http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2005/10/20/soldier/print.html
The (really scary) soldier of the future
Thanks to nanotechnology, he'll be a lethal superman who can heal himself.
By Alan H. Goldstein
Oct. 20, 2005 | Vast government contracts have corrupted the American
university system, turning off the fountainhead of unfettered ideas and
scientific discovery. Multibillion-dollar federal R&D budgets have replaced
the solitary inventor with veritable armies of scientists and engineers in
laboratories across the country. Public policy itself has become the captive
of a scientific-technological elite.
2005? Try 1961. The paragraph above was taken with only minor changes from
President Dwight Eisenhower's famous farewell address.
Things have only gotten worse in 44 years. If Eisenhower was worried about
the power and influence of what he called "the military-industrial complex"
then, he'd be catatonic now. The risks -- and opportunities -- posed by
today's corporate-academic-military behemoth are exponentially greater than
in his day. So is the money: Total military spending on basic R&D is
probably somewhere between $15 billion and $20 billion per year and rising.
Scientists funded by this bottomless war chest are working on mind-blowingly
powerful devices that threaten to plunge the world into a deadly new arms
race. Oh sure, this stuff could also revolutionize medicine, communications,
transportation and every other aspect of human life: the shopworn "spinoff"
argument honed for decades by NASA's P.R. machine. But whether humanity will
get to use the awesome power of these new technologies -- in particular
nanotechnology -- for good rather than ill is one of the key questions of
the 21st century.
As a five-star general and the commander of Allied forces in Europe during
WWII, Eisenhower was front-row center when the Manhattan Project transformed
our reality. He watched a small group of the world's brightest scientists
and engineers, with access to the enormous financial resources of the
federal government, creating blueprints for machines capable of tearing
apart the very fabric of the universe -- followed, in short order, by the
conversion of those blueprints into enormous production facilities operated
by corporate contractors with even more government funding. The result: a
gargantuan arsenal of thermonuclear weapons capable of destroying the world
many times over -- a capability previously unknown in the history of war and
warriors.
But the insanity of the Cold War pales by comparison to what the
military-industrial complex and the scientific-technological elite have in
the pipeline for the 21st century. Nuclear war is terrifying but,
technologically, it's a one-trick pony. The weapons of the future will be
infinitely more diverse and creative. And the driving force behind them, the
technological cutting edge, will be nanotechnology.
There has never been anything like nanotechnology. It draws on our
accumulated scientific knowledge about how to measure, modify and manipulate
the very building blocks of our world: atoms and molecules (see accompanying
article). Homo sapiens, the animal world's most skillful toolmaker, has
finally begun to create the ultimate toolkit, one that will someday be
capable of breaking the world down into its smallest parts (or creating new
parts) and putting them back together again in new ways.
For the past five years, unknown to most Americans, the United States has
been buying tools for this kit via a strategic program called the National
Nanotechnology Initiative. (Full disclosure: I am on a National Research
Council committee charged with evaluating the NNI.) One of the NNI's chief
purposes is to revolutionize military equipment. In 2003, MIT and the U.S.
Army officially opened the flagship nanotech R&D facility, theInstitute for
Soldier Nanotechnologies.
This 28,000-square-foot facility in Cambridge, Mass., underwritten by a $50
million grant from the U.S. Army, may very well be the world's most
exclusive R&D club. Its members include bluebloods of the old
military-industrial complex like Raytheon and DuPont, along with new blood
like Zyvex ("providing nanotechnology solutions -- today") and Carbon
Nanotechnologies.
According to the original press release, the ISN "combines basic and applied
research to create an expansive array of innovations in nanoscience and
nanotechnology that will dramatically improve the survivability of soldiers.
Current ISN research focuses on several key soldier capabilities, including
protection from bullets, blasts and chem/bio threats; automated medical
monitoring and treatment; improved performance; and reduced load weight."
This description of research projects -- "protection" from bullets and
blasts -- makes them sound purely defensive, but there is simply no way that
can be true. Our military knows very well that, ultimately, the best way to
"improve the survivability" of a soldier is to eliminate the enemy. If a
revolutionary ultra-light nanofabricated material can stop today's bullets,
why not use this same material to make tomorrow's bullets? But for real war
gamers this logic is only a trivial beginning. It is incumbent upon them to
assume that, if we don't make these nanofabricated bullets, somebody else
will. And if somebody else can have them, it is further incumbent upon
serious war gamers to recommend that a further round of R&D is necessary to
protect our soldiers from the nanomaterials initially designed to protect
them. These games get much, much deeper ... and they get there really fast.
