Improving combat gear with forensics-based models.

• Author: Jean, Grace V.
• Position: Tactical Vehicles

* In an effort to develop safer protective systems, scientists are scanning the coffins of soldiers coming home from the Middle East.

The Office of Naval Research's expeditionary maneuver warfare and combating terrorism department is leading the effort to pair the computer x-ray scans with forensic data gathered from the blasts to help determine the exact causes of death or injury. Scientists are correlating the bodily damage to the threats and analyzing the information to determine what can be done to the vehicles and the placement of armor to prevent future harm.

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Scientists also are able to construct better computer models of the human body that can be used when designing future combat vehicles and armor.

"We're building very realistic models of the head, cervical spine, lumbar spine, thorax and...