Powersurge
01-02-2006, 12:23 PM
I was doing a bit of research a while back, and I came across some interesting stuff for my Event Horizon campaign regarding our very own real world.
Here is a quote regarding a "new" invention called BioSteel, taken from a larger article (http://www.moaa.org/magazine/January2003/f_superwarriors.asp) on real world supersoldiers. BioSteel is a Canadian invention.
"The soldier of tomorrow could be a "spider man," with body armor made of spider silk, a material that's lightweight, flexible, and five times as strong as steel. This uniform could protect against bullets, able to withstand 600,000 pounds per square inch.
Scientists at Nexia Biotechnologies in Montreal are breeding genetically engineered goats that produce milk rich with spider-silk proteins that can be spun into fiber. The development of spider silk is an example of how innovative materials are being created with biotechnology, which uses organisms, tissues, cells, or the molecular components derived from living things.
... <snip> ...
Nexia is looking to develop the silk, trade-named Biosteel, for military, medical, and industrial markets. In fall 2002, Nexia announced an agreement with Acordis Speciality Fibres Ltd., a medical textile manufacturer in England, to develop a fiber-spinning process to produce the silk in large quantities.
"We continue to watch Nexia to see what developments could have military applications," says Jerry Whittaker of the Army Materiel Command's Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass. The center formed a research partnership with Nexia to produce the spider-silk protein and form threads; their findings were published in January 2002 in the journal Science."
Here are a couple of more links on Gigantopithecus blacki, the real world inspiration for Event Horizons giant bigfooted gorilla, aka "Giganto" (shhhh!), not to mentions everyone's favourite genius-musclehead Alphan, Sasquatch.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~bioanth/giganto.html
http://www.wynja.com/arch/gigantopithecus.html
Here is a quote regarding a "new" invention called BioSteel, taken from a larger article (http://www.moaa.org/magazine/January2003/f_superwarriors.asp) on real world supersoldiers. BioSteel is a Canadian invention.
"The soldier of tomorrow could be a "spider man," with body armor made of spider silk, a material that's lightweight, flexible, and five times as strong as steel. This uniform could protect against bullets, able to withstand 600,000 pounds per square inch.
Scientists at Nexia Biotechnologies in Montreal are breeding genetically engineered goats that produce milk rich with spider-silk proteins that can be spun into fiber. The development of spider silk is an example of how innovative materials are being created with biotechnology, which uses organisms, tissues, cells, or the molecular components derived from living things.
... <snip> ...
Nexia is looking to develop the silk, trade-named Biosteel, for military, medical, and industrial markets. In fall 2002, Nexia announced an agreement with Acordis Speciality Fibres Ltd., a medical textile manufacturer in England, to develop a fiber-spinning process to produce the silk in large quantities.
"We continue to watch Nexia to see what developments could have military applications," says Jerry Whittaker of the Army Materiel Command's Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass. The center formed a research partnership with Nexia to produce the spider-silk protein and form threads; their findings were published in January 2002 in the journal Science."
Here are a couple of more links on Gigantopithecus blacki, the real world inspiration for Event Horizons giant bigfooted gorilla, aka "Giganto" (shhhh!), not to mentions everyone's favourite genius-musclehead Alphan, Sasquatch.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~bioanth/giganto.html
http://www.wynja.com/arch/gigantopithecus.html