Medical Technology

New Advancements in Military Medical Technology

    Lethal military technology has advanced greatly over the past 40 years or so, which called for the creation of more effective medical technology. There are countless inventions that have been designed, but I picked the 3 most interesting ones to me personally to share with you today. 

Chitosan Bandage

The Chitosan Bandage is a way of binding wounds and bullet holes that uses biodegradable carbohydrates found in both the shells of lobsters, and shrimps, and within blood cells. The material creates a thick clot inside of the wound that seals the sides of the cut or hole and stops bleeding entirely. This substance is not harmful to the patient or the environment, and is therefore a sustainable alternative to cloth bandages that may take longer to decompose. This technology was created by the Oregon Medical Laser Center, and is put to the test in the video down below.

Prosthesis

6% of service members who were wounded in Iraq experienced amputation at some point in time, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This unfortunate circumstance is the truth for many cases, calling for the creation of new and improved prosthesis with an increasingly human feel. This has led to the invention of "robotic prosthesis and vacuum-assisted suction sockets for hip dis-articulation", according to MEDCOM. Once given a prosthesis, wounded veterans are given the opportunity to live a full civilian life again after their service.

Smart Clothing

iSmartweaR, a clothing line created by Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute and ECLAT Textiles, is known for its' ability to monitor vital signs, weight, dehydration and hunger. The video down below explains the technical details about this technology, but I believe the potential for this clothing is limitless. Soldiers could be monitored from headquarters while they are in the battlefield, giving allied forces an advantage. Soldiers could also monitor their own vital signs and make better choices about their own health, increasing the effectiveness of conflict in general. The clothing even allows you to manage your sleep quality and emotional state.

Sources

http://www.medgadget.com/military_medicine/page/2

Politics, Policy, and Military Technology: An Evolution

Through my research, I found that politics and policy do generally hamper the creation and implementation of new technology. However, I found more commonly that Politics, Policy and Military Technology have developed a symbiotic relationship over the centuries, evolving together.

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military‐industrial complex…Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific‐technological elite." 

(President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address, 1961)

Example:

Weapon Innovation becomes the subject of politics.

 The R&D program began following Vannevar Bush's command and helped fund atomic weapons research, the creation of missiles and aircraft, military electronics, and chemical weapons. It also created military technological creation programs at elite U.S. Universities such as Stanford and Johns Hopkins. This program, being as expensive as it was, raised controversy and criticism from then Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson in the 1950's. Wilson believed that "Basic research is when you don't know what you are doing”, and for that reason fought to end this program. 



Military Technology in Foreign Policy

As the current hegemony in the world stage, the U.S. accounts for around half of the global military spending. The U.S. also spends the most money on developing new technology, situations that undoubtedly relate to each other. The development of new military technology is high important to both the governments of the U.S. and foreign states, as evidenced by this video of Vladimir Putin, Russian President, reports to his cabinet members the current state of Russian military technology. This is a source of pride for all states, figuring out exactly who has this new technology and how they are using it. Here are a few more sources, if you would like to learn more.



Technology and the History of War


US Military Threats to Russia and China

Sources:
 http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199270439.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199270439-e-039

The Law of Armed Conflicts: New Military Technology

What is the Law of Armed Conflicts? In the words of Karl A. Kaszuba, Lt Col, USAF, it is:

“[The law of armed conflict’s] raison d’ etre is to establish minimum standards of human decency on the battlefield.”6 Its principles are, in essence, a set of rules generally accepted by a majority of nation-states which embody humanity’s standards for the conduct of warfare beyond which is considered excessive brutality unnecessary for the conduct of warfare.”

This law was put into place during the Geneva Conventions to promote as much world peace and fairness as possible during times of war. The law focuses on many aspects of combat, but for the purpose of this blog, I pulled 5 that I believe are most important.

1. Military Necessity
2. Proportionality
3. Discrimination
4. Humanity (Unnecessary suffering)
5. Collateral Damage

To better understand the "rules" of war, watch this video.

Modern Controversies surrounding the Law of Armed Conflicts

Blinding Laser Weapons: 



These weapons have the ability to purposefully and permanently blind enemies from miles away. Because the damage they would inflict upon enemy soldiers would be long lasting and irreversible even after combat is finished, some institutions such as the International Committee of the Red Cross view it as a violation of international war-time law. The Red Cross places this weapon into the category of causing unnecessary suffering. Others, such as the Judge Advocate General of the Army, do not view this weapon as a violation of the conflict law. What do you think?

Acoustical Weapons: Sonic Guns



This technology has previously been utilized by the British Military as a way to humanely calm rioters and protesters by emitting low frequency sounds below the pain threshold. These sounds gently vibrate the inner ear and create feelings of slight discomfort. However, the potential for these weapons to inflict long-lasting harm upon enemies if the frequency is changed is the  reason for controversy. If the frequency of these sounds are altered, vibrations can occur not only within the ear but the rest of the internal organ systems as well, resulting in various malfunctions. 

Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) G20 Pittsburgh

So why is this law important? Why do we worry about morality and fairness in regards to war activity? When I first read about the Law of Armed Conflicts, I did believe that it was a bit odd to try and "police" war. War itself is supposed to be brutal, and people are always going to be hurt or killed. However after conducting more research on the subject, I realize that the Law of Armed Conflict exists to not make war more moral, but at least more humane. 

Technology of World War 1

The Acoustic Locator

Before the introduction of radar technology into the military stage, large machines just like the one above were created. These machines were used to amplify sounds made by enemy aircraft, one of the ways in which allied forces could predict future attacks. This was known as passive acoustic location and was named so because of the ability it gave to soldiers to pinpoint almost exactly how far away an aircraft was in the sky. 

Anti-Aircraft Sound Locator

The First Tanks

Tanks were first introduced into combat during World War 1 on September 16th, 1916 during the Battle of Somme between the British and the Germans. These tanks, which numbered around 40 at the time, were much too large and cumbersome to inflict a large amount of damage and were also prone to mechanical breakdowns. This picture shows the advance of allied forces in France in 1917, one year after the first appearance of the tank in battle. 

Brief History of The First Tanks

The Fake Trees of No Man's Land

Under the darkness of night, both allied and enemy forces built fake trees as a way to disguise sniper and lookout  towers. Some of these structures were created from actual dead, hollowed out  trees that would be equipped with a scaffold on the inside for a sniper to stand on and hide within the middle of the tree. 

Other trees would be made entirely from scratch. Soldiers would create sketches of the trees in their surrounding area and send these pictures to a workshop where an artificial tree would be constructed out of steel material. 

Leon Underwood was one of the first soldiers to use these trees as camouflage, and his drawings down below were often used as templates for their recreation. 

Sources

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2274260/The-Armys-special-branch-How-bizarre-fake-spy-trees-appeared-mans-land-WWI.html

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tanks-introduced-into-warfare-at-the-somme

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/04/world-war-i-in-photos-technology/507305/