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.

NPR: Pride and Production in a Vermont Helmet Factory

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