Alright, so maybe this video is a little corny but at least the guy has an easy way of breaking down the explanation of invisibility. For us non-scientists, this can be a tough concept to grasp but it's too darn cool to ignore!
Last class we talked about all the new technology that's going to change the entire meaning of war. There are special robots being made, aircraft's that can fly around without being spotted by radars, and now Harry Potter's "invisibility cloak" has made its way into our reality. But my question was how? How is it possible to turn a person into nothing? Well, Nanotechnology has found a way to be intertwined in the fibers of the soldier's uniform. It will allow the wearer of the suit to perfectly mirror the environment and appear almost completely invisible! Like a chameleon, this high-tech commando will take on the appearance of whatever he is standing against:
Nanotechnology has become the new "toy" for many scientists around the world. They've been working on developing very small medical devices for things like clogged arteries, making smaller computer chips, and they've also been working on finding new ways to filter water pollution and battle global warming. All of these future inventions are possible with nanotechnology because a nanometer is so small and convenient that we can change its behavior to do very special jobs. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter but Jeffery Grossman, the executive director at the Center of Integrated Nanomechanical Systems in Berkely makes a comparison that's easier to understand: If you take a hair off the top of your head and imagine something 100,000 times thinner, that is a nanometer. Nanometers can be re-constructed and act in ways that will blow our minds. They can be changed, like most things, but can also be controlled, which is the best part of it. It's a difficult concept to understand so I urge everyone to watch the video clip (linked through the word "nanometer" above) about nanometers, It's mind boggling!
With all of these fun and new inventions, scientists have goals for our future troops that will take war to a whole new level. Humans will become just as powerful as the robots from the Terminator movies, if not more powerful. Here are all the futuristic possibilities:
"1) The helmet of the Future Warrior allows him or her to see computer generated information like the location of friends or enemies, battle plans, orders, and even to "tap into" video cameras on other soldiers, UAVs, or spy satellites. The display will also give night vision and thermal vision equipping this high-tech assassin to hunt his enemies in pitch darkness.
2) The Future Warrior will breath through a filter that removes chemical and biological weapons. If they cannot be removed the FW will breath from a small oxygen supply built into his uniform.
3) The uniform of the Future Warrior will be the most advanced body armor ever created. Nanotechnology will turn the soft cloth as hard as titanium stopping bullets or shrapnel. The suit will also be completely airtight AND invisible allowing the Future Warrior to survive chemical or biological weapon attacks.
4) The weapon of this super commando will be much smaller and lighter than today's assault rifles thanks to advances in plastics but at the same time be capable of incredible destruction. Ammunition will be "smart bullets" that can explode over trenches or after passing through walls to kill hidden enemies. The weapon is also rumored to possess mini-missiles capable of locking onto a target and following it for miles if necessary.
5) Each Future Warrior will carry a built-in super computer that will link him to an Internet of Soldiers. Each fighter will know what is going on throughout the battlefield at all times. This connection will allow the commandos to attack like a swarm of insects.
6) The health of every soldier will be constantly monitored and his uniform will possess drugs that can be activated by the soldier or by a medic hundreds of miles away in case of injury. Electronic tourniquets will also automatically engage to stop bleeding.
7) A mechanical exo-skeleton, a kind of artificial muscle system, will give the Future Warrior super human strength and endurance. He or she will be able to rip the doors off of cars or run for hours because the machine will do most of the work. Hand to hand combat would be like wrestling a 900 pound gorilla." -Lance Laytner, Edit International.
Some of these may seem unrealistic, but doesn't everything seem that way until it actually happens? And doesn't it always end up happening? I think so. I also wouldn't doubt my sources for a second. KQED.org can be easily maneuvered through and has very notable scientific videos, articles, and links through out the website. Of all the videos I watched, there were many scientists that had good educational backgrounds. I quoted Jeffery Grossman earlier in my post, but before doing so I made sure to search him online. I was pleased to find his very own website with contact information, accessible background information, and more links to ideas that he's had involving science. If you want check it out, click here.
My other source, editinternational.com, is pretty credible as well. It's a website full of journalists' articles from all over the world. Edit International was established in 1969 by Ron Laytner, a well-known freelance writer and photographer from Canada. The writers of Edit International are published all over the world in thirty different languages. Top notch, huh?
I thoroughly enjoyed using the two sources I found because KQED.org was on a more formal, professional level. The writers and scientists from the website used more scientific language and this is probably because they're all real scientists. Edit International's article that I read was useful to use in comparison since Laytner took a scientists information and put it into a more understandable format, a.k.a. he put it into "muggle" language. Both of my sources were targeting the same audience, more or less. I think the information I researched is meant for the whole world to understand. The video from KQED was long and in-depth so that almost anyone could read it or watch it and know exactly what was happening. Both sources made my research a much easier job!
Why does this invisible suit, nanotechnology information matter to me and you? Because we are all citizens of this ever-growing world of discoveries and inventions. Since war is such a big thing in everyone's lives (unfortunately) it's important that we know what we're getting ourselves into. I have a younger brother who is about to reach his eighteenth birthday. I've heard him talk a little bit about the military and I hope that if he ever decides to enlist, he gets an invisible suit! I doubt that he will enlist, but if he does, he better be impossible to find anytime he's got an army uniform on. And aside from being an over protective sister, I also want to know if scientists are coming up with any unfair inventions. Would it be unethical to go into war being completely invisible? This is definitely a revolutionary idea that needs to be intensely analyzed before it becomes too much of a reality.
No comments:
Post a Comment