This “Bionic Body Armor” would continuously scan the area for incoming projectiles. If one is detected, the system would deliver a shock to the muscles causing a swift, reflexive action away from the bullet.

The present invention relates generally to the protection of an individual against a projectile propelled from a firearm. More particularly, the present invention relates to a body armour system and its method of use that is capable of detecting a projectile propelled from a firearm, computing the trajectory of the projectile, and moving the individual out of the path of the projectile to avoid being hit.

Damn, that might actually work. I mean, think about how fast you move your hand away from a hot stove. Would that kind of movement actually be fast enough to dodge a bullet? [Patent via The Firearm Blog]

South Korea’s Agency for Defence Development will start developing this uniform at the beginning of 2009 under a two-phase program. The first one will include the battle uniform itself, with the bullet-proof helmet that will include “sub-miniature cameras”, plus a new rifle called K-11. The K-11 will have a laser-guided target system which will communicate with the helmet, as well as mini-missiles and a high explosive projectile.

The battle suit itself will include a personal cooling and heating system, as well as a backpack designed to control it. This will include a friend-or-foe ID system and a GPS.

In the second phase of development, the soldiers will get upgrades in the suit itself, to protect them against external threads, including atomic radiation, chemical agents, lasers, and mines.

Yes, you can welcome your new Korean overlords, as they only want to make sure you buy their flat TVs. [Korea Times via The Raw Feed]

The MIT engineers used nanotech to measure the thickness of a single scale (about 500 millionths of a meter thick), and decipher the makeup of its four different layer materials. They discovered that the materials, in tandem with the geometry and thickness of each layer, all contributed to a pretty amazing suit of armour.

They even tested the armour plating by “biting” scales that had been surgically removed from a living fish. What they discovered then was that P. senegalus armour will probably replace the bulky ceramic plates that adorn our fighting men and women in warzones today.

The P. senegalus armour kept the crack localised by forcing it to run in a circle around the penetration site, rather than spreading through the entire scale and leading to catastrophic failure, like many ceramic materials.

Lighter, thinner, and better? I think with those kinds of results soldiers and law enforcement officials alike could probably turn a blind eye to the fishy smell. Either that, or baking soda just became the next indispensable item in their arsenal next to bulletproof vests. [MIT]

Here is the XM982 Excalibur precision-guided artillery projectile. Soldiers are able to program map grid coordinates into an Excalibur round and use GPS to guide it to target with pinpoint accuracy.
The Objective Gunner Protection Kit (OGPK) is a motorised, rotating turret mounted on top of Humvees and MRAP vehicles. According to the Army it offers protection from IED fragmentation and small-arms fire, includes transparent armour, a sling for the gunner, and super handy rear-view mirrors.
The HMMWV Egress Assistance Trainer (that’s better known as “Humvee”) is a mockup of a Hummer’s cabin, and can be spun around to simulate an upended vehicle. Soldiers use this invention to practice disembarking from damaged or overturned vehicles before they’re deployed. [CNET]

The device works by mixing two different artificial spider silk proteins and a phosphate salt, then squirting them out of the artificial glass spinneret. This produces long protein chains that form the artificial silk. It’s the first device that accurately copies the chemistry and physical processes that are found in nature, as well as being the first to mix two silk proteins (specifically, ADF3 and ADF4 from the European garden spider).

For the time being the quality doesn’t yet match real silk, since it appears too grainy. “The major breakthrough is that this is the first time one has produced fully synthetic silk threads and understood why,” says team-leader Professor Bausch. The team believes that when they copy the drying and drawing-out stages real spiders use then its quality will be up to scratch. They’re working to perfect the synthetic silk machine, but cannot reveal how as they’re in the middle of patent applications.

Why the excitement? Well, light spider silk bullet-proof vests and strong medical suture thread is just the start. The material is also known to help in the re-growth of nerves, has been used to encapsulate drugs and make biodegradable fishing line. So large quantities of spider silk might be very useful, and “the best thing is to reproduce nature, instead of cutting open spiders,” notes Prof Bausch. That’s something that I’m sure will go down well with the horrible creepy-crawlies themselves. [New Scientist and The Telegraph]