Military Tech for Daily Life

PreacherTom writes "It is nothing new to see technology from military and governmental endeavors change daily life profoundly. One only has to look at the fruits of the space program (from computers to microwave ovens to Tang). New military gear is on the horizon that promises to do the same, including biosensors, bandages that clot blood using soundwaves, and the ubiquitous Swiss Army Pen."

Military-tech always trickles down to civilians

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

The obvious examples are the internet, GPS devices, super-glue, etc... (Incidentally, speaking of super-glue, it works very well for what the military originally had in mind for it, which is closing wounds: next time you have a bad cut, try it, it works wonders.)

Re:Military-tech always trickles down to civilians

[presentt]

No, I think the parent poster is correct. I heard it was first used to close wounds in Vietnam, but was developed for other reasons. See cyanoacrylate [wikipedia.org], the compound in most super glues.

Damn, this irritates me

[$RANDOMLUSER]

The "Powered Exoskeleton: The real bionic man" entry brought to you by none other than Robert A. Heinlein [wikipedia.org], the inventor of the Waldo, the waterbed and I don't know what else...

The main thing that was missing from Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers [imdb.com] was the powered exoskeletons, courtesy R.A.H. [wikipedia.org], circa 1959. Not that I didn't adore the "Doogie Howser, S.S.", "Klendathu 90210" aspects of the film, but the only really good example of the notion we've had in film is Ripley's "Get away from her, you bitch!" from Aliens [imdb.com].

Microwave ovens are from WWII radar

[iliketrash]

"One only has to look at the fruits of the space program (from computers to microwave ovens to Tang)."

Presumably the author refers the the tube in a microwave oven called a magnetron. If so, then this was developed in World War II for use in radars. Incidentally, the invention of the transistor was a direct follow-on to WWII efforts to build crystal detectors. See the book, "The Invention that Changed the World" by Robert Buderi, a history of the development and aftermath of the invention of radar. It is said that the atomic bomb ended the war but radar won the war.

Hmm, should have looked further into that...

[presentt]

I searched "powered exoskeleton" on YouTube and found this [youtube.com] project from Berkley. I guess, if this is what the article was talking about, then the device would serve as more of a weight supporter than a strengthening tool. It also seems a bit too sluggish to execute a rapid maneuver like jumping, despite the BBC article in TFA claiming [bbc.co.uk] higher leaps is a goal. Would it end up hindering a troop in combat, considering the rapidity needed to move in today's guerrilla and urban warfare?

On the other hand, the video shows the man wearing a huge backpack. As a backpacker myself, I know that the best way to carry the weight is on your hips, so that your leg muscles bear the load. This exoskeleton seems well fit for bearing that load; the man in the video looks like he is hardly straining.

The technology looks like it may be ready for work on bases, but is hardly ready for the front line. The BBC article points out more limitations.

Re:QuikClot

[twiddlingbits]

Not that expensive compared with bleeding out. I'd gladly pay a few 100 bucks to live but fortunately it's not that expensive. Check out the prices on QuickClot at: http://www.z-medica.com/ordering/ordering.asp [z-medica.com]

part of this program already cut- landwarrior

[docinthemachine]

Several of these technologies are part of the FCS (future combat system) including the soldier of the future - Landwarrior program. However the government has just cut this program. You can read more about it -- and all of the future medical devices lost in the shuffle-- here: http://docinthemachine.com/2006/12/08/army-axing-h igh-tech-soldier-of-tomorrow-medtech-losses-predic ted/ [docinthemachine.com]

Re:The space program did not bring us computers

[localroger]

This is mostly true. Wartime needs for cryptography, ballistics table calculations, and early hydrogen bomb design drove the earliest computers. The space program did have a lot to do with early miniaturization attempts though; the Apollo program sucked much of the world's supply of integrated circuits in its early years.

Re:QuikClot

[crowbarsarefornerdyg]

My EMS agency allowed us a trial run of the QuikClot, and you're right. It's amazing, especially on oozing wounds. The other device to come from the military is the Asherman Chest Seal, which is a one way valve with a large sticky surface for sucking chest wounds.

Microwave ovens???

[flyingfsck]

Magnetrons were invented before the 2nd world war and perfected during the war by the Brits for use in Radar. No space program back then - not on this planet anyway.

