FosterMomForKittens
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“Researchers from the UK's Durham University and Germany's Fraunhofer Institute claim they've come up with the world's first manufactured non-cuttable material, just 15 percent the density of steel, which they say could make for indestructible bike locks and lightweight armor. The material, named Proteus, uses ceramic spheres in a cellular aluminum structure to foil angle grinders, drills and the like by creating destructive vibrations that blunt any cutting tools used against it. The researchers took inspiration from the tough, cellular skin of grapefruit and the hard, fracture-resistant aragonite shells of molluscs in their creation of the Proteus design. An angle grinder or drill bit will cut through the outer layer of a Proteus plate, but once it reaches the embedded ceramic spheres, the fun begins with vibrations that blunt the tool's sharp edges, and then fine particles of ceramic dust begin filling up gaps in the matrix-like structure of the metal. These cause it to become even harder the faster you grind or drill "due to interatomic forces between the ceramic grains," and "the force and energy of the disc or the drill is turned back on itself, and it is weakened and destroyed by its own attack."
The material is equally effective against high pressure water jet cutters – not that many bike thieves are hauling those around – since the spherical shape of the ceramic chunks tends to widen out the water jet, significantly slowing down its cutting speed. “Essentially cutting our material is like cutting through a jelly filled with nuggets" said lead author Stefan Szyniszewski, Assistant Professor of Applied Mechanics, in Durham's Department of Engineering. "If you get through the jelly you hit the nuggets and the material will vibrate in such a way that it destroys the cutting disc or drill bit.
"The ceramics embedded in this flexible material are also made of very fine particles which stiffen and resist the angle grinder or drill when you’re cutting at speed in the same way that a sandbag would resist and stop a bullet at high speed. This material could have lots of useful and exciting applications in the security and safety industries. In fact, we are not aware of any other manufactured non-cuttable material in existence as of now." https://newatlas.com/materials/proteus-non-cuttable-bike-lock-armor/
ButtholeIceCreamParlor
Wow, that's cutting edge technology
PocketCleric
so use bolt cutters? its seperating by pushing the materiel out of the way not by removing some.
MrJwinkyface
Wait. Noncuttable yet the picture shows a small set of cuts still....not sure are using that word correctly....if it’s actually a word
teal4two
casing
breakingcode
I'll take "Product descriptions that are all hyperbole" for $300 Alex.
USSTrekky360
Uncuttable material. Shown here with three large cuts in it.
10000ftandstillclimbing
Yeah no. If that's how far 1 disk on a grinder cut then 2 or 3 disks will go no worries. You can't stop an angle grinder
KyleBeach
But if we're talking bike locks, the name of the game is speed. Sure you can cut through with half a dozen grinder disks, but nobody is
KyleBeach
Going to take the time to replace them over and over, they'll just move on
shawnemack
So you just get the amount you get? Need 18” of metal? How about 30?!
Turbolibros
Skynet likes this!
zcheney
TheViking333
Those look like cuts to me.
PopCornPlayer81
That's fine, can't cut the lock... cut around it. Problem solved. Like my new bike?
SpaceGK
A bike lock is a lot thinner than this piece of material. So as long as the common thief has an angle grinder then I guess they get a bike?
user2000
In Norway with many electric bike, they only steal battery.
sdrawkcabmIpleH
And if you lock the battery, they steal the wheels.
MrParker64
Or just watch The Lockpicking Lawyer?
mrputter
This is why we lock a bike through the wheels and the frame both.
InsertNameHereIGuess
When it comes to motorcycles, you need a lock on the frame. Most people will use it on a wheel, take out the wheel, problem solved.
NobuNagaa
filben7
It takes a lot longer to cut through the railing a bike is locked to. Plus then cities might be mad as those cost money.
derscur
just cut the bike bro
EatYourSoylentGreenAndShutUp
But what if they made the railings out of - now hear me out - the same stuff? Dum dummmm...
overboardAnt
30 seconds with a lock pick.
eetsumkaus
You know the city's response is just going to be to not replace it right?
10thlettersauce
If the lock is uncutable then it doesn't take alot longer to cut the rail
filben7
Yeah but 3-5 minutes to cut a railing is a hell of a lot longer than the 15 seconds it takes to cut a bike lock.
taurondir
No no no. Just cut the bike, and creatively stick it back together.
