Sci-Fi War Uniforms? Nanotechnology: MIT and the Army team up to design the perfect protection for soldiers.(a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology attempts to construct the military uniform of the future)

Publication: Newsweek

Publication Date: 24-FEB-03

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Byline: Martha Brant

It was the ultimate laboratory experiment. Prof. Ned Thomas and eight scientists from MIT last month traded in their white coats for military outfits at Fort Polk, La. The team was there to study soldiers in the field--and particularly their uniforms. Just what happens to a Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) "when an 18-year-old gets his hands on it?" asks Thomas, director of MIT's new Army-funded Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN). It was all well and good for the Ph.D.s to use computer models up at MIT, but live data from the rainy woods where troops train were invaluable.

The Army unit coming off a six-day exercise emerged in soaked, muddy uniforms. Thomas, along with the other engineers, wanted to know how many extra BDUs the troops had to carry along. Answer: none. Given a choice between dry clothes and extra weaponry, a soldier opts for ammo every time. Thomas then asked, "If you had a magic wand, what would you change?" Soldier after soldier replied he'd like a lighter load...

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