Military technology does not evolve by leaps and bounds, although time seems to be peaceful. Today we are observing the development a technique that would be considered science fiction ten years ago, and a hundred years ago – nothing more than black magic.
But even now, when fighting robots have become almost as common a phenomenon, like soldiers, some of the military technology will seem you are so crazy that you doubt the very possibility of them existence.
Temperature resistance
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Every person has a natural neurological receptor, known as TRPM8, responsible for feeling cold. When is TRPM8 converts the physical feeling of cold into an electrical signal, he triggers the typical symptoms that you feel in a cold environment: chills, knocking of teeth, decreased blood flow in the limbs.
These survival mechanisms should keep you warm, but sometimes they manifest even in life-safe situations. If you ever tried to shoot a pistol with trembling hands, you must understand how this interferes with soldiers.
However, in the future, trembling may no longer be a problem. A neuroscientist named David McKenney not only discovered a receptor TRPM8, but also found a way to disable it. What is the result? Your body just does not feel the cold. As soon as the equipment is tested on people, be sure – genetically modified the soldiers.
Luc Binoculars
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This technology is officially called the “detection system.” cognitive-technological threats, “but even the DARPA guys who they develop it, they are used to calling it “Lucas binoculars.” She is still in development, therefore, so far does not even remotely resemble binoculars. what this is? Just a high-resolution camera mounted on a tripod and able to see in the ultraviolet and ordinary spectrum at 10 kilometers without any interference.
In addition, the system directly reads the brain’s EEG and, in depending on the variations of the brain waves of a soldier, defines it a threat. Our consciousness is capable of generating patterns of states, therefore, the system bypasses the soldier’s thought process and reads directly the presence of a threat. The pattern is sent to the computer and signals: “This is a threat, shoot.”
All this happens before the soldier himself analyzes the visible, and then decides to attack or not. Difference is measured milliseconds, but even milliseconds can be on the battlefield decisive. True, it remains to teach the computer to determine exactly where friends, and where are the enemies.
Ultraviolet vision
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In 2012, Dr. Miguel Nicolelis hit the hammer a glass box in which everything that we knew about the world lay, and created a cybernetic mouse with an oversensitive organ – and ability to see in the ultraviolet spectrum. Neuro prosthesis developed by a team of scientists, consisted of two parts. The first is it is an ultraviolet sensor that was attached to the head of the mouse as if hat. The second is a wire directly connected to the mouse brain.
More precisely, it connects to the somatosensory cortex, part the brain responsible for handling tactile sensations. When these two parts are connected, the mouse suddenly gets the opportunity to “feel” the presence of ultraviolet light. It took about a month to explain to the mouse what that sensation is, but thirty days later the mouse was able to determine the source of ultraviolet light in 90% cases.
Moreover, the mouse began to adapt to a new feeling. But the mouse is one thing, and people are another. Anyway, Nicolelis plans to continue his experiments and one day he will reach people. The military application of such technologies is priceless.
Drone insects
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What do you get if you combine living insects, engineering and nuclear energy? An army of ruthless destroyers? Well no, not all so seriously. Recall that DARPA is working on a project to include electronic control in beetle larvae. As the bug grows electronic parts get tangled up with his growing body and then him can be controlled remotely by stimulating the muscles of the wings.
In fact, such cyborg insects have been around for a long time. The problem is not technology – the problem is nutrition. Rhinoceros beetle can fly, transferring additionally up to 30% of its weight – this is 2.5 grams maximum. For electronics, battery, camera, microphone remains too little space. Therefore, scientists completely remove the battery in the benefit of radioactive isotopes, the so-called micropiezoelectric generators.
The nickel 63 isotope is not radioactive enough to represent a threat to humans, but emits quite a lot of beta particles. These particles move the piezoelectric generator, producing several milliwatts of energy that allows you to control robotic beetle. And since the half-life of nickel is 63 makes 12 years, the battery “works” throughout life beetle.
Nanorobots Doctors
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In 2010, the US military published a report in which had some interesting statistics. From 2001 to 2009, only 19% of evacuations from the Middle East were related to combat wounds. 56% of evacuations were due to illness. Historically, most military casualties caused by disease, not the enemy.
