This alloy isn't new--it's been used as a neutron absorber in nuclear power plants--but hafnium's use as a chip insulator required a fabrication breakthrough.

FORBES: Magazine Article

This meant that equity, the balance-sheet shock-absorber, had to fall in value.

ECONOMIST: The global crash

This acts as a shock absorber for the rider, who is in the middle of the ball.

BBC: Russia investigates horrific 'zorb' ride death

In particular the intermediate product protactinium-233 (Pa-233) is a neutron absorber which diminishes U-233 yield.

FORBES: Is Thorium the Biggest Energy Breakthrough Since Fire? Possibly.

Their rough-hewn prototype sits in a small room at Trust Automation's headquarters in San Luis Obispo, California, using a water-filled vitamin bottle as a shock absorber. ("It runs like a Corvette on a Pinto engine, " Safreno says, smiling.) The ratty demo reel first shows a 22-second clip of an actor walking on a grassy lawn, past a blurred van, squirting water with a hose, at 24 fps.

FORBES: Film's Latest Picture Show