Device promises relief for desert soldiers
A U.S. scientist says she has developed a micro-climate system to be placed in soldiers' boots to provide cooling in high temperature locations.
Kent State University Professor of Exercise Physiology Ellen Glickman says heat is one of the deadliest obstacles soldiers face in desert war zones. The gear soldiers wear and carry can contribute 10 additional degrees to the outside temperature, she said -- a dangerously significant increase on, for example, a 95-degree day.
Working in collaboration with the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Glickman developed a micro-climate cooling system that features a pump that circulates cold water through coils in the boots, with the ultimate goal of lowering the wearer's core body temperature.
The efficiency of the system will be measured on test subjects this summer on the Kent Campus, about 40 miles southeast of Cleveland.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
