Australasian Science — May-June 2017

(C. Jardin) #1

cognitive enhancements could be used to increase the soldier’s
good conduct in war.
On a different line of reasoning, research into the pharma-
ceutical propranolol suggests it could be helpful in reducing
the likelihood and impact of post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD). Propranolol is thought to work by reducing the inten-
sity of fear-based emotional memories associated with a trau-
matic incident. Rather than focusing on the soldier’s conduct,
this approach to enhancement reduces the long-term psycho-
logical burden of conflict on veterans and their families.
However, increased cognitive capacity and decreased PTSD
bring us to one of the big concerns around deliberate techno-
logical enhancements to warfighting. Will such interventions
decrease the capacity of a soldier to follow the laws of armed
conflict? For instance, while increasing someone’s cognitive


capacity might be tactically useful and could potentially to lead
to increased moral behaviour, changing how people think can
have a host of unintended side-effects.
Neurostimulation, for example, is a technology of interest for
use in conflict. In Mind Wars, Jonathan Moreno notes that
“DARPA has given grants to see if neurostimulation can improve
impaired cognitive performance and reduce other effects of
sleep deprivation on soldiers”. Direct neurostimulation by deep
brain implants is a potentially useful intervention for patients
with Parkinson’s disease, but it has a range of unwanted side-
effects ranging from speech disturbances and memory impair-
ment to increased aggression, hypomania, depression and suicide.
It’s important to recognise that the numbers vary across studies
(1.5–25% displayed depression), and some of the numbers are
relatively low (increased aggression was only observed in 2%

MAY/JUNE 2017 | | 15

Revision Military’s prototype
tactical light operator suit
(TALOS) features a powered
lower-body exoskeleton
supported by motorised
actuators on each leg. The
exoskeleton supports a
body armour system that
can protect 60% of the body
from rifle rounds. To relieve
weight, the leg actuators
pick up each leg and move
them as the soldier moves.
The weight of the helmet,
armour and vest is
supported by a rigid
articulated spine. The suit’s
power pack has a cooling
fan that can be heard in
close proximity, and a
cooling vest pumps water
through 3 metres of tubing
under the suit to maintain
core temperature. A
spokesperson for Revision
Military told Australasian
Science: “We are no longer
actively involved in the US
SOCOM TALOS program,
and our suit is
representative of our
submission for the initial
program, but does not
represent what the program
currently is”.
Credit: Revision Military
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