Plus, the most amazing things these folks are factoring into their games
undoubtedly remain classified
And so it goes, the endless upward spiral of theoretical escalation driving
a downward spiral of research into the small, smaller and, finally,
smallest. Research that, enabled by the latest breakthroughs in
nanofabrication, will bring imaginary terrors into being. It is exactly this
circular logic that has led America to initiate the next global arms race in
recombinant DNA-based, nanotechnology-enabled bioweapons.
In two previous articles, this author has reported on the vicious cycle of
paranoia that has made "biodefense" the top priority across all federal R&D
laboratories. (The biggest untold science and technology story in America is
that one-third of all basic research at NIH is now on biodefense. The
Federal Biodefense Research conference for fiscal year 2006 will be held at
the end of this month.) There is a profound and dangerous Catch-22 clause
involving high-technology "biodefense" research, one that we ignore at our
own peril.
Put simply, the whole world knows that you can't separate biodefense from
biowarfare. This concept was clearly enunciated in the 1972 Convention on
the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of
Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction
(signed by the United States on April 10, 1972). Yet, 35 years later, the
second Bush administration has given us a policy based on these same two
fatally flawed assumptions explicitly recognized in the Bioweapons
Convention. Logic error 1: that a defensive bioweapons program differs
fundamentally from an offensive program. And logic error 2: that it is
possible to defend against biowarfare agents. (Shades of Reagan and Bush's
dreams of a defense against ballistic missiles.) The community of nations
has universally rejected these assumptions as unfounded and completely
incorrect. But as we know, when it comes to deciding the fate of the world
there is a higher authority than the community of nations. Or even the
American people.
Our bioweapons research programs, enabled by recombinant DNA technology,
were frightening enough. But the danger is about to increase exponentially,
as "biodefense" research meets nanotechnology.
In high-technology incubators around the world, biotechnology and
nanotechnology together are spawning. With the literary imagination for
which engineers are famous, the offspring of this union has already been
named nanobiotechnology. The overt goal of nanobiotechnology is to
completely break down the borders between living and nonliving materials.
This goal has the most profound implications for every aspect of human
endeavor, but in warfare the consequences of integrating our most powerful
technologies are almost beyond comprehension. The fusion of nanotechnology
and biotechnology will erase any distinction between chemical, biological,
and conventional weapons, altering the face of war (and life) forever.
The key thing to remember is that every military application also has a
non-military one: tomorrow's sword will be next week's plowshare (and vice
versa). In the nano age, if you aren't very afraid and very excited at the
same time, you aren't paying attention.
So just what kinds of military devices are in store for us? We can get an
idea simply by examining what the ISN is currently advertising, translating
it into English, then extrapolating out another ten years or so.
Energy-absorbing materials
Nanosoldierspeak: "ISN researchers are developing energy-absorbing
nanomaterials that will be part of the future soldier's battle suit. These
new materials will provide the soldier with protection against ballistics
and directed energy, thereby enhancing the soldier's survivability."
Translation: Humans have been seeking "protection against ballistics and
directed energy" since the first time someone got hit over the head with a
bone, which means we have been seeking this technology since before we were
Homo sapiens. Up until now, we have had to drag around a shield or wear
heavy armor. But nanotechnology will deliver protection in a way that
enhances the performance of our naturally evolved body rather than weighing
us down. In fact, when combined with properties like "mechanical actuation
and dynamic stiffness," discussed below, people wearing body armor will be
moving far faster than those of us relegated to Levis or even Gucci.
Mechanically active materials and devices
Nanosoldierspeak: "ISN researchers are developing nanomaterials that are
capable of mechanical actuation and dynamic stiffness. As part of the
soldier's battle suit, these adaptive multifunctional materials will improve
soldier performance and may provide medical assistance in the field."
Translation: Artificial muscles! Clothing or ultra-lightweight body armor
that provides superhuman strength, integrated within the impregnable (sorry,
energy-absorbing) body armor under development above. Let's tell it like it
is: The ISN wants to build (sorry, nanofabricate), an ultra-light,
ultra-strong and ultra-powerful exoskeleton. But the real super-soldier is
far more than a human wearing an exoskeleton that imparts inhuman speed,
strength and endurance. This nano-enabled exoskeleton will be made of
molecular "smart materials" that also create the type of super-sensor powers
described below.
