In 1986 Star Trek invented transparent aluminum as a plot device. In 2025, a Filipino-Japanese research team figured out how to make it from aluminum, oxygen and nitrogen — for the price of a mild acid solution and 10 minutes of electricity 👇 Aluminium oxynitride — marketed as ALON — is a transparent ceramic composed of aluminium, oxygen and nitrogen that is four times as hard as fused silica glass. (Wikipedia) ALON brings together exceptional hardness, optical clarity, and extreme toughness — being four times harder than fused silica glass and significantly tougher than conventional bulletproof glass. (Shengxinaluminium) Filipino researchers from Ateneo de Manila University, in collaboration with Japanese scientists, developed a cost-effective and eco-friendly method to create transparent aluminum oxide using mild acid solution and a tiny electric charge — potentially revolutionising industries from personal electronics to aerospace. (Metal Tech News) ALON laminates tested by the US military stopped armour-piercing rounds while being thinner and lighter than traditional bulletproof glass. (Material Future) Target applications include spacecraft windows, smartphone screens, submarine portholes, surgical implants and next-generation armour. The material that once existed only in science fiction now stops bullets — and fits in your phone.