Military History | How To Make War | Wars Around the World Rules of Use How to Behave on an Internet Forum
Military Science Fiction Discussion Board
   Return to Topic Page
Subject: Nanotechnology, the next battlefront
gulfvet    3/11/2005 6:55:53 PM
I would like to test the knowledge base of this list as far as nanotechnology and warfare are concerned. Please keep it relative and informative.
 
Quote    Reply

Show Only Poster Name and Title     Newest to Oldest
Ehran    RE:Nanotechnology, the next battlefront   3/13/2005 2:39:31 PM
i think it's too early in the game to be making any valid speculation about nano's impact on the battle field. we are in about the same position as people were in 1900 trying to predict the consequences of using internal combustion engines on military science. hmm perhaps not even that advanced upon second thought.
 
Quote    Reply

eon    RE:Nanotechnology, the next battlefront   3/15/2005 9:38:35 AM
Probably the best thing we can say about nanotech at this stage of the game is that we will be using it sooner than we think. Like microcomputers before it, nanotech seems to be evolving much more quickly than previously expected. Exactly what directions it is evolving in seems to be what's up in the air at the moment, although I'm putting my money on its first uses being in the area of information retrieval, i.e., building even smaller and faster computer chips. Beyond that, I'm looking for it next showing up in biomedical use, posibly as a a way of treating previously untreatable (and fatal) conditions or diseases. Of course, that also could lead to augmentation of humans or animals some ways down the road- and probably not nearly as far in the future as we'd think. Or wish..
 
Quote    Reply

Ehran    RE:Nanotechnology, the next battlefront   3/15/2005 11:42:29 AM
i concur about the first use being computer chip related but i would hazard a guess that the next field to see widespread use of nanotech would be materials science. invisibility surfaces come to mind as fairly useful.
 
Quote    Reply

fall out    RE:Nanotechnology, the next battlefront   3/16/2005 7:23:57 AM
Combine Nanotech and Genetic Engineering and you get human beings that are more like superman re their "natural" capabilities, re military use, think of little flying cameras/bombs, etc that could adapt to it's environment (like some animals can re camo) making it almost invisible. What about fire/bomb proof buildings (by making the materials used to make them resistant to bombs and fires). Those are just some of the ideas that were thrown around to me by a mate who is studying exactly that, nanotechnology. :).
 
Quote    Reply

eon    RE:Nanotechnology, the next battlefront   3/17/2005 9:33:14 AM
For the seredipitous among us, after I last posted, I ran across an article in Business Week regarding nanotech. It predicts that the most immediate near-term use will be in materials technology, specifically the molecular-level re-engineering of metals, ceramics, and composites to make them tougher, more durable, and in some cases even give them attributes they previously lacked. Two examples cited were (1) infusing diamond into the work surface of cutting tools to allow them to cut harder work material and increase their durability, and (2) to reconfigure some metals, notably aluminum, to be transparent so they could replace plastics, etc., in applications such as aircraft windows. The applications of both to combat vehicles are, I think, fairly obvious. (Does anyone have a link that could lead to this article? I think it was in a January issue- I read it in my doctor's waiting room.)
 
Quote    Reply

eon    RE:Nanotechnology, the next battlefront-correction   3/22/2005 9:29:02 AM
Oops. Wrong month. It was the cover story of the February 14, 2005 issue of Business Week. Yes, I am only semi-conscious some days...........
 
Quote    Reply

Ehran    RE:Nanotechnology, the next battlefront-correction   3/22/2005 11:45:43 AM
Yes, I am only semi-conscious some days........... still puts you one up on much of the world hehe.
 
Quote    Reply



 Latest
 News
 
 Most
 Read
 
 Most
 Commented
 Hot
 Topics