Re:Military-tech always trickles down to civilians

[humuhumunukunukuapu']

not the same ingredients - methyl alcohol v. butyl esthers [howstuffworks.com]

Re:Swiss Army Pen

[bladesjester]

Only the cheaply made ones are pieces of crap. I had a well made Vic that I used heavily for years. They made them to be useful instead of having a bunch of things on it (mine only had a blade, small and large screw drivers, punch, can opener, and bottle opener).

As a general rule, your best bets in my experience for swiss army knives are Victrinox and Gerber.

Re:the good side of military spending

[bagsc]

Personnel still get most of the money.
"The nearly $440 billion defense budget contains $110.8 billion for military personnel, including a modest 2.2 percent pay increase, as well as $84.2 billion for weapons systems and $73.2 billion for research and development." [washingtonpost.com]

Considering how little soldiers get paid (starting at $1,204 per month [dod.mil]), and how much engineers get paid (~$3,500 per month starting), you start wondering who the Defense Department's priorities are...

Why DARPA Does What Medical Industry Won't

[docinthemachine]

There is so much argument about whether the civilian pay-off from military research makes sense. Here is a bit of research on the medical end and some reasons why private industry does not take the risks DARPA does. http://docinthemachine.com/2006/12/21/darpamedtech / [docinthemachine.com]

Re:Military-tech always trickles down to civilians

[twiddlingbits]

Cyanoacrylate is the active ingredient, the organic solvents are just carriers and agents to speed up or retard the time for the glue to set. I KNOW the results are the same, I've done it with SG and the Fingernail glue.

Re:Military-tech always trickles down to civilians

[kfg]

The obvious examples are. . .

Are often wrong, at least when attributed to the space program. Take Tang, for instance. I was born before Sputnik, but I drank Tang as a child. It is the product of General Foods, invented by the same man who brought us Cool Whip and Pop Rocks (died, 2004). The motivation for inventing all of these was purely civilian profit.

Other things that didn't come out of the space program, Velcro (invented by a Frenchman picking burrs off his dog, circa 1940) and Teflon (invented at Dupont in 1938 while researching refrigeration units).

Electronic computers got a kick in the pants from the Manhatten Project (not the space program), but this came mainly in the form of money and a deadline for machines already in development for use in civilian business (it's IBM, afterall).

Gunpowder, invented for toys (like rockets). High explosives, invented for civilian tunneling/mining operations.

For the most part (there are exceptions) the military takes preexisting civilian technology and spurs its development a bit by adding funding and pressure. We'd still have the stuff without it, it would just take a little longer for the market to provide the capital. They actually refused funding for the development of the automobile and airplane. Even guns have mostly been developed purely in the private sector in the hopes of selling them to the military at some later date. Napoleon and Thomas Jefferson were big players in providing actual government funding to spur the development of existing gun technologies, creating the market for inventing on speculation.

Overall, prizes are often the most effective means the military uses to spur development. Civilians will spend their entire lives inventing to collect a prize of lower value than they simply could have made working in an office somewhere; without all the capital outlay - but inventors aren't that sort of person, are they?

The military/space program is a good customer, but only rarely do anything directly and it's even rarer for them to prompt the discovery of something we wouldn't have gotten in time anyway.

Maybe the microwave oven (invented by accident while working on radar) - maybe.

They have certainly provided a good practicum for accelerated development of treatments/surguries of catastrophic injuries though; ya gotta hand it to the military for that.

KFG

Re:Military-tech always trickles down to civilians

[Fred_A]

Velcro (invented by a Frenchman picking burrs off his dog, circa 1940)

A Swiss actually, although the industrial design was indeed made with a French weaver. Did you know that Velcro stood for velours et crochets (velvet and hooks) ?

Re:QuikClot

[crowbarsarefornerdyg]

It is amazing to see in action. Works a hell of a lot better than tampons, too. The price is obviously worth it, but the damage done to the limb is pretty ugly too. Do you know of anyone keeping a limb after using quickclot? Also, there's a great splint that's basically a thin sheet of metal wrapped in foam, but I can't remember the name of it. Was that military in origin?

You're thinking of the SAM Splint. Good tool, when you can get them.

Re:Microwave ovens were patented in 8 October 1945

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, three of them. (You could just check the wikipedia article about him when you're already in there.)