Monday, October 15, 2012

Heat-Resistant Makeup

During field operations and military exercises, many soldiers use camouflage makeup to blend into the environment. A new type of makeup may also help protect troops against burns from bomb blasts.
CREDIT: Spc. Gerald James, U.S. Army.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sophi said,
I think that this is a cool invention but can be dangerous because if something went wrong with the DEET and the make up is designed to stay on and it is waterproof it may cost us many lives.

Nicholas said...

This could be a possibly life-saving invention, if done right. They're saying that they are going to replace the stuff that burns, with alternatives known as silicone. Like Sophia said, if something goes wrong, then we are going to loose many lives. I honestly think the may be doing too much. Soldiers are trained to do this kind of stuff. You have to go through months, probably years of training camp. You can't just say I feel like fighting in Iraq today. You can just wear a camouflage mask, or something like that. I also have to say, the picture on the article makes me think that it might not camouflage that well. These people have to understand that you need your camo. Otherwise, people can see you easily and shoot you. It also seems like it is not powerful enough. It's saying it can protect for 15 seconds at 140 degrees before burns may occur, imagine the 1,112 degrees an explosion is. Overall, I think this could be very beneficial. It just needs a few major and minor adjustments.

Mila said...

I agree with Nicholas said. I think that this makeup dose need some adjustments. Like Sophia said if people miss a single thing and sell it to army men, so many of America's finest would die from burning of the face. I think it is to much, we were fine without it before. Now we are just adding another thing that soldiers have to worry abut, putting on, putting it on right, and just making sure that it doesn't burn you. If it did happen to burn you, you would not know until it actually happened. That being said, if it did work, it would only work on a few people. The rest would die because it wasn't the right combination and t caught fire. I think this is a good idea, but it does need some more safety proofing.

Jahan said...

I agree with Mila and Nicholas. it is quite cool how they can make a makeup that could protect a soldier from the hot and intense heat of a bomb. Unfortunately, if the formula fails, it could cost the lives of the soldiers that put on the makeup. It would be nice because they could camouflage in the environment and have some protections from the bombs. Then they could go through places with bombs and explosions with ease.

Eva said...

I disagree with Mila and Nicholas. I think that this flame and heat-resistance makeup is a breakthrough in science and survival, and that it will be amazing if we can base other experiments and survival tactics off of this one. Also, the fact that it works for 15 seconds might set some people off track, but I know that 15 seconds is enough time to get away from an area where there is a lot of heat. Scientists are saying that they have a new solution that might make the heat-resistant makeup last for a minute or longer, and that will definitely be a scientific breakthrough.

Elena said...

I think that this a really useful invention, but it could be really dangerous since the insect repellent is highly flammable. I think that if this is used the right way, like Nicholas said, it could be lifesaving, but if used the wrong way, it could be very dangerous. I think that using different colors to blend into the environment is useful as well. Although I don't understand how they will reapply it. If it does work, and it saves them from dangers, then they need to be able to reapply it. They might not have time to. I think that it would be easier if they created a heat resistant, light weight mask that you wouldn't have to keep putting on. It would just stay on. That way, the soldiers wouldn't have to worry about it coming off in explosions, etc.

Kyle said...

This new application of science and war can be used on many people for specific reasons. Firefighters would be less vulnerable to direct fire, and soldiers can use gel to protect them from the heat of day or an explosion nearby. It's impressive that this gel can protect you from intense heat for fifteen seconds before giving you minor burns. The DEET contained inside the gel has even been protected from heat, as DEET is highly flammable.

Faith said...

I loved this articule. I think that the fact that makeup can protect a soldiers face is amazing. But the DEET may be the recipe for disaster. When they said it was highly flammable and they have to use 35% of it wow. Hopefully they can counteract it with other chemicals. And another thing if this goes to other countries it can make wars longer and harder. If the enemy throws multiple bombs the blast may last longer than 15 seconds or may go beyond the heat rate. I agree with Eva when she said that it might take more than 15 seconds to get away from the blast zone. Either way I think this invention is a scientific breakthrough and can save many lives.

