Screens turn blue in quest for strength

The next wave of smartphones and tablets might have super-sturdy screens fashioned from the human-made version of a gemstone. But which one? Manufactured sapphire. It's a substance already used to protect the camera lens on the iPhone 5 and to armour some military vehicles. It would also be an almost unbreakable alternative to the glass now used on the displays of mobile devices, according to a report in the MIT Technology Review. Sapphire is the second-hardest material on the planet, behind only diamond. According to the MIT report, a sapphire smartphone screen won't break if you drop it, and it can't be scratched with a car key or by a sidewalk. That's good news for you techies out there. The bad news is that currently, a sapphire display for a smartphone would cost about $30, compared with $3 for the screens made by Corning's Gorilla Glass, the protective cover that's on more than 1 billion devices. But enough about that because anyone who is in London when Margaret Thatcher's funeral takes place next Wednesday can expect it to "look very different" as a huge security operation swings into action, police said yesterday. Roads and Underground stations will be closed, police officers will be out in force, and members of the armed forces will line the route that the cortege will follow from Westminster to St. Paul's Cathedral. With Queen Elizabeth II and many other dignitaries among the more than 2,000 guests, the "ceremonial"-style funeral for Britain's first female prime minister was bound to be a security headache. The threat of possible demonstrations by anarchists and fears that dissident Irish Republicans may try to act have heightened concerns.