Metal foam can stop speeding bullets in their tracks, scientists discover

The bulletproof foam also has applications in space exploration

An Indian army soldier displays bullets seized from rebels (SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Scientists have developed a lightweight metal foam which can turn speeding armour-piercing bullets into dust in the blink of an eye.

The revolutionary material has applications in a number of areas, from the battlefield to space exploration and nuclear waste storage.

Afsaneh Rabiei, mechanical and aerospace engineering professor at North Carolina State University, has spent her career working on composite metal foams, or CMFs.

In a dramatic video of her creation, a 2.5cm-thick sheet of the foam is shown stopping a 7.62 x 63mm armour-piercing rifle bullet dead in its tracks, exploding it into dust on contact.

Obviously, the foam has natural uses for soldiers, as a replacement for the heavy and bulky metal body armour typically used in the military.

However, the material has peaceful uses too - in a 2015 study, Rabiei found the foam was remarkably good at blocking X-rays, gamma rays and neutron radition, and could potentially be used to make the shipment of nuclear materials much safer.

It can also handle heat and fire much better than the plain metal it's made of, opening up applications in space flight.

CMFs are still not that well understood, and it might take further tests and trials to understand their real worth - but they could be a major part of life in future.