Chloe said...

I think that this is very important because soldiers could be really hurt by the heat wave and this makeup could potentially save their lives. The only problem with this is that DEET is very flammable, and so if the heat wave is so close that is triggers the flammableness, it could damage the soldier even more than it would have without the makeup. I think like Nick said, if this is handeld carefully, it could really be an amazing thing for soliders.

Anonymous said...

Ethan said,
I agree with Nick and Chloe. When Nick said, If handeld carefully this could be very big for the soliders, cause if a solider got hurt because of a fire 100 feet away he would get hurt but if he wore the makeup he probably not get as hurt. I really think that this is a break for the soliders to not get hurt as much.

Dylan said...

I agree with everyones comments because yes indeed this is a life saving invention or even an invention which needs minor, major adjustments although this invention might the most backfiring invention ever for mankind if everyone started using it. This invention is amazing although it is very dangerous. However, the less you use the better because even by the thought of if you use it too much many terrible things will happen. For instance if it is too hot/cold it won't work and bombs might even destroy all the territory you claimed because nobody paid attention to it because of the makeup.

Bryan said...

WOW! I can't believe that scientist are making soldier make-up that prevents their faces getting burned from bomb heat. This invention could save lifes of soldiers that can die from the strong heat of a bomb. The heat that a bomb can creat is staggering. A bomb's heat of a presssure wave can get up to 600° Celsius or 1,112° Fahrenheit. The trick is DEET, which is a insect repellent that they injected in the jelly substance. I never knew that one little thing can change someone between life or death. Overall, a fantasic and interesting article. Really Good!

Stanford said...

WOW!! This is really interesting!!! I like how the make-up protects you from very hot temperatures. I wonder if they could use that same technology to go to venus or somewhere in space. I wouldn't say the sun or something because I don't want to go to far. But there is always a down side. If the water in the gel some how falls out, that the soldiers would catch on fire, and I don't think that would be good. Fortunately, that is very unlikely. It could really protect the army, navy, and other stuff. I don't think they would use it in the marines because the face paint could get wet. I wonder when they would sell this stuff, not that I wear make-up, I'm just curious.

Jacob said...

I think that this makeup will help our soldiers greatly. I didn't really understand when it said that it contains something that is flammable, and then they say that it isn't flammable. Anyway, soldiers should be having a sigh of relief right now. Especially because of the whole nuclear situation in the middle east. This may people to handle heat waves, but I still don't think it could handle too close of an explosion. The force of the explosion would force the soldier back, and he would probably be injured. I think that this helps prevent burns, but sill won't stop the soldier from being hurt. One thing that this article lacked was the cost. A lot of things may seem good, but once you see that the cost is sky high you may be having second ideas. Until I see the cost, I am not truly satisfied.

Rachel said...

This is a great important invention. It is really good because when the heat waves hit the makeup if burns the soldiers skin. The only problem is the DEET. DEET is very flammable and dangerous for people's skin. There are alternatives for DEET. They are not exactly the best options but they are not flammable and not irritating. The invention only needs a few minor modifications, but otherwise it is really good.

Miles said...

I think that this invention is amazing. I would never have guessed that makeup could be heat resistant. This could really help our soldiers win the war. I think there are still some flaws with this invention. It may be heat resistant, but what happens when a grenade explodes right next to you, it can't protect you from that. Despite its flaws, this is a very interesting invention.

Tessa said...

This is a phenomenal invention. I think that with this product on hand we can save many lives. It will defiantly come in handy with our soldiers in Afghanistan. The reason for that is because of the hot weather in the middle eastern country causes the soldiers to sweat buckets. And if the make up would be running and the colors would combine it might make a color that does not blend well with the environment. Yes overall this is an amazing invention, but has a lot of downsides as well. Especially the content of DEET.
If this chemical activates it can be deadly. I believe that if scientists can replace the content of DEET in the make up this product will be quite popular.