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Military Tech for Daily Life

Posted by samzenpus on from the still-no-wave-motion-gun dept.

PreacherTom writes "It is nothing new to see technology from military and governmental endeavors change daily life profoundly. One only has to look at the fruits of the space program (from computers to microwave ovens to Tang). New military gear is on the horizon that promises to do the same, including biosensors, bandages that clot blood using soundwaves, and the ubiquitous Swiss Army Pen."

4 of 234 comments (clear)

  1. Military-tech always trickles down to civilians by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Informative

    The obvious examples are the internet, GPS devices, super-glue, etc... (Incidentally, speaking of super-glue, it works very well for what the military originally had in mind for it, which is closing wounds: next time you have a bad cut, try it, it works wonders.)

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:Military-tech always trickles down to civilians by presentt · · Score: 5, Informative

      No, I think the parent poster is correct. I heard it was first used to close wounds in Vietnam, but was developed for other reasons. See cyanoacrylate, the compound in most super glues.

      --
      I decided to stop stealing cynical quotes to use as a signature line.
  2. Microwave ovens are from WWII radar by iliketrash · · Score: 5, Informative

    "One only has to look at the fruits of the space program (from computers to microwave ovens to Tang)."

    Presumably the author refers the the tube in a microwave oven called a magnetron. If so, then this was developed in World War II for use in radars. Incidentally, the invention of the transistor was a direct follow-on to WWII efforts to build crystal detectors. See the book, "The Invention that Changed the World" by Robert Buderi, a history of the development and aftermath of the invention of radar. It is said that the atomic bomb ended the war but radar won the war.

  3. part of this program already cut- landwarrior by docinthemachine · · Score: 5, Informative

    Several of these technologies are part of the FCS (future combat system) including the soldier of the future - Landwarrior program. However the government has just cut this program. You can read more about it -- and all of the future medical devices lost in the shuffle-- here: http://docinthemachine.com/2006/12/08/army-axing-h igh-tech-soldier-of-tomorrow-medtech-losses-predic ted/