Thursday, April 30, 2009

Canton firefighters get new bulletproof vests



By Lori Monsewicz

CANTON — Canton firefighters don’t need pouches for handcuffs and pepper spray.

They’re not police officers. Though they respond to some of the same calls, they have a different job and different needs.

They’d rather have a pocket that fits a 90-degree-angled flashlight, a regular flashlight and or an emergency radio.

So an Akron-based uniform company — D&G Uniform — worked with Point Blank Body Armor in Pompano Beach, Fla. to design bulletproof vests just for Canton firefighters.

Not all firefighters, however, welcome the vests, which were the result of negotiations between the city and the Canton Professional Firefighters Association Local 249.

“A lot of them believe we’re not supposed to be in these (violent) situations, and rightfully so. But you don’t know when you’re going to be put in a situation. And the last time I checked, these T-shirts and sweatshirts that they wear won’t stop a bullet,” Friedmann said.

With the vests, comes a new policy: The body armor must be worn to all shootings, stabbings, assault and domestic-violence cases and to any incident in which violence is possible, Friedmann said.

“Every day, you’ve gotta have it on, whatever truck you’re on,” he said.

This week, all 180 members of the Canton Fire Department received vests marked with the words “Fire Dept” and featuring pockets they can use. Yet, like body armor for police, the vests are designed to protect them from bullets and shrapnel.

“We run on a lot of violent incidents with the police,” said Capt. Raymond Friedmann.

While firefighters’ protocol is to wait until the police secure a scene, “you never know what’s going to happen,” said Friedmann.

“The level of violence on the street has increased consistently,” in the last 15 years, said Friedmann, who’s been on the force since 1979.

Scott Hanlin, a firefighter-paramedic hired in August, looked over his vest Wednesday morning. “It’s nice to have; it’s definitely peace of mind,” he said.

NOT PERFECT

Barbara Limbert and her son, Brian Limbert, owners of D&G Uniform of Akron, warned firefighters that the vests don’t make them invincible.

“Don’t think you’re just like Superman out there,” Barbara Limbert said. “The plate’s function is to slow and mushroom the bullet. I hope you guys never get to the point where you have to use it. If you do happen to get shot, you will feel it. There will be blunt-trauma and tissue damage.”

Her son warned of broken ribs and bruising. “You’re going to feel it,” he said.

But, Barbara Limbert said, “It’s certainly better than the alternative.”

The vests can’t be machine-washed or dry-cleaned. The Limberts suggested a damp washcloth and a quick spritz of Febreeze, and they promised to find the answer to a paramedic’s question: “How can you remove blood from it?”

When she asked what method they’re now using to remove blood stains, one firefighter-paramedic told her that he doesn’t even try.

“For the last two shootings, (my clothing) was soaked,” he said. “There was no way around it — I threw mine away.”

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Home invasion 'lookout' loses appeal

A man who acted as look-out during a brutal Auckland home invasion by a gang pretending to be armed offenders squad officers has failed to get a reduction on his 9 and a half year jail term.

Two of the men allegedly involved in terrorising the Pakuranga family were finally arrested by police in Tokoroa following a 12-month manhunt, code-named Operation Highland.

"Indeed, the primary target of this invasion, the senior male occupant who was the subject of a vicious knife attack, has returned to China."

The court heard that early on September 10, 2006 three men carrying firearms and a sledgehammer smashed their way into the home of a Chinese family as they slept, claiming to be members of the AOS.

They were dressed in imitation police clothing, including bulletproof vests, ballistic helmets, gasmasks and dark clothing.

"The offender took a knife from a kitchen drawer and slashed the victim's upper body and thighs, so causing cuts to his clothing and to his body," the appeal judges said.

The Court of Appeal said in a recent decision that the sentence handed down to 20-year-old "look-out and decoy" John Royal by Judge Patrick Treston in Manukau District Court was warranted.

"This was a sustained intrusion into a private home at night, involving a vicious assault upon the senior male occupant, and the detention of a family in the very place where they were entitled to feel safe," Justice Christopher Allan said as he delivered the court's decision.

However, the home invasion had been noticed by neighbours, who called police and all four were eventually caught.

Royal's lawyer Peter Kaye told the appeal court his sentence was excessive.

The 10-12 year starting point was too high, not enough weight was given to Royal's limited role, and the sentence was too high compared with the actual intruders.

