MILITARY BIOTECH INVESTMENT NEEDED
Big Pharma has no problem attracting investment to churn out widely needed or commercially desirable products. Unfortunately, funding rarely flows to biotech with national security value — such as lightweight body armor, rust-preventative coatings, and bio-based explosives. That shortfall is causing concerns among industry leaders. In-Q-Tel's Jessica Dymond warns that the companies capable of delivering what the Pentagon needs are "dying on the vine." Programs like BioMADE are trying to fill the gap, but risk falling short without a coordinated DoD strategy — and the political will to back it. (Breaking Defense, February 10, 2025)
BLOOD VESSELS ON DEMAND
Forward-deployed troops who get injured often face dangerous blood loss and a scarcity of medical resources. But breakthroughs in bioprinting may soon change that. Professors at Northeastern University have engineered a new 3D printing process for soft living tissues, like blood vessels and potentially human organs. While 3D-printed prosthetics for joints and limbs have long been possible, the resins used lacked the elasticity needed for living tissue — until now. The newly-developed hydrogel allows human cells to grow inside it, can be printed in any geometry, and is fully biodegradable. This innovation could one day eliminate organ transplant waitlists and revolutionize battlefield medicine. (Northeastern Global News, February 20, 2025)
A HELIUM HELPER FOR HYPERSONICS
The hypersonic weapons game of "cat and mouse" may have taken a surprising turn, thanks to a NASA setback. Chinese scientists from Harbin Engineering University were able to draw lessons from the recent Boeing Starliner helium leak. They found that injecting helium into solid-fuel rockets can both reduce exhaust temperatures (by over 2400 degrees Fahrenheit) and boost thrust (by 300%). This advance could help Chinese hypersonic missiles evade U.S. defenses, which rely on tracking the intense heat signatures of missile plumes. By lowering those signatures and enabling variable thrust, helium may quietly supercharge the next generation of missile evasion. (Interesting Engineering, February 23, 2025)
PLA FIREBALL FIGHTER DRONES
While drone warfare rages on in conflicts across the globe, the lethality of the systems actually placed on those platforms is less commonly discussed. Military researchers with China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) are testing thermobaric warheads — surpassed only by nukes in their sheer destructive power — on unmanned combat robots for future urban warfare. These weapon systems have a two-part dispersal, beginning with a spray of powdered metal mixture followed by an intensely hot fireball (4,500 degrees) that destroys lungs and concrete alike. The PLA believes these drones can clear bunkers and fortified buildings where lighter weapons fail. But disarmament experts warn the weapons are dangerously indiscriminate, especially in cities. (South China Morning Post, February 25, 2025)
SEEKING – AND FINDING – RADIATION RELIEF
Humans have barely ventured beyond the third rock from the sun, largely due to two challenges: propulsion and radiation. While the former remains elusive, the latter may now be closer to being solved. MIT scientists have used a Dsup protein from the indestructible tardigrade to make mice cells resistant to radiation. In promising mouse trials, the protein protected healthy tissue during cancer treatment, without dulling radiation's tumor-killing power. If human results hold up, the advancement could revolutionize oncology and unlock safer space travel to the Moon and Mars. (Gizmodo, February 27, 2025)