Impact

Welcome to Science Class 101. I’m your teacher for the next few minutes, to break down what it is about D3O’s non-Newtonian material that makes its upcoming range of helmet protection potentially revolutionary.

Although helmets are required for many sports, Canadian materials engineering technologist Albert Beyer believes that they don't provide enough protection to the back of the head. His solution is a "crumple zone for helmets" known as the DCLR8.

Carbon nanotubes have found use in everything from smart bandages to more efficient solar cells. Now, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have used them in a helmet lining foam that offers better impact protection than regular foams.

When a car crashes into a roadside object at an intersection, chances are pretty high that object will be a traffic light pole. If it's a new energy-absorbing pole, however, the likelihood of injury or even death may be significantly reduced.

Helmets could soon offer better protection while also being more comfortable, thanks to a new padding material developed by HRL Laboratories. It's claimed to be better than foam at withstanding impacts, while also keeping heads cooler and drier.

Buildings that are constructed with military or civil defense applications in mind need to be tough. It was with this in mind that a new form of concrete was recently developed, that is far more resistant to cracking than regular types.

​According to research conducted by Canadian materials engineering technologist Albert Beyer, about 68 percent of hockey, skiing and snowboarding-related concussions are caused by impacts to the back of the head. With that in mind, Beyer created The Goose Egg.

Woodleigh Crater in Western Australia is one of the largest on Earth. But now, researchers from Curtin University have discovered new evidence that the crater could be bigger than previously thought – thanks to the presence of one of the rarest minerals ever found.

Apple has been awarded a fascinating patent on technology that can detect when a smartphone has been dropped, work out how far it is to the ground, and forcibly adjust the phone's rotation in mid-air so that it lands in a way least likely to damage critical components.

Researchers at Georgia Tech are turning to cats to help soften robot landings. Rather than strapping some felines to a robot's underside, the team is studying the way cats twist in the air when falling to let future robots land safely from a jump or fall.

It's an ongoing problem within sports ... players receive a severe blow to the head, but they don't want to tell anyone so that they can keep playing. While there are already some helmet-mounted devices that detect such impacts, Force Impact Technologies' FITGuard is built into a mouthpiece.

Rhino Shield is reportedly five times more impact-resistant than unprotected Gorilla Glass 2. Its makers recently sent me a testing kit, so I could see first-hand just how tough it is – without endangering my smartphone in the process. Here's how things turned out ...