But the argument was rejected by the appeal judges.

Royal was not a mere passive bystander, Justice Allan said.

He had an important role in the enterprise and was already a recidivist offender with 17 burglary convictions.

The six family members, including a 13-year-old girl, were "herded" together in a bedroom and bound and gagged with tape.

"One stood guard with a shotgun which he racked from time to time in order to intimidate the victims," Justice Allan said.

While a second offender searched the house, taking $2000 and a cellphone, the third man, who was carrying a pistol, took a middle aged male to the kitchen where he ordered him to sit on the element of a stove which was switched on.

When the man refused, he was punched to the floor and kicked in the head and body as demands were made for money and valuables.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Canton firefighters get new bulletproof vests



By Lori Monsewicz

CANTON —

Canton firefighters don’t need pouches for handcuffs and pepper spray.

They’re not police officers. Though they respond to some of the same calls, they have a different job and different needs.

They’d rather have a pocket that fits a 90-degree-angled flashlight, a regular flashlight and or an emergency radio.

So an Akron-based uniform company — D&G Uniform — worked with Point Blank Body Armor in Pompano Beach, Fla. to design bulletproof vests just for Canton firefighters.

This week, all 180 members of the Canton Fire Department received vests marked with the words “Fire Dept” and featuring pockets they can use. Yet, like body armor for police, the vests are designed to protect them from bullets and shrapnel.

“We run on a lot of violent incidents with the police,” said Capt. Raymond Friedmann.

While firefighters’ protocol is to wait until the police secure a scene, “you never know what’s going to happen,” said Friedmann.

“The level of violence on the street has increased consistently,” in the last 15 years, said Friedmann, who’s been on the force since 1979.

Scott Hanlin, a firefighter-paramedic hired in August, looked over his vest Wednesday morning. “It’s nice to have; it’s definitely peace of mind,” he said.

NOT PERFECT

Barbara Limbert and her son, Brian Limbert, owners of D&G Uniform of Akron, warned firefighters that the vests don’t make them invincible.

“Don’t think you’re just like Superman out there,” Barbara Limbert said. “The plate’s function is to slow and mushroom the bullet. I hope you guys never get to the point where you have to use it. If you do happen to get shot, you will feel it. There will be blunt-trauma and tissue damage.”

Her son warned of broken ribs and bruising. “You’re going to feel it,” he said.

But, Barbara Limbert said, “It’s certainly better than the alternative.”

The vests can’t be machine-washed or dry-cleaned. The Limberts suggested a damp washcloth and a quick spritz of Febreeze, and they promised to find the answer to a paramedic’s question: “How can you remove blood from it?”

When she asked what method they’re now using to remove blood stains, one firefighter-paramedic told her that he doesn’t even try.

Not all firefighters, however, welcome the vests, which were the result of negotiations between the city and the Canton Professional Firefighters Association Local 249.

“A lot of them believe we’re not supposed to be in these (violent) situations, and rightfully so. But you don’t know when you’re going to be put in a situation. And the last time I checked, these T-shirts and sweatshirts that they wear won’t stop a bullet,” Friedmann said.

With the vests, comes a new policy: The body armor must be worn to all shootings, stabbings, assault and domestic-violence cases and to any incident in which violence is possible, Friedmann said.

“Every day, you’ve gotta have it on, whatever truck you’re on,” he said.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

The First Bulletproof Clothing in the History of Weapons

The history of the world can be described in one word, “bloody”. The present world is culmination of battles and wars. The wars razed down the old and made way for the new, and this is how the world evolved, from the ruins of the war.

Today the most common weapon is a gun loaded with bullets, of course and the protection mechanism against this weapon a bulletproof vest or bulletproof clothing. It is believed that the idea or innovation of bulletproof vests originated from the soft body armor that was used by the Japanese armies in the medieval ages. Later following much research and development on the Japanese soft armors that were made of silk fibers, Rev, Zeglan of Chicago, in 1914 was able to develop the first silk bulletproof jacket, capable of stopping bullets fired from a standard black powder rifle. The cost of the first bullet proof vest was $800.

The first invention of man was a weapon, a weapon for killing animals for food and for protection. As time passed, the use of weapons grew; it began to be used as a means of setting disputes among men for once and for all. With the discovery of metals during the ‘bronze’ and ‘copper’ ages, lead to the innovation of more sophisticated weapons and as well as metallic structures that could be used to protect oneself when attacked by a weapon. These metallic structures of protection against weapons later developed into shields and body armors. As the sophistication of the weapons developed so did the complexity of the shields, body armors and other means of protection. But as history proves that the means of attacking was always a step ahead than the means of protection.

