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Building Tomorrow's Soldier Today
Journal written by FleaPlus (6935) and posted by
Zonk
on Fri Mar 16, 2007 11:58 AM
from the i'll-take-an-exoskeleton-and-four-drones-please dept.
from the i'll-take-an-exoskeleton-and-four-drones-please dept.
FleaPlus writes "Wired reports on a glove developed by Stanford researchers Dennis Grahn and Craig Heller which combines a cooling system with a vacuum in order to chill blood vessels and drastically reduce fatigue. Besides the obvious military and athletics applications, the technology is also potentially useful for firefighters, stroke victims, and people with multiple sclerosis. The Wired article also describes a number of other human enhancement projects intended to advance battlefield technology. Examples include military exoskeletons, projects designed to increase cognition or decrease the need for sleep, and studies that may one day allow single soldiers to operate multiple aerial drones. Many of these were opposed by the President's Council on Bioethics."
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Solider? (Score:3, Funny)
Yes, let's build it, so I can see what it looks like.
Re:Solider? (Score:5, Interesting)
And why not? Human beings have made themselves to be more unhuman in every passing year. We have professional athletes whose exercise programs would be considered abnormal and pointless, (not including shaving eyebrows to achieve an iota of improvement in swim speed.) We have anti-aging pharmaceutical food and beverage offerings that cater to the Baby Boomers who felt entitled to look like 40-yos instead of 60. We have daily caffeine to boost our brains in the morning, no-dose to boost productivity in the evenings, Prozac to lift us when we're low, and even psychadelic drugs to boost creativity when we're dull. We design ergonomic chairs and keyboards while we sit in front of computers and in our cars for longer hours. We alter hormones and apply suntan lotions. We use AC's and heaters so that our habitats can include the most uncomfortable places on Earth. We give our children Baby Einstein so that they will be superkids and outcompete others when they grow up.
I'm not saying it's pointless for soldiers on the frontline to receive these booster-packs. They have a job to accomplish, and so do we. Maybe we're all trying to become Homo sapiens cyberneticus too. Maybe our environment self-selects.
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Re:Solider? (Score:5, Informative)
The funny thing is, my original submission had a completely different headline, so the typo was added by the editors. Here's my original:
Cooling Vacuum Glove Fights Fatigue
Wired reports on a glove developed by Stanford researchers Dennis Grahn and Craig Heller which combines a cooling system with a vacuum in order to chill blood vessels and drastically reduce fatigue. Besides the obvious military and athletics applications, the technology is also potentially useful for firefighters, stroke victims, and people with multiple sclerosis. The Wired article also describes a number of other human enhancement projects, many of which were opposed by the President's Council on Bioethics.
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Great way to win the War on Terror on the Cheap (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Great way to win the War on Terror on the Cheap (Score:5, Interesting)
We have to explore or ethics as a culture very carefully before making leaps such as these, and fiction lets us do that.
Now to get more people to read worthwhile books...
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Re:Great way to win the War on Terror on the Cheap (Score:4, Insightful)
While it is true that fiction is simply someone else's perspective on history (in a way all human thought is just a perspective on history) being able to understand another persons perspective (or that there are other perspectives) is a very important skill that many people lack. Fiction is a way to see the world through someone else's eyes.
I admit there is a massive amount of crap out there in the category of fiction but to throw the good out with the bad is just foolish.
I don't have the presumption to think that I have an unbiased or complete view of human history but no one does. The best I can do is to try to share the experiences of others who have bee3n kind enough to write it all down
Parent
let's build those soliders (Score:3, Funny)
While we are at it, let's build a better responsible useful
I believe there's a name for them (Score:3, Funny)
Terminators.
From what I see on TV (Score:5, Insightful)
Modern war isnt about tanks and pitch battles between rival fleets of helicopter gunships. Modern warfare is fought in a city, in amongst a civilian population, who may or may not be hostile to US troops.
teaching some basic arabic for beginners to soldiers so they can understand what the locals are saying is going to save more lives, and lead to a better outcome, than any l33t new nano-engineered hi tech gubbins that will most likely fail the moment it gets exposed to heat and sand.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The problem, if there is one, is not that soldiers aren't physically up to the demands that will be made of them. The problem is with the politicians who send them unprepared on ill-advised and ill-defined (but profitable, for them) missions, often for dubious reasons that are unrelated to our national security.
If that could actually happen, I mean.
May be solving the wrong problem (Score:5, Interesting)
True. That may be solving the wrong problem.
The problem they're working on with this isn't one the US has. The "superhuman abilities" thing is useful when assaulting hard, heavily defended, hard to access targets. But the US military is very good at assaulting hard targets.
What the US military is lousy at is fighting guerrilla and insurgent movements. Those are about intelligence, not firepower. The opposition tries to avoid offering any hard targets. They don't fight pitched battles. It's classic Maoist doctrine: "The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue." The US couldn't deal with that in Vietnam, and it can't deal with it in Iraq.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Er... (Score:4, Informative)
Not everyone is cut out to learn Arabic (which is why "Assalam alaikum", essentially "How are you doing?" in Arabic, turns into "Licka-me-salami". Admittedly, juvenile soldier humour) That's why we have translators and language specialists in the Army. The Army does have people who are skilled in Arabic, though not enough.
