MSNBC has this cool article about a new metal alloy that has the strength of steel but is worked like a plastic. Very interesting!

And yes, I recognized immediately that it was a discarding sabot round next to him in the picture. Look closely, and you'll see it resembles an arrow with one of those drive-up-deposit capsules wrapped around it. When fired from a tank, the round "discards" the extra bits, giving it an extra boost, sort of like a skater yanking in their arms in a spin.

When hand-held firearms were first used one of the things they shot were metal arrows designed to pierce the plate armor of knights. Things have come full circle now, because in essence that's all a discarding sabot round is... a metal arrow made out of exotic stuff. And tanks are considered the "cavalry" of any modern army. The more things change...