Timewaster's Guide Archive
General => Everything Else => Topic started by: Mad Dr Jeffe on September 25, 2003, 12:05:57 PM
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http://www.nature.com/nsu/030922/030922-10.html
the gist
Paper capable of playing videos has been invented at the Philips Research laboratory in Eindhoven, the Netherlands
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Ya that stuff has been talked about for a while now. Incedently the US military has a 100 million+ doller contract with a Brittish company that does the same with fabric, and allready has color working. They're useing it to make new camoflauge, roll out maps that hook up to GPA and PDA's to show terrein. Also just a cool note one of the military's new camo suites has a synthetic fibersystem that can increase the wearers strenght about 5 fold.
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And some suits can also combine to form Voltron
(http://webusers.xula.edu/mbullock/voltron.jpg)
Defender of the Universe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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What would you do with the paper?
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Why do you need to increase your strength? They have guns, this isn't 40k so there is no real need for uber close combat stuff. Apart from combat engineers i guess. Rescue teams and construction workers would be more obviouse.
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Actually increased strength allows more equipment....
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allowing longer missions with fewer vehicles, and therefore more stealth/infiltration capability.
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But making it slower to move around. And how much equipment do they need to carry? I would think that after a point your backpack would be so huge it would be a real burden in combat even disregarding weight. Although you could use it as a mobile barricade i suppose.
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That's the point of the greater strength. If you have the strength, it won't slow you down nearly so much.
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No vehicles = walking = slow.
Vehicles = driving = fast.
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Currently infantry troops enter a warzone with a loadbeaing Mollie packand about 100 pounds of encumbrance Sure they drop it entering combat, but for cross country marches and such they need it. Plus Night Vision Goggles, Gps Units, Extra ammo, entrenching equipment, explosives, bedroll, change of clothes, more ammo, water, food, and the list go's on and on.
http://www.goarmy.com/basic/week08/smedia/dod/fullyequ.htm
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The new doctrine of the US Military is an emphesis on smaller more special forces like infantry units and big powerful armor units.
With new weapons coming down the pipe like M-16 with stabilized camera's on the end of the barrel allowing GI's to see around corners to heasd up displays that can show heat, night vision and top down sattelite and radar images in addition to more compact accurate and larger payload MBR (main battle rifles) the US plans to take full advantage of its technological knowhow. Problem is that its soldiers are alread weighed down too much and NVG's, Cameras, and neat Heads up diplays need batteries.
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Vehicles are loud, hard to maintain in the field, hot (easy to be seen by infra-red) and harder to resupply.
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I bow to your superior knowledge, i guess. Notice how the British army is still soldiering (pun intended) on with basic rifles and none of this stuff that reminds me terribly of computer games? Sounds like in a few years time the CS geeks will be able to put on one of those suits and then act as a soldier with the same hud and everything. Scary. Instead of the cyber tournaments, just have gun battles in the streets. Would be just as messy as a LAN, only bullet casing and blood instead of pizza boxes and empty cans of beer.
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feh, beer would ruin the twitch gaming effect. Caffeine is much better for LAN parties.
I was going to say, if you want a stealth mission, vehicles are usually not the way to go, no matter what you want to carry. They leave too many traces and are too easily found.