If there’s been a bigger, more potent force for geeky goodness over the last 40 years than Star Trek, I don’t know what it is. The series had such a dramatic impact upon scientists working today who were inspired by Trek to do what they do now that you could write an entire book about the subject... in fact, it’s already been done: I'm Working on That: A Trek From Science Fiction to Science Fact, by William Shatner and Chip Walter.
So, while there’s no overt indication that this new breakthrough was inspired by the whale tank in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, it’s not unlikely that it was:
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) -- Engineers here are testing a new kind of transparent armor -- stronger and lighter than traditional materials -- that could stop armor-piercing weapons from penetrating vehicle windows.
The Air Force Research Laboratory's materials and manufacturing directorate is testing aluminum oxynitride -- ALONtm -- as a replacement for the traditional multi-layered glass transparencies now used in existing ground and air armored vehicles.
[from U.S. Air Force AIM Points]
Well, Scotty did leave the formula for transparent aluminum kicking around back in 1986, didn’t he?
(For a nice roundup of how Trek has influenced real science and technology, see this article from last year on SFGate.com.)
