Fullerene Armour for the Space Marines

[jeffreyab]

More info here:

http://www.isracast.com/tech_news/091205_tech.htm

What is next gauss rifles or laser rifles?

Comments

[ziactrice.livejournal.com]

My first thought was 'but carbon is flammable!?!' Though on careful reading, I see it isn't really made of organic carbon fullerenes, but other compounds mimicing the structure of same.

Really, really neat. I want that flexible kind for my seat belts.

[snarkactual.livejournal.com]

Interesting, there's a lot of interest in applied nanotech in the land warrior project. Also, rather than gauss rifles or lasers, think very small mass drivers and particle beams. But I think we're on track to put together better body armor and weaponry but the biggest fly in the ointment is cooling systems for the armor and the weapons. Current effective cooling systems carry a prohibitive weight penalty and the less than optimal solutions are very sub-optimal.

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

What's the difference between a gauss rifle and a very small mass driver?

[snarkactual.livejournal.com]

Having looked up "gauss rifle" in Google I've come to discover it isn't the directed electrical energy weapon that I was thinking about when I posted. If I use the basic definition that I've inferred from the Google search, that a "gauss rifle" is a weaponized linear accelerator then there's probably no difference.

Sorry, I'm not much of a gamer or con follower so don't know the vernacular.

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

No problem.

[avt-tor.livejournal.com]

Singularity's coming up fast. Every invention that could ever be possible is going to be developed in the next few decades.

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

That troll deserved more attention than it got, so I'm responding. ;-)

[avt-tor.livejournal.com]

A small homage to Confusion's guest of honor seemed in order. :)

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

In answer to the original question, I think I'm going to go with gauss. Maybe I've played too much Traveller (distinct possibility), but I think they're likely to become energy-efficient before lasers do.