As women climb into the boxing ring claiming equal rights, Britain’s Defence
Evaluation and Research Agency in Farnborough is trying to make the sport safer
with a new protective helmet (WO 97/27770). The head guard is made from two
different layers of plastic materials. The outer layer absorbs shock waves at
the frequencies generated by a boxer’s glove so that the energy from a punch is
efficiently transferred. But the inner layer resonates at different frequencies,
so instead of shock waves reaching the boxer’s head they are partially reflected
back to the glove.
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