Pafolo
Welders exist so yea cut the bike and fix it later.
taurondir
depends on bikes I guess. Do it to an expensive carbon fibre and you fark it permanently.
sdrawkcabmIpleH
That actually happens. They unscrew the nuts and take all valuable parts, leaving only those held by the lock.
taurondir
Ok thats just mean :)
abundantbadgers
Sounds like if the city doesn't want ppl cutting their railing, they should take bike theft more seriously.
ComediNyan
or discourage owning bikes. Those people don't buy fuel for their transportation need anyway so screw them.
ComediNyan
To clarify: not sure if this is sarcasm actually, because for me it does feel like the powers that be actually act this way. I personally 2/
ComediNyan
don't support it though. 3/3
ChaosInherent
What?
ComediNyan
Some rich people really like our addiction to fuel. Bikes (and public transport) are ways to reduce it - but that's the secondary point.
Sp0nKiNG
I'm waiting for the "/s"
ComediNyan
I don't think this will help. People already decided this is what I think is good, and not my opinion of what governments think and do.
Fletch2
I guess we're getting plasma rifles early.
RevnaBirger
In the 40 watt range?
SnapCrackleKrombopulosMichael
Can we fire this out of a railgun?
andychristman2000
Then how do they manufacture it? How do they shape it and cut it at the factory?
Zhorhammer
I’d assume it’s sort of cast into shape in a mold or similar, where the stuff activates and sets in the final shape.
mratio
Relikar
It's a casting. The core is made of aluminium + ceramic balls. The ceramic dust eats away at the cutting disc.
MrRandom314159
Just like how Wolverine got his claws! You build a skeleton for the molding and then pour the molten metal around the core.
cheekybuttcheek
What if you shoot it? How does it handle blunt force? I'ma read the article
LordPigeon
That would result in a ricochet. Think of it like a nonnewtonian fluid. The harder and faster you come at it the less effective.
LordPigeon
Incredible applications for body armor due to the light weight and the way it sounds it would interact with projectiles.
LordPigeon
Alternatively. Sometimes you shoot something. The bullet stops. Shit tons of shrapnel blow off the other side of it.
LordPigeon
If it prevents or minimizes this. 10/10 material for that job. If it worsens it like i also fear it could. We wont go there.
LordPigeon
Bolt cutters sound like a viable solution mentioned. Slower application of force + way less vibration which is how it destroys cutting tools
GFCSylran
This is a misnomer. It can be cut, just not in a timely or efficient manner.
PrickasaursRex
Let me get my Cutco scissors out and give it a try. I mean they can cut through a penny so. . .
DiuhBEETuss
I sold Cutco for a hot minute in college. Those fucking scissors are incredible! Still got em, sharp as ever nearly 20 years later.
pandemicpolemic
YES... I was looking for a Cutco reference. Nice
LuthierVandross
aletheianalex
Still have mine... love them
breakingcode
Don't fucking besmirch the good name of Cutco. I got mine in 1999 (I partied) & they're stellar, + they replace the rare break no Q's asked.
marshawnlynchatapressinterviewsaying
My parents have had the same Cutco knife set since the early 1990's. Dad has had the fisherman's knife since 1996. Great stuff!
JAckerman
You must have some beefy forearms
imakeurglassesfoggy
Mmm beefy
NotTinyPancakes
Mmm forearms
TheRicM
Mmm some
TinyTrashPanda
Mmm o
q2grapple
Are they faster than a Ginsu knife? I don’t think so.
n3ckr0mantic
And if your key breaks in your adamantium bike lock?
LoudBirb
Time for a new bike.
Grankotte
Just cut the bike and weld it later. Don't get a carbon frame.
cptmaj
Time to call in the x-men for help
FeChefImgur
So how do you cut/shape it then ?
Someshithead241
Id assume its the same way you do it with adamantium.
WillJeSuis
Mold it when heated?
justnugthings
You make it very hot.
PoopNukem
I’d assume it’s sintered like tungsten carbide.
OmegaZen
.. putting the pieces together doesn't require you to cut through the final product.
mattidude
In my reality, uncuttable things are common, I just try to live with it.
