Building Tomorrow's Soldier Today 230
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."
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.
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:Not so sure (Score:3, Informative)
The device doesn't prevent you from sensing heat. It cools your insides before it cools your outsides, because it works by cooling the blood that flows through your hand.
With that said, it's probably not going to be much use in a fire. It's going to be something that, for the forseeable future, has to be carried around by a vehicle (or the military's exoskeleton) because heat pumps require significant surface area for heat exchange with the atmosphere, and quite a bit of energy to run.
Re:The Glove - Based on an old technique (Score:2, Informative)
Re:From what I see on TV (Score:3, Informative)
I'm glad someone finally asked! The point of the sig was to show that Democrats oppose whatever the President does, even if it something they have been screaming about for years. At the time I created that Sig, Kerry and everyone else on the left side of the aisle were screaming about Bush's plan for a troop surge in Iraq and Afghanistan, calling it a bad idea and coming up with plans to prevent it. Until Bush presented his plan for the troop surge, Democrats were critical of the President for not sending enough troops. I made the sig to show that Kerry and other Democrats take whatever side opposite of the President on every issue, regardless of what that issue is.
School vouchers, where the government gives money to poor children who want a better education so they can go to the private schools that only the rich white kids could have gone to before was opposed by Democrats. Ted Kennedy, who helped write the education bill even opposed it.
A similar example of hypocrisy would be William Jefferson vs Tom Delay. Ronnie Earle went through three grand juries before he found one that would indict Tom Delay. Even though Delay has not been found guilty of anything, he was forced to resign his leadership and was all but thrown out of Congress. William Jefferson (D-LA) was video taped taking $100,000 worth of bribes, $90,000 of which was recovered. Jefferson was placed on the Homeland Security Committee by Pelosi, who was elected by saying she would "Clean up the culture of corruption in Washington."
I'm not just blaming Democrats. It's just that they are the opposition party right now and they are doing their job of opposing anything the other side tries to accomplish. The Republicans are only mildly better. They opposed nearly everything Clinton proposed when Clinton was probably the most conservative Democrat in office this century! Although they did at least support the mission in Bosnia.
I guess I'm just tired of seeing the Prez get a bad wrap about everything. On his inauguration day, his limo was pelted with snowballs as it drove by blocks and blocks of protesters. What could Bush have possibly done 1 hr before even taking office to cause such rage among the left? I understand the election of 2000 was kind of rough, but I don't think Gore would have had to drive through snow-ball armed protesters had he gotten an inauguration. I'm just tired of the whole sore loser mentality and wish people would grow up.
We may have had no moral authority to invade Iraq
I only agree in that the whole world should have invaded Iraq, just as the whole would should have invaded Rwanda and now Darfur. We had no business going in without wider world-wide support. Unfortunately, the much of the world just doesn't give a damn. The US can not be world's policeman. If the UN won't prevent millions of men, women and children die due to political and tyrannical bullshit, we shouldn't have do it for them.
I whole heartedly agree. The debate to go into Iraq is over. We have to finish the job.
The only real question is, do we even have the ability to do it anymore?
We do if people like Rosie Odonnell shut the hell up and stop trying to take down the Prez even if it takes down the entire country with him. We do if the left can put down their snowballs long enough to offer something other than blind opposition. We do if the right can try to be more open to the members of congress when it comes to things that can not be released to the public.
Re:Great way to win the War on Terror on the Cheap (Score:3, Informative)
Neither was the poor treatment of Nam vets (like that chronicled in Ron Kovic's autobiography).
Those lessons are conveniently forgotten every few years by an Army establishment that considers grunts expendable, and lacks the balls to confront their incompetent civilian leadership when funding is inadequate. Deity forbid they'd actually do an old-fashioned walk-through inspection!
Google "David Hackworth" for the last senior officer we had with a backbone. The rest daren't jeopardize their lucrative futures as corporate sock puppets.
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.
Re:Possible civilian use (Score:3, Informative)