Drivel:  I was talking to John Robb about this a couple of weeks ago.  An exoskeleton that amplifies the force exerted by normal human muscles using nanotechnology would be a great way to create the first generation of super-soldiers.  Add armor mechanisms, regenerative capabilities, and bio and radiation resistance qualities to the exoskeleton and you truly have an army of one.  All of the stuff we've been seeing on TV about cloning or genetically engineering super-soldiers is much farther away that the approach of fitting the human body with a exoskeleton, as they are proposing here.  Take it to the next step and this exoskeleton could also serve as a the next space suite for astronauts.  They would have to create a space mode to tune the force amplification in order to compensate for the lack of gravity.

MIT to make "nanotech" Army wear. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology gets $50 million from the U.S. Army to create lightweight uniforms--or a molecular "exoskeleton" for soldiers, using nanotechnology. [CNET News.com]  1:22:39 PM   comments ()