In recent tests at the company's Advanced Technology Centre in Bristol, a special liquid has been used to construct a material that is thinner than normal body armour and yet is able to stop a low-velocity bullet.

ECONOMIST: Monitor: Fluid defences | The

The most important material in the process is Kevlar, a fabric designed to stop bullet fragmentation and shrapnel.

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And if an earthquake above a certain magnitude strikes, the bullet train will stop and nuclear and other plants will automatically go into temporary shut down.

BBC: How Japan tackles its quake challenge

Now that it has sunk in, can we stop pretending that changing the person sitting in the CEO chair is a silver bullet to save a struggling company?

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