Sgt. Logan Hall, a U.S. Army Reserve soldier with the 200th Military Police Command, inspects the seal of a protective mask during formation during a field training exercise at Fort Meade, Md., Jan. 13, 2019. (Master Sgt. Michel Sauret/Army Reserve)
Army Times: Army’s new fabric works to destroy nerve agents
Nerve agents are some of deadliest substances on the planet. From Sarin gas, which turns the human nervous system against itself, to mustard gas, which burns on contact and disrupts respiratory function, these often unseen chemicals are ones the Army sees as not only worth protecting against, but working to destroy.
A new fabric, generated by Omar Farha’s lab at Northwestern University with cooperation from the U.S. Army, is intended to do just that.
“With the correct chemistry, we can render toxic gases nontoxic,” Farha, associate professor of chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, said in a release. “The action takes place at the nanolevel.”
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Update: US Army creates a fabric that neutralises nerve gases and makes them useless by ‘pulling water from the air and rendering them non-toxic’ (Daily Mail)
WNU Editor: I see this as an acknowledgement that even though chemical warfare is banned, some countries will disregard it. Best to be prepared for it than not.
4 comments:
It complicates planning, if you want to use chem warfare, which will deter a percentage of aggressors from using it.
The US was ready for chem warfare in WW2. they would not use it 1st, but they were ready. They at stockpiles at hand just in case near the front lines.
Disaster at Bari
The Luftwaffe somehow managed to scrap up a 100 plane raid and hit the port of Bari. They unknowingly hit a ship filled with chem warfare agent.
www.amazon.com/Disaster-at-Bari-Glenn-Infield/dp/0450026590
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raid_on_Bari
Having been subjected to chem warfare Hitler would not use it, but the Allies did not not know that.
There is also the threat from non-state actors developing and using their own (Aum Shinrikyo example) or states supplying them to non-state actors. So definitely good that the military is still investing in counter-CBRN
beware china
There are likley non military applications for the particular technology but also the concept. What came to mind initially was an application for people who have to go into chemically dangerous situations to deal with the aftermath where there is risk of contamination directly from the contaminate and/or possibly by-products thereof.
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