Friday, April 3, 2009

A Shelter From Fists And Rage



by Jeff Holubitsky

The steady stream of women who turn up at the Lurana Shelter come with bruises, black eyes, and

shattered self-confidence. Regular emotional and physical beatings — including strangulation — at the hands of their partners will do that to a woman, whether she’s a doctor, lawyer, teacher, police officer, teenager, senior citizen, social worker, karate expert, or a stay-at-home mother. Sister Lucinda, the shelter’s compassionate but realistic director, says what’s worse is they also often come with children who have learned from dad that it’s okay to teach mom a lesson with their fists, feet, and teeth.

“But it is totally reversible,” she says. “Violence is learned behaviour and what gives me hope is that it can be unlearned.”

In the past year, a total of more than 670 moms and their children have hidden at the 32-bed shelter where their safety is secured with bulletproof windows, video surveillance, and alarm system and panic buttons.

“It’s a tough ministry, but I love it,” Sister Lucinda says. “If their partner gets help, things can change. So if a woman wants to reconcile, we will work with them to understand their boundaries and to have a strong safety plan so that if things don’t work out, she won’t stay long enough to get hurt.”

Before the shelter’s staff of 35 can help abused women rebuild their lives, they must first ensure their safety.

Sister Lucinda is blunt when she describes the reason its location is kept secret. Some abusers have gone so far as to hire detectives to pose as doctors to find their spouses and children. Others have sent people posing as social workers.

“There could be death threats and we are extremely cautious about who comes to the shelter,” Lucinda says.

New arrivals, who contact Lurana through a crisis line listed in the front pages of the phone book, can only come by a cab sent by the shelter.

“If a friend insists on driving them,” Lucinda says, “we’ll have them dropped off at a mall where a cab will meet them.”

Friends, family members, and the media are all strictly prohibited for visiting the nondescipt apartment block. Cellphone use is discouraged as well, because of the potential for tracing the source of the call with GPS technology.

Sister Lucinda, dressed in a plain brown long-sleeved dress that serves as her habit, conducts interviews at the order’s convent south of 118 Avenue on 110 Street. The Roman Catholic nun joined the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement about 16 years ago, after an earlier career as a teacher. “One thing I learned early on is that women are really at a higher risk when they leave than if they stay,” she says. “When a person realizes their wife or partner is not coming back, a lot of individuals who are not stalkers become stalkers.”

Women and their children are typically allowed to stay 26 days, although some stay longer if no other accommodation is readily available. Through hours of group and personal counselling, they are taught to realize domestic violence can’t be blamed on the victim.

“We want the mom to learn she is not at fault,” Lucinda says. “For children, they also have to learn it is not their fault and the second thing they have to learn is the abuse has to stop, because most kids do, regretfully, blame their mom.”

The children, who are as old as 17, are usually encouraged to continue at their own schools — though if that proves impossible, they can attend class in schools near the shelter. Lucinda dreams of someday offering special classes for them at the convent.

Funding to cover the shelter’s $1.5 million annual budget comes from the province and through donations.

Many churches and schools raise money or collect new clothing and household items to help the women, who often flee their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Money for the shelter will also be raised through a silent auction at the Mom, Pop and Tots Fair, which runs from Apr. 3-4 at Northlands Agricom.

Sadly, some women have returned to Lurana four or five times before things change for the better.

“When I look at violence in homes, it has to be men and women working together to stop it,” Lucinda says. “Most women do try to reconcile, because they fell in love with that person and unless there has been something so severe, she doesn’t stop loving.”

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Montreal jeans going global



Canada’s own Yoga Jeans brand is going global.

Come fall, the only jeans that promise to never expose butt crack, no matter how deep you bend, will be available in the U.S. and Europe.

The Montreal-based company recently bought a new factory in Quebec that will allow it to quadruple production and expand distribution, says Eric Wazana of Second Clothing.