They do teach us basic Arabic phrases before we head out there. In fact, we carry a "language card" with us that has some common phrases.
To be brutally honest, it's not Arabic that will save us when we are there. It's Tactics and Procedures and it's technology. This is what we spent the bulk of our time on before we headed out there. In addition to some basic language and culture classes, to better understand the Iraqis. Who's going to survive longer in a firefight? A soldier who is well-trained on his weapon and whatever gadget he carries? Or a Soldier yelling out "Assalam Alaikum!" while bullets fly around him? Who's going to survive an IED? A soldier who has been trained how to react to such an event, or one who knows really good Arabic?
I honestly hate hearing these armchairs strategists who have absolutely no idea of the ground reality over there.
Do you honestly think that the Army doesn't field test any of these good gadgets? Do you think soldiers just blindly take their gadgets out to the field? If we have a gadget that's a piece of shit, we don't use it. We also have this thing called PMCS (Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services) where we check every piece of equipment before we head out and after we come back to base, for malfunctions and potential malfunctions. Your average Army Gadget is not like your pretty little iPod or Motorola Razr. It's pretty hardy and can take a pounding. Our GPS units are called PLGRS (Pluggers) and you beat the shit out of those and they still work. We have night-vision scopes and goggles that work extremely well in the heat and the sand.
The chilled glove sounds like a really cool idea, and even better if they can extend it to a body suit. Temperatures are insane over there. It's easily 100 to 110+ outside and when you have your body armour and other gear on, your temperature is probably 5-10 degrees more than that.
Modern warfare relies on better equipped soldiers in addition to language skills or cultural knowledge or whatever. So please, before you knock on these new ideas, consider what soldiers actually think.
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Re:From what I see on TV (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:From what I see on TV (Score:4, Interesting)
Is your sig an attempt to mock John Kerry, or President Bush?
I happen to agree with Kerry's quote. We *do* need more troops in Iraq, if we have any intention of actually accomplishing anything positive there. Unfortunately, not only is this a rather unpopular stance, it's also true that a "surge" of only 21,000 or so more troops isn't going to do the job. What we need is to go back to the original recommendations of people like Gen. Eric Shinseki, and send an additional 500,000 or more troops. Not that this will ensure success, but it's the only chance we have to make this all work out, unless we're going to take the standpoint that the situation is unsalvageable, and try to work it out by paying reparations.
We may have had no moral authority to invade Iraq, but we sure as Hell have a moral responsibility now to clean up after our mistake, no matter the cost to the United States of America. The only real question is, do we even have the ability to do it anymore?
Parent
The Glove (Score:3, Interesting)
Any suggestions on how to test this using common household items? Would a simple cooler of ice work?
Possible civilian use (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, it reduces muscle fatigue by 'supercharging' the body's coolant system, also know as blood. You can do the same effect with much less efficiency by running cold water over the hands. We have been playing with the concept at work. I went from 15 pushups in 10 pushup sets to 55 pushups in 10 pushup sets with 2 minutes of hand cooling between sets. Yes, I am out of shape.
Is this a regular crappy Wired article or a user.. (Score:4, Funny)
too much sleep? (Score:4, Interesting)
Yeah, it's called 'meth', and Nazi soldiers used it while conducting Blitzkrieg. Not a new development.
Re:too much sleep? (Score:5, Interesting)
My, that is a novel suggestion as to how the techniques of "Blitzkrieg" came into being. I suppose it should have been obvious me--it's well known that their soldiers are "fanatic" or "drug-crazed", while ours are "higly motivated".
Seriously, there's nothing new here. For example, benzedrine and other stimulants were routinely issued to U.S. Air Force pilots to keep them awake during WW II. In fact, the U.S. Air Force still issues amphetamines to its pilots and pressure them to take these "go pills". (For example, take a look at http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id= 1425252002 [scotsman.com] or http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/a pj/apj97/spr97/cornum.html [af.mil] or http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,57434,00. html [wired.com]here.
It might be interesting to ask whether the pilots who were involved in the disturbingly frequent "friendly fire" incidents during our recent ventures in Afghanistan and Iraq were flying high in more than one sense. But nobody will.
Parent
This is not what we need. (Score:3, Insightful)
Not so sure (Score:5, Informative)
Besides the obvious military and athletics applications, the technology is also potentially useful for firefighters, stroke victims, and people with multiple sclerosis.
As a volunteer firefighter I have my doubts. Generally the ability to sense heat is a good thing fighting a fire. I remember the days before nomex hoods were common. Our ears functioned as heat detectors. People would think we were listening at the door but we were actually checking to see if it was hot. Now with nomex hoods you have to take your glove off or pull your jacket sleeve up to figure out if the room is hot or feel a door. I can tell you firefighters hate checking for hot doors with their hands. We have thermal cameras but not enough for every entry team. Besides, that's just one more piece of crap we have to carry. Not to mention we also have to carry it back out, sometimes also toting some fat ass (it's always the fat, ugly ones passing out, never thin, attractive people). We carry enough crap now.
Now wildland firefighters or approach teams, who spend longer amounts of time in hot areas, might find it useful...if they feel like packing it around, but not us truckies. Put the wet stuff on the hot stuff and go home.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Okay, this is a cheap shot (Score:4, Interesting)
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