Those of you, um, enthusiastic enough to remember Star Trek IV may recall the scene embedded above.

If not, let me set up the clip: The crew of the Enterprise has gone into the past to retrieve some whales, OK? And take them “back to the future,” to coin a phrase. But Scotty has a problem: He needs stuff to build a giant whale tank on the ship, but he has no goods to trade with, because, you know, in the future they only work to better themselves and nobody but a Ferengi would stoop to carrying money around. So Scotty barters his knowledge of 24th-century materials technology with a 20th-century engineer, who agrees to make him what he needs in exchange.

The 24th-century material in question is “transparent aluminum,” and today I’m here to tell you: That future has arrived. Sort of. Pretty much.

The scene, as written, seems to imply that Scotty is talking about some fancy way of making metallic aluminum into a transparent form. Which ain’t happening. What has happened, however, (and in fact what was happening in research circles at least as far back as 1981) is the development of a transparent aluminum-based ceramic called aluminum oxynitride, aka “AlON,” that sounds a heckuva lot like the stuff Scotty is peddling. In fact, Star Trek IV came out in 1986, and it’s entirely likely that one of the film’s six (!) credited writers got wind of transparent aluminum from then-ongoing publicity about AlON, and decided to use it in the script.

Transparent aluminum starts out as a pile of white aluminum oxynitride powder. That powder gets packed into a rubber mold in the rough shape of the desired part, and subjected to a procedure called isostatic pressing, in which the mold is compressed in a tank of hydraulic fluid to 15,000 psi, which mashes the AlON into a grainy “green body.” The grainy structure is then fused together by heating at 2000 °C for several days. The surface of the resulting part is cloudy, and has to be mechanically polished to make it optically clear.

All that work pays off. AlON can do amazing things. Here, for instance, a 1.6″ thick AlON plate successfully resists a huge, powerful .50 AP bullet that smashes easily through more than twice that thickness of conventional laminated glass armor, with plenty of energy left over to extremely kill a plastic mannequin head.

It’s expensive, of course, and so generally reserved for high-performance applications, especially in military fields. AlON is manufactured by Massachusetts-based Surmet Corporation for use in armored windows, lenses for battlefield optics, and “seeker domes,” which are the clear round windows covering the sensor heads on the business ends of many missiles. If you want to read further, Tom Scheve has prepared a good bibliography over at HowStuffWorks.

Sure he costs a fair amount in diesel, but he shows up on time and always provides a ride. But like a real drummer, don’t ask him to do anything in 3/4 time.

~Not-So-Handy Andy

The video above is nearly 20 minutes long, but it’s definitely worth watching.  This incredible project creates the ultimate gaming experience by emersing the player into the world of Battlefield 3. If you get shot, you get hit by paintballs. If you crouch, so does your player. You get the point.

Inside a tent, they placed 5 HD projectors, a unique omnidirectional treadmill, surround sound, 800 LEDs, and a hacked Kinect to track player movements.  Absolutely incredible.  Imagine a warehouse full of these tents where gamers could go to become completely immersed!  Brilliant!

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Since SLR Magic initially broke the news about their new HyperPrime 50mm f/0.95 lens (M mount), they had to make some design changes to the final version before today's official announcement:

• The lens is bigger than the initial prototype and it's a true 50mm focal length. The f/0.95 is also a true aperture and not a theoretical f value
• Some changes were done in order to use the lens on RED Epic and ARRI Alexa cameras

For comparison, here is the Leica Noctilux 50mm f/0.95:

Here are some samples taken with a pre-production SLR Magic HyperPrime 50mm f/0.95, Canon 50mm-f/95, Leica Noctilux 50mm f/0.95 and Voigtlander 50mm f/1.1 lenses:

Video test:

Press Release

SLR Magic expands its M mount lineup with a new normal focal length lens

Hong Kong, China (January 1, 2012)  - SLR Magic opens up the M mount lens lineup with the new SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 50mm T0.95 ultra fast normal focal length lens. The world's fastest interchangeable camera lens with an image circle beyond full frame coverage in its focal length, the SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 50mm T0.95 concept lens will be publicly available for experience testing in September 2012 at Photokina in Cologne, Germany.

The field of view of this new HyperPrime Lens corresponds to a 50mm lens in 35mm format. It is optimized to be shot wide open. This ultra fast normal focal length prime lens opens up many new creative composition opportunities, particularly in the fields of available light, in portrait, and street cinematography. Built with modern non aspherical lens technology, the lens excels at defocusing busy backgrounds at T0.95. A minimum focus distance of 0.70m allows for artistic bokeh effect. A fast maximum aperture of T0.95 makes the SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 50mm T0.95 ideal for available-light photography.

Our highest priority in the development of all HyperPrime lenses is to fulfill the demands of professional cinematographers and photographers. The design and build of the SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 50mm T0.95 is solid and reliable.

The SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 50mm T0.95, a concept lens, will be available from authorized SLR Magic dealers by the end of September 2012.

Technical Data

• Lens Type: Fast normal lens with seven Tantalum glass elements to  ensure superior cinematic performance.
• Compatible Cameras: All RangeFinder M mount, LM mount for cinematography, E-mount, and Micro Four Thirds cameras
• Optical Design: 12 elements in 7 groups
• Distance range: 0.70m to ∞, combined scale meter/feet
• Aperture: Manually controlled diaphragm, 12 aperture blades (circular), lowest value 16
• Bayonet: M-mount, E-mount, micro four thirds
• Filter Mount: 62mm; filter mount does not rotate
• Surface Finish: Black anodized
• Dimensions (length to bayonet mount): approx. 95mm (approx. 3.74in) without hood, approx. 110mm (approx. 4.33in) with retractable hood
• Largest diameter: approx. 73mm (approx. 2.87in)
• Weight: approx. 975g (approx. 34.39oz)

Posted by LeicaRumors.com
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Related posts:

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3. New Voigtländer 12mm F5.6 lens for M-mount
4. Voigtlander 50mm f/1.1 Nokton lens review (guest post)
5. Voigtlander announced a new Nokton 1,2/35mm lens

Fuck you CD drive.

Via The Internets