An additional 50,000 pairs will be ready to sell in September. Cut on the bias for maximum stretch, the jeans are available in Toronto at Shopgirls, a Parkdale emporium of Canadian-made fashions.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Lookin' good, absorbing bullets

What do you get the stylish, ambitious young exec who has everything? Well, if he's got a price on his head- or he does a lot of business in volative Middle Eastern nations- then consult the expert services of Miguel Caballero, clothier to the paranoid jet-set. This Bulletproof may also be part of fashion in the future.

Now here's a designer who knows how to marry high fashion with military-grade ballistic resistance. Whether it's attending that all-important 'special contractor' meeting in Baghdad's bustling financial center, or heading out for dinner and drinks in Beirut's 'party district', Miguel has you covered. Everything from bulletproof tuxedo suits to bulletproof 100% cotton t-shirts are on offer at the clothing line's official website. There's country-themed wear, strictly formal attire and even some beach-friendly duds, for the fun-loving beachcomber who's life is under constant threat.

Caballero also caters to tactical and private security clients, but the focus is most definitely on providing fashionable alternatives to those oh-so-clunky bulletproof vests currently sported by SWAT teams and visiting dignitaries. The bulletproof elements of each item are camouflaged for discretion and well-cushioned, and the thin, thermo-regulating materials provide extra comfort.

If you've got the money to spare- as you might imagine, these rags ain't cheap- then a closet full of Miguel Caballero might not be such a bad idea. After all, you can expect to be shot at quite a bit come December 21st, 2012.

I say, if you have to spend your days running for your life, can't you at least try to look fabulous whilst you're at it? After all, looking good is the first step towards feeling good, and feeling good is the first step towards surviving the End of Days.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Manny Pacquiao ranks with President Obama, Gov. Schwarznegger in Time magazine poll



Right wing motormouth Rush Limbaugh is at a loss for words. Tiger Woods has an unplayable lie because he’s stuck in deep sand. Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is a pobrecito.
Lance Armstrong’s bike just skidded into a ditch. It’s a huge error charged to ballplayer and happy hooker employer Alex Rodriguez. Even the Dalai Lamai is looking for real wisdom.
Oprah Winfrey has been so tuned out she’s probably gone on an eating binge.
The ascension of the world’s most popular boxer and I dare say the most socially significant athlete in any sport continues in the Time magazine “100 Most Influential” poll.
There’s still time, Pacmaniacs, to make your voice heard. As I’ve written before on Boxingconfidential.com and Examiner.com, the idea is to vote day and night. The extra boost for Megamanny comes when you take the influence level meter and ratchet it up to the maximum setting for 100.
Time magazine and the poll can be found at www.time.com.
I guess my column woke up Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum because the Top Rank honcho immediately ordered flack Fred Sternburg to send out a press release about the electoral push.
Please excuse Arum as he's been busy getting his bulletproof clothing ready for his JC Chavez Jr. "Latin Fury" show in the combat zone of Tijuana, Mexico.
Sternburg credited both Boxingconfidential.com and Examiner.com for leading the way, comparing both sites to the lanterns which lit the way for American patriot Paul Revere.
“The battle cry is vote today, vote tomorrow and the day after that vote Manny,” the Denver-based publicist said "I am alerting every village and farm worldwide on this."
Last time I checked, minutes ago, the Pinoy idol was at 93,544 votes and the 100,000 vote mark is an open basket for the pride of the Philippines.
He's Lucky #13 on the list of noted personalities.
More importantly, Manny’s influence level has hit 18 which puts him the same upper echelon as California Gov. Arnie Schwarznegger. The star of “Kindergarten Cop” has more than double the votes Pacman has but the two are tied at the 18 mark in influence.
Right in front of Arnie is a Washington resident named Barack Obama. Got to say the president and the governor are in good company with Da Pacman.
Can't be long before MP says "hasta la vista, baby" to the Golden State Governator.
Pity Oprah. Proving that money isn’t everything, the TV and magazine maven has more total votes than Megamanny (97,082) but has a how low can you go influence level of six.
So who’s in front of Pacman I see a lot of candidates who Manny can put in his rear view mirror if you, the faithful start clicking like crazy.
Political maverick Ron Paul is ranked high as are TV comics Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Do you think any of that trio is more important or more influential than Pacman? Don’t make me laugh.

