Exactly what I was thinking. 
️
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(Ignorance) What?
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That’s when the Vulcan’s made “first contact” with humans. Zefram Cochrane (father of Warp Drive) is on the left.
“Don’t try to be a great man, just be a man. And let history make its own judgments.” ~ Zefram Cochrane
…Also… I’m a huge nerd.
Note: “First contact” is in quotes because that’s the first contact in recorded history… There was contact in the 1950’s too, but unknown to humans.
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Nerd? Welcome to the club. 
(nerd emoji) - Rich
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There was also brief contact in the 80s involving whale theft. 
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And transparent aluminum…!! - Rich
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That’s really cool!
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Actually was looking for something like this earlier in the week - need something stronger/more heat resistant than acrylic, but transparent as glass.
Not going to be ready in time for when I need it, and probably too expensive now - but good to know the tech is moving in that direction.
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A great deal has happened in the field of optical transparency. It is now known that it is a surface phenomenon and that certain precise coatings can make nearly all metals transparent. The free electrons on the surface, with their jumbled motions, interact with light and interfere with light passing through it. Tie down the electrons with a regular array of atoms with an affinity for electrons, say oxygen, and the material becomes transparent. Ten years ago, or so, I found a technical report of one such specialty coating. If memory serves, it was made by applying alternating layers of silver (4 nm) and alumina (12 nm). At 7 combo layers it was 83% transparent, at 19 combo layers, it was 97% transparent. I was intrigued about the possibility of making the material so that it could be turned off and on with the flick of a switch.
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have you heard of transparent wood? Not a perfect solution, but intriguing.
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I wonder how close we are to that actual “cloak of invisibility”. 
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Hadn’t seen that either. Awesome cool!
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I suspect we are there, or nearly there, in military circles.
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That’s a new link to what was in this post.
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I work for a company that builds transparent armor (and a thousand other things) for the military. I wonder if they have seen that demonstration on transparent AON ceramic? Very expensive, but probably somewhat laserable like ceramic tile?
Transparent wood…another as of now, unobtanium. Research in cellulose based, ultra strong and light materials has been going on for a long time. This material was sort of inevitable after a while. - Rich
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I need to go back to the stuff that you guys discussed before i got forum active…you’ve got a lot of great leads.
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What kind of material is the transparent armor made out of?
My first transparent aluminum link was aluminum oxynitride, but magnesium aluminate is also transparent.
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Actually, I am not sure. They call it ballistic glass, and it is 3-4 inches thick depending on the application. There is a thick piece of plastic laminated like a sandwich between the glass panes. - Rich
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