Defense Technology International - April 2008 - (Page 45) I Helmet Sensor Soldiers deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan will be soon wearing helmets fitted with blast sensors to record impact data and exposure to blasts. The technology, still in its infancy, will not be used to diagnose soldiers who may suffer mild traumatic brain injuries at this stage of the experiment, according to the Defense Dept.’s Blast Injury research program office. The primary objective is to prove that a sensor reading can be directly matched to a particular event using real impact data from soldiers in combat. Defense Dept. researchers want to examine the impact of blast exposure at the cellular level, which is largely a mystery. There are no definitive studies that prove the link between blast exposure and mild traumatic injury, says Michael Leggieri, deputy coordinator for the program. Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Div. will have 6-oz. sensors attached to the backs of their helmets. The sensors have the capacity to record 527 events. Soldiers in the 4th Infantry Div. will have sensors attached under padding in the crowns of their helmets. Researchers will connect the sensors to USB ports for data transmission and storage. I U.S. AIR FORCE OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH 1 U.S. ARMY Super Spider Silk Researchers at the University of Wyoming are investigating 15 new artifi cial spider silks that could improve the strength and performance of body armor and parachutes. The researchers, funded by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, say the spider silk is stronger than Kevlar fiber and more flexible than nylon fiber. The team combined its own spider silk genes with bacteria to produce chemically identical silk proteins for experimentation. The proteins are spun into fibers and tested. “We also have genetically modified goats that produce milk containing the spider silk proteins to aid in our research,” reports team leader Randy Lewis. Proteins from the milk can be spun into a strong, lightweight and extremely elastic silk for use in bulletproof vests. The fibers could also be used to construct stronger parachutes that are capable of carrying larger payloads. About the only problem the researchers anticipate is in commercialization: Spider silk body armor is expected to cost twice as much as Kevlar. Lewis hopes the tradeoff in weight and elasticity will be a value proposition for the military. Budget watchers may also balk at the cost of goats. It takes 600 gal. of milk—the daily output of 200 goats—to construct one 5-lb. vest. I 2 OVER THE EDGE Brain on a Chip The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) wants to develop an electronic chip that mimics the “function, size and power consumption of the cortex.” The program is scheduled to begin in Fiscal 2009, but Darpa kicked off the Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (Synapse) program in March with a workshop. The agency says intelligent machines are less efficient than biological systems by a factor of 1 million to 1 billion in real-world environments. The Synapse program will coordinate developments in hardware, architecture, simulation and environment: Darpa hasn’t released much detail about the program beyond defining those four research areas. Program Manager Todd Hylton joined Darpa’s Defense Sciences Office in 2007 from the private sector, where he specialized in advanced materials and nanotechnology. His other programs focus on emulating the sensory structures of biological systems, demonstrating an air vehicle weighing less than 10 grams and developing electronic surface coatings that kill bacteria. I APRIL 2008 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 45 3 U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH AviationWeek.com/dti http://AviationWeek.com/dti
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