South Korena pop star Rain is ranked high as is American rap music figure T-Pain. If Pacquiao gets a big push now, he should be able to leave those and tartlet Britney Spears eating Pinoy smoke.
How impressive is Pacman’s showing so far? In a word awesome.
President Barack Obama is ranked 11th but his influence rating is only one point more than the prizefighter’s.
Let’s not rest on our laurels, people. Let’s get back to clicking.
(Michael Marley owns and operates Paccentric boxing website, www.boxingconfidential.com. He also supported Manny in his losing political race against Darling Darlene.)
For Pacman news of all kinds, I heartily recommend www.mannypacquiao.com, www.philboxing.com and the relatively new site (new to me, anyway)

This is a huge issue and tells that pacman really influence many people, hopefully some issues regarding his life style and decision making won't affect his influence, I may also predict that he may be on top of all.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Mexico's morgues crowded with mounting drug war dead

By Julie Watson

CIUDAD JUREZ, Chihuahua — Death froze his exhausted face.

The attackers lashed almost every part of his body before dumping it on a city street.

As with most slayings in Ciudad Juárez, police found no witnesses and no weapons. Only the body on the steel coroner's table carried clues to who he was and how he died.

"Every organ speaks," Dr. Maria Concepcion Molina said.

Bodies stacked in the morgues of Mexico's border cities tell the story of an escalating drug war. Drug violence claimed 6,290 people last year, double the previous year, and more than 1,000 in the first eight weeks of 2009.

Each bullet wound or broken bone illustrates the brutality with which the cartels are battling a government crackdown and one another. In the rows of zipped white bags, slain police officers lie next to hit men.

Workers labor for as many as 12 hours a day, sometimes seven days a week, to examine the remains. When coffin makers in Tijuana, across the border from Southern California, fell behind during the December holidays, the morgue crammed 200 bodies into two refrigerators that were made to hold 80.

"There are times here when there are so many people, so many cadavers, that we can't keep up," said Tijuana morgue director Federico Ortiz.

Juárez, across the border from El Paso, is the border city with the most killings. In the morgue, Molina prepares to make a dead man talk. Investigators take fingerprints from the body. Molina guesses from his face that he was probably in his 30s.

She carefully lays out his clothing on a plastic sheet. She pieces together his knife-shredded T-shirt that pictures a wanted poster for Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. She lays the tags showing the brands of his jeans flat before snapping photographs of them.

"Sometimes we show family these photos, and they'll say it's his clothing but it's not him," said Molina, 41. "It's a defense mechanism."

Juárez, a city of 1.3 million, has a modern morgue and crime laboratory, with an estimated worth of $15 million, because of international support that the city received after a different spate of killings: More than 400 women have been raped, strangled and dumped in the desert since 1993.

The morgue has seven doctors, including two who were hired recently.

The procession of the dead is staggering, and plans to double the size of the morgue are under way.

Last year, 2,300 victims of violence and accidents were wheeled into the pungent, formaldehyde-infused morgue, where doctors work to Mexican love ballads and the whir of electric saws cutting through bone. More than 460 bodies arrived in January and February this year.

The morgue has stopped taking other death cases.

Last year, almost 40 percent of the dead tested positive for cocaine or marijuana. About 20 percent were never claimed by their families. Cardboard boxes with bloodstained cowboy boots, cell phones and bulletproof vests are stacked to the ceiling in the crime lab.

Drug traffickers know investigators use cadavers to track killers, and they have raided morgues and carted off bodies at gunpoint. Now, soldiers guard morgues when a well-known trafficker is thought to be among the dead.

Tijuana morgue workers show photographs to families identifying bodies from behind a protective window. Ortiz has asked for bulletproof glass, as well as fencing around the one-story building.

From 4:30 to 9 p.m. on a recent Tuesday, 17 bodies rolled into the Juárez morgue, including the city police force's second-in-command and three other officers.

"If this continues, we're going to have another record year easily. We're headed toward 2,000 deaths within 10 months," said Hector Hawley, administrator of the crime analysis and forensics unit. "We need a lot more help."

Molina sees the carnage as a mound of medical evidence to be explored, a mechanism that helps her leave the gory images locked in the morgue when she heads home. Other doctors have quit after a few days.

In a white shower cap and blue medical robe, Molina examines her victim carefully with the help of her assistant, 20-year-old Ivan Ramos. Ramos started at the morgue as a volunteer when he was 17. At first, the work made it difficult for him to eat, but he is glad that it led to a job in a recession-wracked city.

Molina examines the man's organs, noting how healthy he was: no kidney stones, little fat, a healthy appendix, a normal-size head. "This could have been a productive person, and they are all like that, young men between 18 and 36 years old," she said.

