Scientists have developed a non-Newtonian liquid so effective that when implemented into body armour, can not only stop a bullet, but prevent the shockwave from causing potentially lethal internal damage.
Called a Shear-Thickening-Fluid (STF), the liquid was developed by Polish company Moratex and its inventors at the Military Institute of Armament Technology in Warsaw.
Non-Newtonian liquids certainly aren't new, however the Polish company believes that it has finally perfected the composition needed to create a military-ready product.
Deputy Director for Research at the Moratex institute, Marcin Struszczyk spoke to Reuters about the announcement saying: "We needed to find, design a liquid that functions both with projectiles hitting at the velocity of 450 meters per second and higher. We have succeeded,"
One of the biggest problems about current body armour is that while it can stop the bullet, the shockwave can still cause potentially lethal damage to the internal organs. Struszczyk and his team believe they have solved this problem.
"Thanks to the properties of the liquid, thanks to the proper formation of the insert, we eliminate one hundred percent of this threat because we have reduced the deflection from four centimeters to one centimeter."
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When a bullet or projectile impacts with the liquid it instantly hardens, absorbing both the object and the shockwave, sending it rippling out into the rest of the armour.
The company hopes that STF can be used in a myriad of situations from creating stronger protective sports gear to even building the next generation of motorway bumpers.