Entry #15 - April 11th, 2015

Can squid help make soldiers invisible?

Apr 11th, 2015
By: Johnny Yu
CNN News

Scientists say that cephalopods, like squid, octopus and cuttlefish, may hold the key to develop a brand new combat technology that will allow soldiers to avoid infrared detection.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine claimed that they have found a way to use proteins in the cells of pencil squid to develop "invisibility stickers" which can be worn by ground troops.

Alon Gorodetsky, assistant professor of chemical engineering and material sciences, along with his team, have put all their attention on specialized squid cells known as iridocytes, which contain a unique light-reflecting protein called reflectin. They were also able to engineer E. coli bacteria to synthesize reflectin and coat the protein onto a packing tape-like surface to create the "invisibility stickers".

These reflectin-coated stickers can change into virtually any color with a chemical or mechanical stimulus, causing ground troops to be invisible towards enemies.

My Thoughts & Opinions

The future is finally coming. Invisible soldiers that usually appear in fictions and sci-fi movies are no longer fictional. But this development does not mean that world peace will be easily achieved. We have no idea which country will be the one getting the patent from the developers once the development is done. We also have no idea what the country with the patent would do with this development because if they use it to fight other countries, their chance of winning the fight is much greater than others. Let's just hope this development will not fall into wrong hands once its finished.