After an hour and a half, she decides that the cause of death was asphyxiation.

As they zip the remains into a body bag to store in the refrigerator, the doors open, and workers wheel in another slain man.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The First Bulletproof Clothing in the History of Weapons

by GD

The history of the world can be described in one word, “bloody”. The present world is culmination of battles and wars. The wars razed down the old and made way for the new, and this is how the world evolved, from the ruins of the war.

The first invention of man was a weapon, a weapon for killing animals for food and for protection. As time passed, the use of weapons grew; it began to be used as a means of setting disputes among men for once and for all. With the discovery of metals during the ‘bronze’ and ‘copper’ ages, lead to the innovation of more sophisticated weapons and as well as metallic structures that could be used to protect oneself when attacked by a weapon. These metallic structures of protection against weapons later developed into shields and body armors. As the sophistication of the weapons developed so did the complexity of the shields, body armors and other means of protection. But as history proves that the means of attacking was always a step ahead than the means of protection.

Today the most common weapon is a gun loaded with bullets, of course and the protection mechanism against this weapon a bulletproof vest or bulletproof clothing. It is believed that the idea or innovation of bulletproof vests originated from the soft body armor that was used by the Japanese armies in the medieval ages. Later following much research and development on the Japanese soft armors that were made of silk fibers, Rev, Zeglan of Chicago, in 1914 was able to develop the first silk bulletproof jacket, capable of stopping bullets fired from a standard black powder rifle. The cost of the first bullet proof vest was $800.

Story Source: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/the-first-bulletproof-clothing-in-the-history-of-weapons_100170724.html

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Bulletproof Clothing Ranks in Top 15 Google Trends


You may recall my post about Miguel Caballero, a high-end fashion designer who specializes in bulletproof clothing , and the term ranked No. 5 (currently No. 13 in Google Trends.)

Perhaps the surge in gang violence and escalation of drug wars in Mexico has contributed to this trend. Caballero's main store is in Mexico city, with branches in Guatemala City, Johannesburg and London. VIP clients include Venezuela president Hugo Chavez, who just ordered federal takeover of Venezuelan ports.

MC style ranges from tactical to practical in four product lines- MC Black (Elegant European style), MC Gold ("American style" multi-functional, sports and entertainment), MC Classic (security companies and private groups) and MC Silver (Value transportation companies, banks,surveillance, bodyguards,etc.) There's even a polo shirt available, which offers protection from "random street violence

Designs are divided into three categories:

* Low protection level (9mm and pistols)
* Medium protection level (sub-machine guns and pistols)
* High Protection level (pistols and automatics, including an MP5)

On Youtube, you can watch a demo video where brave customers take a direct shot to test the clothing

Story source: http://www.marketingshift.com/2009/3/bulletproof-clothing-google-trends-top.cfm

Monday, March 23, 2009

A jelly that makes you bulletproof



Orange jelly that looks wibble woobly can save lives too. British researchers have come up with a “bullet-busting” jelly that will save the lives
of lakhs of soldiers by substantially reinforcing their helmets.

Britain’s ministry of defence has awarded £100,000 to a small company that has developed a special substance that hardens immediately on impact, reports the Telegraph.

It is hoped that the shock-absorbing substance will soon be fitted onto the inside of soldiers’ helmets reducing in half the kinetic energy of a bullet or piece of shrapnel and hopefully making them impenetrable. The jelly, called d3O locks instantly into a solidified form when it is hit at high impact.

“When moved slowly, the molecules will slip past each other, but in a high-energy impact they will snag and lock together, becoming solid,” Richard Palmer, who invented the jelly, was quoted by Telegraph as saying. “In doing so they absorb energy,” he added.

The d3O jelly has already expanded into a range of sporting goods and is found in ski gloves, shin guards, ballet shoe pointes and horse-riding equipment. The substance relies on “intelligent molecules” that “shock lock” together to absorb energy and create a solid pad. Once the pressure has gone they return to their normal flexible state.

The jelly is stitched into clothing or equipment that is supple until it stiffens into a protective barrier on impact. If the product is taken on by defence contractors it could be used to reduce the bulky and restrictive armour used by troops in on the frontline with jelly pads inserted into key protective areas.

Story source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health--Science/Science/A-jelly-that-makes-you-bulletproof/articleshow/4209987.cms