(CNN) Could this slimy, brightly colored orange goo be a real-life version of the "Flubber" from the 1997 film starring Robin Williams?

Not quite... But while it may look like it's made for children, in reality it is revolutionizing the way soldiers are protected, and could radically reduce the number of head trauma injuries in football.

It's a gel developed by UK-company D3O that acts as both a liquid and a solid. When handled slowly the goo is soft and flexible but the moment it receives an impact, it hardens. It's all thanks to the gel's shock-absorbing properties.

"If I wrap it around my fingers, it's very soft," Felicity Boyce, a material developer at D3O, told CNN, "but if you hit it with great force, it behaves more like a solid that's absorbing the shock and none of that impact goes through my hand."

"Flubber" featured Robin Williams as a quirky professor who discovers a green, rubbery substance.

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