Sensors and chemical/biological protection
Nanosoldierspeak: "ISN researchers are developing protective measures that
will enable the future soldier to detect and respond to chemical and
biological threats. Research is taking place on the development of highly
sensitive sensors as well as protective fiber and fabric coatings that can
be integrated in the battle suit. These external systems will enhance the
soldier's awareness of environmental toxins, thereby providing the soldier
with initial protection against chemical and biological agents."
Translation: Evolution has already provided biological life with a
"sensorium" capable of detecting individual molecules. That is, the
biomolecules inside our bodies can "see" the individual molecules in our
environment. Our eyes, for example, can "see" a single photon of light. When
we are not distracted, or overwhelmed by the ambient noise of life, all our
senses can operate with this type of resolution. But how is such a thing
possible? Each atom transmits a unique electromagnetic signature into nearby
space. A molecule is a unique group of atoms, so that the space around a
molecule has an even more complex signature field. Molecules see and
recognize each other via the interaction of these force fields. Sometimes
molecular signals merge into a powerful force-field beam that breaks the
surface of our macroscopic world. (When uranium undergoes radioactive decay,
it emits a beam that's hard for us to miss.) But individual molecules can
sense each other every time, all the time -- so that single molecule
detection provides near-perfect sensitivity to almost anything that can
happen in the physical world.
The ISN will create artificial molecular nanosensors based on the schematics
originally built by evolution. Working backward from a successful design is
called reverse engineering. So the nanofabricated super-soldier exoskeleton
will have an array of reverse-engineered artificial molecular sensors built
directly into it. These artificial sensors will be wired into the biological
"sensorium" of the soldier. As a result, the nano-enabled combatant will be
able to see or sense almost everything in his or her environment. Artificial
molecule-scale sensors may start off as external systems to "enhance the
soldier's awareness of environmental toxins" or other signals, but this
technology can be used to create a whole new set of superhuman senses for
anyone, not just soldiers. Someone, somewhere, will soon be able to "sense"
almost anything, anywhere in the physical world. Without entering your home,
I can know what you are eating, drinking, smoking, wearing, or not wearing.
Who gets to have these senses? Will they be installed as passive or active?
Biomaterials and nanodevices for soldier medical technology
Nanosoldierspeak: "ISN researchers are looking at ways to use nanotechnology
to improve the way we detect and treat life-threatening injuries such as
hemorrhage, fracture, or infection. With new approaches to soldier triage
and with automatic first aid for a wounded or disabled soldier, the ISN's
goal is to at least begin, if not complete, recovery while the patient is
still on the battlefield by developing ways to monitor patient physiology as
well as novel materials for wound healing."
Translation: Your camouflage suit is going to sense your metabolic condition
and know when you are hurt or wounded. It is going to melt into your wound
to stop the bleeding, set your bones, and give you a shot of morphine. To do
this, your nanofabricated suit had better have the ability to speak the same
language as your living tissue. So using nanotechnology to provide
"automatic first aid" ultimately means using molecular sensor systems to
detect and respond to the presence of blood cells, serum or antibodies.
Basically, the idea is to hack into the CPU of life and interface our
biological systems to artificial ones. Make no mistake, we are talking about
the ability to hardwire the delivery of medical procedures, drugs or
chemicals directly into things worn in or on the body in response to remote
signals or sensations. This will undoubtedly save lives on the battlefield,
but it also opens up mind-boggling possibilities for behavior modification
and control. Instead of an injection when you are wounded, how about an
injection when you act in an antisocial manner? Will we have the wisdom to
control the machines we have created, especially when they have been built
to operate autonomously? In the years ahead, that question will no longer be
merely philosophical.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
So, let's take stock. Based simply on the projects posted for public
consumption, the ISN is busy creating a soldier of the future who will be
protected by an impregnable exoskeleton. This 21st century armor will also
impart superhuman strength, reflexes and endurance. It will sense its
environment with molecular precision and administer chemicals,
pharmaceuticals and other potions directly to the human inside based on
pre-programmed stimuli or other command and control signals (global
satellite phone link to headquarters ... a battle computer in geosynchronous
orbit ... HAL?). It kind of makes one long for the old "mineshaft gap" of
the Cold War.
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