From falls to football tackles, most blows to the head occur at odd angles. And those impacts trigger simultaneous linear and rotational head motions. The rotating movement in particular causes shear strain, which is especially damaging to the brain.
A new lightweight foam material could take most or all of that strain off the brain.
Developed by University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers, the new material—a vertically aligned carbon nanotube foam—can dissipate an enormous amount of rotational kinetic energy from an impact. And as a helmet lining material, it could mitigate, or even prevent, traumatic brain injuries by weakening rotational kinetic energy before it reaches the brain.
Read more here: https://engineering.wisc.edu/news/in-quest-to-prevent-debilitating-tbis-new-foam-material-rises-to-the-top/