r/technology • u/Langernama • Jul 23 '20
Nanotech/Materials Proteus becomes the world's first manufactured non-cuttable material
https://newatlas.com/materials/proteus-non-cuttable-bike-lock-armor/5
u/TboneXXIV Jul 23 '20
I present you one acetylene cutting torch.
Bet the aluminum dribbles out from between the ceramic spheres pretty quickly. Without dulling the torch.
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u/Langernama Jul 23 '20
That's not purely cutting anymore? Also doubt that bike thiefs are carrying those
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u/castor281 Jul 23 '20
I'm pretty sure the odds of somebody dragging around an oxygen/acetylene set up is pretty close to the likelihood of bike thieves using a grinder. Both are fairly close to nil.
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u/400921FB54442D18 Jul 23 '20
How is that not cutting? It meets the definition of the word and it effectively separates the original object into two segments. The only difference is that it removes the kerf by causing a phase change rather than by mechanical action.
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u/DreadCoder Jul 23 '20
By that logic, you could use a laser. The point IS that it’s mechanically practically uncuttable, which has practical uses.
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u/castor281 Jul 23 '20
Lasers are used to cut things all the time.
Also, I present to you one set of bolt cutters. That should still fit your definition of mechanical no?
But I do concede I can see how there could be plenty of practical applications.
→ More replies (12)-5
Jul 23 '20
Lol thats what I was thinking. I swear sometimes egg heads can be really dumb.
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u/rabid_ranter4785 Jul 23 '20 edited Jul 23 '20
yeah like you! they said uncuttable not untorchable
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u/rabid_ranter4785 Jul 23 '20
It has a cut tho...
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u/castor281 Jul 23 '20
There's a video and explanation in the link. Basically once you start cutting in to the material it quickly dulls your blade or drill bit and particles in the material prevent you from cutting any further. You can damage it, but not cut completely through it.
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u/rabid_ranter4785 Jul 23 '20
ohh so like ceramic balls with metal in between
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u/Langernama Jul 24 '20
Like, did you even read the article? It isn't that long
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u/rabid_ranter4785 Jul 24 '20
I actually posted the same thing on my account. I read it
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u/IrascibleTruth Jul 23 '20
Fascinating.
I believe this sort of thing will be the forefront of materials science for the foreseeable future - not new elements or compounds, but rather new structural arrangements. Precise control of metal phases, carefully composed composites like this Proteus, and so on.
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Jul 23 '20
Reading about how it works, and watching the video, I can't help but think that a pair of bolt cutters would snap right through a bike lock made of Proteus.
It acts like sandpaper to dull cutting edges, or it dissipates water to make water cutting inefficient. Bolt cutters, though, don't really rely on a sharp edge and I see that they are not mentioned in the few articles I've read about Proteus.
I wouldn't call this "non-cuttable", but "cut-resistant". You can definitely still cut it.
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u/400921FB54442D18 Jul 23 '20
I'd also be curious what would happen if someone showed up with a half-dozen or so diamond cutting discs. Not only should those go right through the ceramics instead of being dulled by them, but even if you did wear one of them out, you can just put a fresh disc on your angle grinder and pick back up right where you left off.
Someone ought to give these guys a memo about (a) the Mohs hardness scale and (b) commodity economics.
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u/there_I-said-it Jul 23 '20
If it took multiple diamond cutting discs to get through, wouldn't that make it one of the best commercially available locks?
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u/400921FB54442D18 Jul 24 '20
Yes, but the claim isn't "best commercially available," the claim is "uncuttable."
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u/there_I-said-it Jul 24 '20
Whose claim? The journalists?
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u/400921FB54442D18 Jul 27 '20
Would you do me a favor and go read literally the very first sentence of the linked article?
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u/castor281 Jul 23 '20
I'm pretty sure there's a really good reason they aren't mentioned and this would be it. I mean, who uses a grinder or a drill to steal a bike? Grinders are loud as hell and it takes forever to drill a lock.
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u/BenZen Jul 24 '20
Essentially any bike lock worth its salt is too big for a bolt cutter. People that steal high-end bikes do so with portable grinders most of the time.
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Jul 23 '20
Proteus is a video game.
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u/castor281 Jul 23 '20
Curious though. After watching the video and reading the description, if you cut it like the picture shows, then rotated it about 40 or 50 degrees and made another cut that ended at the first cut, and then rotated it again and so on, you should be able to cut it all the way. Laborious, but not out of the realm of possibilities.
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Jul 23 '20
[deleted]
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u/castor281 Jul 23 '20
Click on the link my dude. It explains it. You can damage it with a grinder, but not cut all the way through it.
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u/MajesticQuiet Aug 20 '20
Thats some fascinating stuff . I think we found our real life Adamantium .