HootSloot
Probably extrusion or casting. EDM might work.
heyletsbefriends
with a sharper piece of non-cuttable material.
FeChefImgur
Sounds plausible.
DontNeedAWeatherManToKnowWhichWayTheWindBlows
20 years from now, there's gonna be rusting skeletons of junk bikes attached to railings & parking meters all over every major city.
toptrojanfan
Acid of sufficient strength will "cut" it I'm sure.
MechanicalRomance
Angle grinders and drills. Slow tools like bolt cutters will slip right through
roweshow321
Shaped charges are the obvious solution.
PlaidBastard
SatanicSpirals
I'm curious how it handled a ramset. And sadly, end of the day, lock housing is only good as the lock inside.
CmfMttnPpl
Now someone is gonna figure out some stupid simple way to bypass this material
LuminoZero
Welcome to Molecular Chemistry! No such thing as a perfect material, there's always a weakness of some kind.
PraiseTheMachineGod
The worse problem's gonna be wedding padlocks new spouses leave on bridges.
NVRSCR
That would be hilarious.
Enoan
Immune to cutting, still other damage types. Wonder how it fares against massive pliers, heat, etc
Azaer
They never mentioned oxy or plasma torches lol
lronMaiden
That ceramic infused composite material will do jack shit against bolt cutters and i doubt that proper cutting wheel will halt either.
pizzapartyhard
Acetylene torch.
JackieTreehornProductions
Doesn’t mention a plasma cutter
RackhamTheRed
Acid. There, I said it.
notsaf
You had me at rusting skeletons
brockbourbon
And the skeletons of kids that got their head stuck between some bars and they couldn’t be cut loose.
IDontKnowWhereElseToGo
I have a work truck that that sprays water at 50k psi... it might work
1maGoh12
I read the full article somewhere. It said water based cutters don't do well either.
GroundZer0
Lasers
buttdestroyer
I would imagine the locks could still be picked by a professional locksmith. Or a lawyer.
PhillyPumpkinBaron
Or a lock picking lawyer
GrumpyOldMillennial
A Bosnian lockpicking lawyer named Bill?
PlaidBastard
I mean, a lawyer would just use gallium, since it's *aluminum* that the ceramic sphere are in.
mydadbeatmewithjumpercables
Is it really safe to play with?
PlaidBastard
I hear it causes skin/eye/etc. irritation, and is really hard to clean if it soaks into your (outer, dead layer of) skin, but I'd try it...
TrombeOverride
tesseract4d2
Odmanra
Fun kinda of evil, put unbreakable locks on random people bikes and doors!
uzerok
Laser cutting. Expensive, hence thieves probably won't carry them around with them. But it should work well enough.
toomiiikahh
Until so many thieves are buying them it becomes cheap
sdrawkcabmIpleH
Laser is not good against aluminum or any highly reflective material. About 90% of the power goes to waste i.e. to anything surrounding it
SandstormByDarude
I bet a bolt cutter would still slice thru. No moving parts just force against an aluminum alloy.
BelarusianPotatoFarmer
Interesting thought. The ceramic spheres might not move easily through the aluminum though. They would need to be pushed out of the way so
BelarusianPotatoFarmer
The bolt cutters could continue to slice through the aluminum.
mememan19
That is how bolt cutters work, they drive a wedge through either side of the metal
TuckerCarlsonWarnedYouTheredBeGirlsLikeMe
Bolt cutters only work against hardened metals. They'll just squish aluminum.
KinetoPlay
I don't know who told you that, but that's wrong. Bolt cutters will go through soft materials even easier than hard materials.
TuckerCarlsonWarnedYouTheredBeGirlsLikeMe
Whenever I had to cut crappy locks they'd just squish, the hardened ones would crack.
looseasamoose
Steak knives don't work on butter either
KanzenChowa
We also added hornets inside so once you cut through you get a nice surprise
mahakalabhairava
extra spicy flies!
SandstormByDarude
LordNergal
Murder hornets or boring, normal hornets?
cow042
Judgemental hornets.
TerryCrews
Mega cyborg torture hornets. They don't kill you, but you'll wish you were dead.
LordNergal
You can be a frightening man, Mr. Crews.