By David Ponce

Say you’re a police officer. Or simply someone with a knack for walking into the line of fire. You’re going to want to put the odds on your side and protect yourself. Sure, police officers usually wear vests. But they also carry clipboards, don’t they? Like for when they’re writing you a ticket? So what if that clipboard… wait for it… could also stop a bullet? That’s exactly what the Ballistic Clipboard from Impact Armor Technologies does. It’s rated to exceed NIJ IIIA specifications, which means it gives multi-hit protection from 9mm, .357, .40, and .44 mag rounds. Best of all, it has a handle and weighs less than 2.0lbs.

Awesome, right? Well… We’re not exactly sure how this works. What scenario could this be used in? Would the officer be expected to raise it up to his face in case a gun is pointed there? Is he expected to swat the bullets away? We’ve just never thought of ballistic armor as something movable; it’s usually affixed to your body. But hey, you can never be too safe, right? If that makes sense to you, it’s $150.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ UberGizmo ]

By Jonathan Kimak

A new type of armor is being researched by engineers at MIT and will try to emulate the scale armor of a fish. The fish species Polypterus senegalus is believed to have been around for 100 million years and has evolved a very durable armor to withstand attacks from predators. The armor is so effective because the scales have the right chemicals in the right amounts that make each scale very sturdy.

The research was funded by the U.S. Army and when developed is hoped to be used for soldiers, first-responders and even on military vehicles. The analysis of the fish scales is detailed in the July 27 issue of the journal Nature Materials.

So instead of sneaking into abandoned mines with misguided dreams of finding mithril, we should have been out fishing.

VIA [ Live Science ]