2017, @09:04AM
Teflon coated bullets?
I wonder how machined tungsten bullets would fare ( albeit your gun won't last very long )?
Or tungsten/depleted uranium alloy ( using uranium for its metallic properties, not its radioactive properties ).
Or would these babies just go right through and not cause enough damage?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 18 2017, @02:30PM
Brass was used for some "armor" peircing rounds, with either steel or tungsten cores. The brass ate barrels up like candy. A tungsten bullet would be worse by a long shot. Better to use just a plain old lead alloy, and put the armor peircing core in the center of the lead. Think "saboted rounds". Consider the lead to be nothing more than a sabot.
If you'll read the links again, you'll find that the teflon doesn't help to peirce body armor any. Instead, it "grips" metal door panels and windshields, preventing deflection or ricochet. It seems counterintuitive, but that's what the article claims.
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Saturday February 18 2017, @04:19PM
> The brass ate barrels up like candy.
Brass-cased cartridges are the most popular type of ammunition on the market today [...]
-- http://ammo.com/casing-type/brass [ammo.com]
Am I missing something?
(Score: 3, Informative) by deimtee on Saturday February 18 2017, @07:04PM
The difference between a brass cartridge that holds the propellent and is ejected out the breech, and a brass coated round that travels down the barrel at high speed.
200 million years is actually quite a long time.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 18 2017, @10:16PM
What Deimtee sais - the brass casing stays in the chamber of your weapon, while the bullet travels down the barrel. The casing causes no wear.
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday February 18 2017, @12:32PM
Also, wouldn't hitting that thing repeatedly knock it out of the way, even if the slugs don't penetrate right away? Hit it on the edge with the few shots, get the shield to rotate 90 degrees, then shoot person who had been hiding behind it.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Saturday February 18 2017, @02:54AM
I had never heard of that cartridge before, and can't imagine shooting it out of a handgun.
In other words, better hit what you aim for cuz if the bad guy has a gun he's got 3-4 shots on you before you get another aim sight.
Recent research has shown that 1 out of 3 Trump supporters is a stupid as the other 2.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 18 2017, @03:47AM
.54 pistola here. Hawken. Single shot, muzzleloaded, but really, that is all you need. Especially against Mormon origami! (We saw how quickly that folds at Malheur.)
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Saturday February 18 2017, @02:17AM
Great, until someone shoots with a 50-cal or assault rifle and goes through the new shield.
I know, right? Totally useless.
It's like all those millions of dollars they've spent on improving car safety. Does absolutely nothing to stop you getting crushed in the event of a plane falling on you. What a bunch of morons.
Why don't we get straight to cops patrolling in MRAPs
Why don't you drive your car right into your workplace every day to save you having to get out?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Saturday February 18 2017, @02:40AM
I fear that you might have missed my point.
I know that the polite English bobby with his truncheon doesn't fit the US realities. I also agree that extreme shoot-out cases require SWAT to have the best equipment (while not agreeing that every department or even county needs a SWAT team).
I'm questioning whether the convenient availability of a 55-lbs bulletproof shield isn't another step in the wrong direction with regards to the necessary discussion about cops being routinely equipped with excessive toys, just in case (hence the MRAP suggestion).
Most police officers retiring in the last century would tell you they never fired a shot, and probably never even took out their service weapon.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday February 18 2017, @12:43PM
I'm reminded of the old guy about 10 years ago who went on a rampage in his town [youtube.com]. He armored a bulldozer and proceeded to knock down the buildings and houses of people in his town he didn't like. He had everything worked out, and the cops had nothing that could touch him. He only stopped because his vehicle got stuck. Then he took his own life.
In other words, people are inventive and do things law enforcement, the national guard, etc., don't expect and aren't trained or are equipped to stop. You don't need to have a howitzer in your garage, just motivation and some basic skills.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Saturday February 18 2017, @05:26PM
When some guy took a tank down the highway, there wasn't a rush to equip every small-town police department with anti-tank shoulder-fired missiles, nor attack helicopters...
Everything has a cost, which has to be balanced against the likelihood of being both used and an improvement.
People are insane enough that those shields could save lives, but situations where it's beneficial for a cop to reach into his trunk to pull out a 55-lbs piece of hardware (two hands, put the gun down, remove other stuff stashed above it, plus 5 seconds to deploy) to protect himself or someone else, instead of hiding behind the engine of his car, can't be that common outside of maybe SWAT-grade standoffs.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Saturday February 18 2017, @02:51AM
How many Chicago thugs are shooting Barrett .50 cal rifles at anyone? They're shooting 9mm rounds from car windows.
I'm gonna guess protecting yourself from a .357 will protect you from 99% of the threats you encounter. The other 1% will be so off the scale (30-.06 hunting rifle) will be so rare you'll never see it.
Recent research has shown that 1 out of 3 Trump supporters is a stupid as the other 2.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 18 2017, @03:53AM
How many Chicago thugs are shooting Barrett .50 cal rifles at anyone?
Well, all of them! Have you not been listening to the Donald, our Loser President? Half of Chicago is worse than the Middle West, or something! Chi-raq, as I think Spike Lee put it. Iraq war vets, who brought their tools of the trade home with them, and now SOMEBODY went an drew Frist Blood! John Rambo!!! I blame him, and John McCain.