Scotty's Transparent Aluminum

For those Star Trek fans out there you'll remember that Scotty traded the secret of transparent aluminum in an effort to save whales on Earth. It looks as though that material is now being made here on our planet.

A transparent material tough enough to withstand armour piercing rounds is being tested by the US Air Force.

Aluminium oxynitride, known commercially as ALON, could replace the existing bullet-proof glass on military vehicles, which is heavier and less tough.

"The substance itself is light years ahead of glass," says Lieutenant Joseph La Monica, head of the transparent armour research project at the Air Force research laboratory in Ohio.

ALON is a ceramic compound made from aluminium, oxygen and nitrogen, and has similar optical and structural properties to sapphire ...

So much science fiction becomes fact. I'm still waiting for a transporter :)