Protection

The Sumdex Aircube laptop sleeve uses "air cell technology" to spread overall pressure between air channels and provide added protection for traveling laptops. Made from durable TPU (thermoplastic urethane) and neoprene, the Aircube sleeve is similar to surrounding your precious computer in bubble wrap – only better looking and not as bulky. Read More

When BMW released their original C1 scooter in 2000 nobody had seen anything like it on the road. And not many C1s were seen on the road after it was released either. In the three years that BMW produced the scooter-with-a-roll-cage, only about 12000 were made. The riding public didn’t quite know what to make of the C1 and BMW never sold as many as it had hoped. Now BMW has brought the urban runabout back as the C1-E concept vehicle with an electric drivetrain. Could it be the C1’s time has come? Read More

Casualties in Iraq from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) have dropped as the number of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles has increased, but with roadside bombs still responsible for the majority of casualties to coalition forces in Afghanistan, there is a need for a smaller, more nimble version more suited to its rugged, mountainous terrain. A new concept that would see military vehicles built around a protected personnel compartment and use a sacrificial “blast wedge” to absorb energy could improve safety for the occupants of future light armored patrol vehicles. Read More

Helmets are the obvious form of protection for cyclists, and many parts of the world have laws in place making the wearing of them while riding a bike mandatory. But with cyclists being such vulnerable targets on the roads, other protective gear is undoubtedly a good idea - and almost essential for offroaders traversing rugged terrain. The Spine Ergo Flow is a lightweight armor for your spine that is designed to decrease the likelihood of sustaining a serious spinal injury in the event of an accident. Read More

Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich rose from obscurity and successfully navigated the shady world of early Russian privatization to become one of the world's wealthiest self-made billionaires. His 40-man private army of security personnel make him one of the best-protected businessmen in the world, and when his private gigayacht the Eclipse is handed over in time for Christmas this year, it will be the largest (at a staggering 560ft) and most expensive (at US$1.2 billion) private yacht the world has ever seen. Security will be as tight as you'd expect, with missile defence and intruder detection systems - but the Eclipse's most notable feature is a privacy system that can detect the digital cameras of snooping paparazzi and blind them with laser bursts, ruining spy photos. Read More

Graffiti is not only ugly, it costs society millions of dollars to remove it. But graffiti on historic landmarks is worse because it often can't be removed using basic caustic solutions without damage to the underlying surface. Now a new, breathable coating could help preserve some of our most beautiful and priceless links to the past by providing them with an efficient, all-round protection against attacks by taggers. Read More

Conventional blast-resistant glass is more than an inch thick and expensive, but researchers are developing and testing a new type of blast-resistant glass that is less than one-half of an inch thick, lighter and yet less vulnerable to small-scale explosions. Read More

If you’re looking for some hardware-based protection to supplement data encryption on your USB memory stick, you might want to consider the Flash Drive Lock. The combination lock fits to the end of any standard USB memory stick and can’t be removed without inputting the correct three-digit code, thereby preventing any nefarious types from inserting the drive into a computer’s USB slot. Read More

Developed by UK firm Amsafe, Tarian cloth is capable of repelling armor-piercing anti-tank warheads by creating a ‘cushion’ between the vehicle’s exterior and typical armor plating, thereby triggering the explosive early and dispersing the force of the blast across the existing armor. Read More