Therefore, DARPA began to work on a solution – nanorobots, who will live inside the soldiers and diagnose diseases. how only a disease is detected, nanorobots should ideally cure before the soldier starts sneezing. Very useful military development. When it will be adopted by the military, nanorobots can not only prevent the spread of the disease, but also save the military from chemical weapons.
Smart uniform
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When the disease has nothing to do with it, there is another obvious drawback wars – gunshot wounds. For example, a quarter of combat losses in Iraq in 2001-2011 could have been prevented if even more emergency medical assistance was provided to the soldiers. Other in other words, people die on the way to the hospital. Military work over the solution to this problem. Not the construction of hospitals, but uniform design will help to survive.
Unique uniforms should send information about injuries to nearest medical center. Sensors implanted in tissue should register the location of the bullet, the depth of its location and what vital organs affected. Other sensors will control blood flow and urine to detect other types damage, chemical, nuclear or biological. The challenge is in giving uniforms the ability to identify any damage to a soldier.
Electromagnetic guns
Electromagnetic guns – not so science fiction as it could seem. The first such weapon was developed back in during World War II, and since then regularly appear its interesting variations. In the end, you yourself can build such, after sitting a couple of minutes in Google.
In short, electromagnetic guns operate by sending current through two parallel rails (hence the name railgun, rail gun). When a metal projectile is placed on rails, it closes the circuit and creates an electromagnetic field. The field produces Lorentz force, which sends a projectile on rails – and very, very fast. Rail guns can be incredibly powerful, but require a lot electricity for the shot, so they still have not taken armament.
However, working samples capable of firing shells at seven times faster than the speed of sound, already built by interested organizations. Such a gun can send a projectile 160 kilometers and punch the target with a force that is “32 times greater than the force crashed car at a speed of 160 km / h. “And although it is believed that rail guns can already be used in combat conditions, a problem food did not decide. Unless the option is being developed the use of electromagnetic guns in warships, equipped with rechargeable batteries.
The funny thing is that in all trials of such guns, as a rule, the most non-aerodynamic shells are used. Since perfect the projectile would probably have flown too far and possibly leveled a couple of houses with land.
Hellad
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Area protection system through high-energy liquid lasers, or HELLAD, is a combination of a dozen different technology with one amazing goal: laser weapons, mounted on fighter jets. Developed by DARPA, program HELLAD aims to produce a 150 kilowatt laser that could accommodate on board a relatively small fighter, and it should be about 10 times lighter than any similar laser. A megawatt laser (1000 kW) was already installed on board Boeing-747, but now the military needed something more maneuverable.
DARPA is developing a series of small lasers that can give out one powerful beam. Tests with missiles have already passed at the beginning 2014 year.
Gecko costume
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When a gecko climbs a wall, it is held in place. tiny hairs on his legs. The power of van der Waals is working – the gecko’s legs are holding onto the wall at the molecular level. Millions microscopic hairs on the foot of the gecko, the so-called spatula, create electrical attraction with molecules to which touch. The force is so powerful that the gecko can hang up legs, clinging to the glass surface with just one finger.
Nevertheless, we can do it too. Studying geckos for years, scientists from the University of Massachusetts developed Geckskin, artificial fabric that uses the same power of van der Waals in order to attach to the surface. Geckskin enough durable to hold 317 kilograms in a small area surface. What could be the military use of this? No matter how strange, DARPA is directly involved in this project – her Z-Man program involves turning a soldier into something like Spider-Man.
War forecasting
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It’s one thing to respond to war with a set of weapons and technology, but what if every single shot could be predicted? Lockheed Martin is developing a system that will deal with that’s exactly what – to predict wars just like meteorologists predict the weather (but hopefully more accurately).
Since 2001, W-ICEWS has collected over 30 million individual news clippings from news around the world. According to this data special iTRACE algorithm tracks military beacons in the world media. In other words, the system searches for patterns in world news and determines which pattern speaks of war. How much is effective – no one knows.
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