Posted on 09/10/2001 7:22:20 PM PDT by jays911
Nanoengineering may alter face of combat 'Smart' uniforms use treated fibers By Associated Press,, 9/10/2001 NEW YORK - To help soldiers survive, the US Army is developing a new generation of combat uniforms using tiny, doctored fibers that let air through while blocking toxins from chemical and biological weapons. The ''chemical protective overgarment,'' expected to ship in as little as two years, is one of the early uses of nanotechnology: the science of manipulating single atoms and molecules to create new products.
While nanotechnology won't be ready to build tiny machines or computer processors for at least 10 years, researchers in materials science are already using it to change the properties of plastics, oils, and textiles, giving them breathability, heat-resistance, strength and flexibility.
''They're such small fibers, it's not a trivial matter to get them into a uniform that's going to be twisted and sat on,'' said Tom Tassinari, a scientist with the US Army Natick Soldier Center in Natick, Mass.
Ten years out, the Army hopes to distribute a ''smart'' combat uniform with nanoengineered fibers, embedded sensors, and tiny computers that allow it to stop bullets, monitor vital signs, and undergo chameleon-like camouflage changes that blend in to surroundings, Tassinari said.
In the military and civilian worlds, a wave of new nanoproducts are emerging, though none as sexy as, say, the carbon nanotube mini-robots that may someday swim in our blood streams and repair damaged cells. Products include scratch-proof eyeglasses, helium-filled sneakers, and plastic-encased ballistic missiles.
Eddie Bauer sells $42 Nano-Care khakis, with a cotton fabric that undergoes a chemical treatment devised by Nano-Tex, a subsidiary of Burlington Industries Inc. The treatment adds an outer structure to the cotton molecule to better fend off wrinkles and globs of ketchup, said Delores Sides, a Burlington spokeswoman.
Nano-Tex has added liquid-repellent characteristics to fabrics used on couches, and breathability to synthetics, giving them the comfort characteristics of cotton. The company is now testing an odor-trapping fabric whose molecular-sized sponges hold stale vapors through multiple wearings, until the item - socks, for example - come into contact with a washing machine's soapy water.
In Fountain Valley, Calif., Hybrid Plastics is creating nanoparticle additives for plastics found in everything from high-performance jet engine lubricants to weatherproof circuit boards in boats and swimming pools.
Like other nanotechnology practitioners, Hybrid Plastics alters the molecular structure of its raw material to create a new structure with properties that go far beyond the original.
The nanoparticles that make up the powder and liquid additives sold by Hybrid are tiny. The largest has a diameter of just 3 nanometers, or billionths of a meter. The nanoparticles are used in plastic that carries the qualities of an industrial ceramic: resistance to heat and cold, super-hard toughness, and flame resistance.
Lichtenhan said versions of Hybrid-enriched plastics are being tested by NASA on the exterior of the International Space Station, and by military and aerospace firms as a replacement for the metal bodies of ballistic missiles and satellite launch rockets.
The nanoplastic missiles are cheaper and easier to manufacture than metal-jacketed ones and can protect the payload - whether a warhead or satellite - from collisions with space junk while enduring the deep cold of space and the heat of re-entry, Lichtenhan said.
Hybrid is also developing a nanolubricant for the Air Force that can handle temperatures of 500 degrees Fahrenheit - about 100 degrees higher than current oils - without burning or breaking down, Lichtenhan said.
Other chemical firms toiling in the nanorealm include DuPont, whose scientists are trying to create fibers that conduct electricity and change their shape from round to square or triangular. DuPont wants the fibers to be used in clothes that change color and size at a wearer's command, said DuPont spokeswoman Leslie Cormier.
A small company outside Boston, Triton Systems, Inc., is selling a nanoengineered plastic pouch for use as a helium-filled heel cushion in Converse Helium sneakers sold in Japan and China.
Trition uses an additive of clay nanoparticles to tighten the molecular structure of the pouch, allowing it to trap the helium underfoot for a minimum of 18 months, said Ross Haghighat, Triton's chairman and chief executive. This story ran on page C6 of the Boston Globe on 9/10/2001. © Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
Gawd knows what the real angle is here. We do know it is not good.
There is always some truth to what they write. Our job is to find out what that kernel of truth is. It is not what it appears to be. That is certain.
Or we'd have to come up with a nano-machine 'vaccine' to prevent 'infection' with the enemy nano-machines.
There are definitely some offensive uses for these things. It's gonna be weird...
Lete's see, ~$15,000 for the smart rifle, ~$5,000 for ammo, and ~$10-50,000 for the triage camoflage, AND food stamps for the wife and kids. Sign my kids up. Our Army may actually become an army of one.
You're missing the point--you can program them to crease themselves and then go all floppy and baggy for comfort and camo in the field.
With this kind of stuff, your could have a 'squared away' set of BDU's that reassemble into a ghillie-suit with a command.
In, "An Army of One," there will be soldiers whose BDUs are never, 'squared away.'
So True. If we don't cover the basic's we don't cover the complex and people (read sons and daughters) die. This nano nano mork mork crap is all smoke an mirrors IMHO.
Stay Safe....
Without qualifying, all soldiers in our unit would be deprived of obtaining 100 promotion points for the year and putting them at a ridiculous dissadvantage to their peers Army-wide.....It takes nine bullets to zero, 40 to qualify, and perhaps 2-3 per for alibis in the worst of cases for each soldier. That's about $3.75 worth of bullets at the significantly reduced government contract rate (their catalog, not mine). Not that we should complain, because the unit said we'd have about 12-14 bullets each to allow for "weapons familiarization". I had to walk away. I did hear about that unit's training last Summer. Most the junior enlisted bailed or for some reason couldn't get off another range or training lane to get to the M16 range. The officers got thier rocks off busting caps and leaving the weapons for others to clean. Hey George, when does the help arrive? Until then, I'm an SFC in militia of one.
I tend to agree. In the final analysis unless and until they can provide the basics the whiz-bang stuff is somebodys means of getting his own little empire.
Stay well - Yorktown
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.