Colorado Skiwear Company Spyder, developed racing suits using d3o along the shins and forearms and gave members of the US and Canadian Olympic alpine ski teams the chance to try them out a few months ago. “Now they love it and won’t ski without it,” claims Richard Palmer, CEO of UK-based d3o Labs, which developed the material.

This awesome material exhibits a material property called “strain rate sensitivity”. Which under normal conditions the molecules within the material are weakly bound and can move past each with ease, making the material flexible. But the shock of sudden deformation causes the chemical bonds to strengthen and the moving molecules to lock, turning the material into a more solid, protective shield.

Very cool, soon everyone will be wearing these. I would love to have one of these to protect my sore behind after a day of tobogganing with the kids.