ATLANTA, Dec. 17, 2001
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New
weapons could help protect Marines, like these at Camp Rhino in
Afghanistan.
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(CBS) Well behind Afghanistan's frontlines, America's military is
now recruiting a new special forces unit — the best and brightest
scientists working in the research labs of college campuses.
A remote-control gadget the Pentagon wants most for Christmas is the
MAVE, or micro-aerial vehicle.
The MAVE can carry explosives, but a mini-camera on board makes its main
purpose reconnaissance.
"Down and around trees, perched on buildings, and look inside
things where all of our other airborne recon would look from
above," explained Dr. Ron Barrett, an aerospace engineer at Auburn
University.
Soon the MAVE could make the hunt for al-Qaida much safer.
"That's the ultimate advantage. You get U.S. armed forces and
personnel out of harm's way," said Barrett.
On American college campuses and in science labs, military technology
has new prestige, urgency, and funding, reports CBS News
Correspondent Mark Strassmann. For instance, hidden at Clemson
University is the making of some dramatic new stealth technology.
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here to learn more
about U.S. weapons of war.
Nano-technology — a blend of physics, chemistry and material science
— built a new material that can mask reflecting light and confuse
enemy radar.
The Pentagon wants to wrap its older planes in this material.
Eventually, retrofitting any active B-52, now 40 years old, with stealth
capability.
"It would disappear, or at least it would become very, very small.
Or small enough that you couldn't distinguish it from a bird or
something of that nature," said Clemson University physicist Dr.
Dave Carroll.
Other new science reaches to the battlefield's wounded.
Georgia Tech's new bio-gel could become instant triage — it's very
tough, it's elastic, and it will move with you.
On a wound, it keeps out dirt and infection but allows the skin to
breathe.
"We're only trying to keep people alive until we can get them to a
surgeon," said Professor Joseph Schork a chemical engineer at
Georgia Tech.
On a so-called "smart shirt," sensors, and interwoven fiber
optics monitor a soldier's vital signs and any rips caused during
battle.
"Has he been hurt, how badly has he been hurt and what are the
chances of going and saving him on a battlefield," said Georgia
Tech textile engineer Dr. Sundaresan Jayaraman.
The shirt becomes an information beacon. Its Global Positioning System
can relay a soldier's location — and condition — to anywhere in the
world.
It's now clear America's global war on terrorism will be fought, not
only on the battlefield, but on the front-line of science.
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