Via email from my brother, it looks like the predictions of the Star Trek series keep coming true:
http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf
Yup, transparent aluminum. Well, an aluminum-based ceramic anyway – aluminium oxynitride. It’s been in development for a while, but now they’ve figured out how to produce it in significant quantity.
And, since this IS a gun blog, ballistic transparent aluminum:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnUszxx2pYc?rel=0]