10 Times Star Trek Predicted The Future
6. Transparent Aluminium
In one of the funniest scenes in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Scotty and McCoy seek out a way to build their whale tank aboard the captured Klingon Bird of Prey. To do this, they need to source a material that has, in fact, not been invented yet. While they can substitute it with something else, they leave their mark on history behind - by giving the formula for Transparent Aluminium.
Aluminium oxynitride (or ALON) is a ceramic composed of aluminium, oxygen and nitrogen. The patent was issued in 1985, which is the year before the release of Star Trek IV, however the film resulted in this material being dubbed as transparent aluminium.
It was been used in bulletproof glass, along with personnel protection by the US Military. Scotty says that transparent aluminium need only be 1 inch thick for the task he needs it for - something that is deemed ridiculous by the plant manager. However, 1.6 inches thick ALON can stop a .50 BMG armour piercing rounds!
The material also features in Jurassic World. The recorded introduction by Jimmy Fallon details the outer walls of the gyrosphere as being made from ALON - something that is good once the dinosaurs start to get hungry!