As few readers of the FFML know (or care), one of the things I sometimes
do is put together an online science/heath newsletter for a Michigan
company. Few of the items I come across are anime-related, but I came
across one or two items I thought might be useful for the the more
hard-science mecha writers out there among us. To wit:
Full-body armor, off the battlefield since the 1600's, is making a
comeback. The Department of Defense is soliciting proposals for a $50
million project to develop exoskeletons for the military. DARPA has put
together an extensive standard equipment list for the exoskeletons. It
includes a visor that expands the field of vision, as well as devices to
provide information about battlefield conditions, coordinate other
soldiers and decrease friendly-fire casualties. Other possibilities are
systems to monitor a soldier's health and wireless communications
networks. Helping soldiers march, lift, and leap to extraordinary heights
and distances will be among the exoskeleton's main attributes. There's
even a chance that exoskeletons -- with their ability to increase
carrying loads -- could help integrate women into combat situations.
Article at
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,41216,00.html?tw=wn20010124
And another robo-snippet: Sports fans should note that the Comedy
Channel now features `Battlebots', in which two 100 kg robots with no
restriction on design punch each other out Tyson- style. See
http://www.battlebots.com. A similar show called "Robot Wars"
(http://www.robotwars.co.uk) is on the BBC, which also sponsors a
"Robolympics". Since 1997 (first world cup, Nagoya, Nippon), teams of
fully autonomous robots have been playing soccer at the Robocup
(http://www.robocup2000.org), whose organizers hope that a team of fully
autonomous robot team will win a soccer game under official
FIFA rules against the human winners of the World Cup by mid-21st
century. Betting odds have not as yet been posted. Robocup 2000
occurred in Melbourne, Australia (28 August-3 September).
Interesting, eh? Of course, I don't know if they've been programmed to
shout 'Gekiganger Punch' yet...
David Pascal
http://www.davidpascal.com/fics