More Interesting Technology Dredged from the Depths of the Web

You know the strange things about all this is that this wasn't really meant to be military oriented. I've just found that many of the interesting or novel technologies that are being explored are placed in motion by the military-industrial complex. Not all the technology is military based, but almost everyone who is researching these sort of things worked for DARPA or and offshoot at some point. I mean really, who would put large sums of money into flying hovercraft with multispectrum monitoring equipment, that can be powered indefinately by ground-based laser or microwave beams, and require no power to transmit information to ground observers. This sort of thing is really science fiction to most of us. I hope you find it as fascinating as I do.

If you find such technology fantasic, yet obviously completely fictional, you are in good company. Yet it exists, today. Yes it is expensive. Yes it takes time and effort to procure. But it is here. Take a look at the evolution of materials science. Better living through chemistry, remember?

Transparent Aluminum - Right out of Star Trek! - This is amazing. Artifical Sapphire, and two types of transparent aluminum! Stops high powered armour-piercing shells (.50 caliber), doesn't spider web when hit, and is a clear as glass. It's not long until they can make windows a structural component of automobiles, and not something that shatters when the roof is in crushed from your rollover.

Artifical Vision - More Star Trek High Craziness - As seen on CNN. Read this article, especially the afterword. With a 4x increase in density of the electrodes, a 4x increase in processing power, a 2x decrease in size, power consumption, and field of view - this could really provide vision to the blind. This is all achiveable within 5 - 10 years. Imagine the blind being able to drive a car with one of these. Best yet, this is a commercial company - not a research project - you can go down to your local neurosurgeon and get beta 1 today!

A Primer on Ballistics and Body Armor - A must read for any of the articles involving flexible armour. Really gives you an idea about what is necessary to stop a handgun vs. a rifle shell vs. shrapnel. Without shattering your spleen.

The Zylon Files - A new SuperArmour - Imagine a fabric that can stop a .44 Magnum - or an UZI with a 16" barrel. Imagine it .2" thick, and under 5 pounds. Light, flexible, and thin enough to be worn constantly and completely concealably. Able to stop any knife, or even an ice pick - the achilies heel of all modern body armour. Place a 2.5 lb .1" thick breastplate of Titanimum armor - and upgrade your protection to stop AK-47 rifle bullets with no sacrifices. And yet again, you can buy this stuff from your local armorer today.

The Future of Warfare, Imagined by your Friends at RAND - RAND, the quasi-govermental thinktank for all issues military. The guys that brought you the precise numbers of bullets to kill a vietcong now have a vision of what the future will bring. Sure to come true - these guys have a great track record!

More to Come - Send your ideas to NUUI!